Month: July 2022

Source: United States Department of Justice News

PITTSBURGH, PA – A Pittsburgh resident pleaded guilty in federal court to a violation of the federal narcotics laws, United States Attorney Cindy K. Chung announced today.

Howard Johnson II, 32, pleaded guilty to an Indictment charging him, and 26 other codefendants, with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine before United States District Judge W. Scott Hardy.

In connection with the guilty plea, the Government advised the Court that the prosecution of Johnson arose out of a two-year investigation into a drug trafficking organization whose members distributed kilograms of cocaine, sourced from Mexico, throughout the United States (in California, Arizona, Pennsylvania, and elsewhere). The Court was advised that alleged co-conspirators obtained kilograms of cocaine in Los Angeles, California, and sent them to the Western District of Pennsylvania and elsewhere through the United States Postal Service. In connection with his guilty plea, Johnson admitted that he received and transported cocaine-laden parcels that were sent by co-conspirators from Los Angeles, California, to the Western District of Pennsylvania. In connection with his plea, Johnson admitted that the total quantity of cocaine attributable to him, through his conduct and the foreseeable conduct of co-conspirators, was at least 15 kilograms but less than 50 kilograms. The Court was advised that agents seized in excess of 100 kilograms of cocaine during its two-year investigation into the drug trafficking organization, of which Johnson admitted to being a member.

Judge Hardy scheduled sentencing for Dec. 6, 2022. The law provides for a total sentence of not less than 10 years and not more than life imprisonment, a fine of up to $10,000,000, or both. Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the actual sentence imposed is based upon the seriousness of the offense and the prior criminal history, if any, of the defendant.

Assistant United States Attorney Jerome A. Moschetta is prosecuting this case on behalf of the government.

The Drug Enforcement Administration (in Pittsburgh, PA) and the United States Postal Service – Office of Inspector General led the multi-agency investigation that included members of the Drug Enforcement Administration (in Los Angeles, CA; in Tucson, AZ; in New York, NY; in Nashville, TN; at the Special Operations Division; and in Mexico); the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General; the Los Angeles Police Department; the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police; the Allegheny County Police Department; the New Castle Police Department; the Monessen Police Department; and the Pennsylvania State Police.

This prosecution is a result of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles high-level drug traffickers,  money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threaten communities throughout the United States. OCDETF uses a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

Spokane, Washington – Today, Vanessa R. Waldref, the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Washington, announced that a federal grand jury has indicted three additional individuals for COVID-19 Fraud as part of the Eastern Washington COVID-19 Strike Force. The Indictments announced today are the most recent charges brought by the Strike Force, which has brought criminal charges against numerous individuals and recovered millions of dollars in fraudulently obtained COVID relief funding.

On March 27, 2020, the President signed into law the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (“CARES”) Act. The CARES Act provided a number of programs through which eligible small businesses could request and obtain relief funding intended to mitigate the economic impacts of the pandemic for small and local businesses. One such program, the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), provided government-backed loans to small businesses which could be forgiven so long as the proceeds were used for payroll and other eligible expenses. Another program, the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program, provided low interest loans that could be deferred until the conclusion of the pandemic to provide “bridge” funding for small businesses to maintain their operations during shutdowns and other economic circumstances caused by the pandemic. The PPP and EIDL programs have provided billions of dollars in aid, the vast majority of which have not been paid back, including hundreds of millions of dollars disbursed within Eastern Washington.

One Indictment announced today charges Stephanie and Stephen Murphy, ages 36 and 42, of Davenport, Washington, with nine counts of fraud for fraudulently-obtaining three PPP loans for fictitious landscaping and wood products manufacturing businesses in 2021. The second Indictment announced today charges Dondre Jackson, age 29, of Moses Lake, Washington, with six counts of fraud in connection with two fraudulently-obtained PPP loans for a fictitious catering business. The Indictments allege that these businesses did not exist and that the Defendants falsified information and submitted fake documents to make it appear as though they were legitimate businesses that qualified for PPP loans, resulting in Defendants collectively obtaining over $100,000 in relief funding that was designated for legitimate small businesses struggling with the economic impact of COVID-19.

“COVID-19 relief programs were designed to lift up our community during crisis, and due to the number of people and businesses that requested funding, some deserving small businesses were not able to obtain funding to keep their businesses in operation,” said U.S. Attorney Waldref. “We created the Eastern Washington COVID-19 Fraud Strike Force because combatting pandemic-related fraud and holding those accountable who abused these programs is critical to the strength and safety of our community in Eastern Washington. The Strike Force works to ensure that limited resources are used to protect our local small businesses and the critical jobs and services that they provide for the community.”

In February 2022, U.S. Attorney Waldref and the U.S. Attorney’s Office (USAO) began working with federal law enforcement agencies to create and launch a COVID-19 Fraud Strike Force that would leverage partnerships between different agencies to aggressively investigate and prosecute fraud against COVID-19 relief programs in Eastern Washington. The Strike Force consists of agency representatives from the USAO, Small Business Administration (SBA) Office of Inspector General (OIG), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), U.S. Department of the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA), U.S. Secret Service, U.S. Homeland Security Investigations, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs OIG, General Services Administration OIG, Internal Revenue Service, Department of Energy OIG, and others.

“I commend the stellar investigative work on these cases performed by the Strike Force and especially in this case by SBA OIG, TIGTA, and the Secret Service,” said U.S. Attorney Waldref. “We will continue to work together with our law enforcement partners to vigorously prosecute those who abuse and misuse COVID-19 relief funding, and to strengthen our communities by protecting our small and local businesses.”

The fraud charges carry sentences of up to 20 years in federal prison as well as restitution for fraudulently-obtained funds. This case was investigated by the Eastern District of Washington COVID-19 Fraud Strike Force and by SBA OIG, TIGTA, and the U.S. Secret Service. The cases are being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Dan Fruchter and Tyler H.L. Tornabene.

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

BEAUMONT, Texas – A Mexican national has been sentenced for an attempted prison escape in the Eastern District of Texas, announced U.S. Attorney Brit Featherston today.

Juan Fidencio Romo-De La Rosa, 39, of Muzquiz, Coahuila, Mexico, pleaded guilty on Dec. 28, 2021, to escape from federal custody and was sentenced to 27 months in federal prison by U.S. District Judge Thad Heartfield on July 27, 2022.  The 27-month sentence was ordered to be served following an eight-year sentence De La Rosa was already serving at the time of the attempted escape.  De La Rosa was previously convicted of transporting illegal aliens for financial gain and being a felon in possession of a firearm in 2019 in the Western District of Texas. 

According to court documents, on Oct. 7, 2020, officers at the Federal Correctional Institute (FCI)-Beaumont-Medium were alerted to an active fence alarm. Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) officers found an injured and bloodied inmate, identified as De La Rosa, in the process of climbing the outer perimeter razor wire fence. De La Rosa, bleeding from the razor wire, had already cleared an interior fence during his attempted escape. Upon being caught, De La Rosa surrendered to the guards at gun point without incident.

“Rest assured that those who threaten the safety and security of other inmates, staff, and the surrounding community, by escaping and attempting to escape from federal prison will be caught and will surely not escape justice either,” said U.S. Attorney Brit Featherston.  “Their reward instead, will be additional time in federal prison tacked on to their current sentence.”

This case was investigated by the FBI and Federal Bureau of Prisons and prosecuted by Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicole Stratso.

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Source: United States Department of Justice News

A Lorain man was sentenced to 105 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Pamela A. Barker on July 28, 2022, for his role in a drug trafficking organization responsible for distributing cocaine and heroin in the Lorain County area.

Prince Brown, 37, previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possession with intent to distribute cocaine and heroin, possession of a firearm as a felon and other drug possession charges.

Accoring to court documents, from January 2019 to September 2020, Brown and codefendant Mohammed Hamid engaged in a drug trafficking conspiracy that purchased large quantities of cocaine and heroin and redistributed the drugs to other traffickers in Cleveland, Lorain and Elyria, including codefendants Robert Starr, Darian Lopez, Devan Grantham and Amos Jackson. 

Court records state that Brown was arrested in December of 2019 in Cleveland and had in his possession at the time of the arrest  96 grams of heroin and other narcotic substances along with a loaded firearm and $20,000 in drug trafficking proceeds. 

Brown is prohibited from possessing a firearm due to previous convictions of drug trafficking in the Lorain County Common Pleas Court.

Previously sentenced in this matter were Richard Starr, 29, of Fairview Park, Ohio, to 160 months; Amos Jackson, 39, of Elyria, Ohio, to 48 months; Darian Lopez, 28, of Lorain, Ohio, to 32 months and Devan Grantham, 27, of Elyria, Ohio, to 12 months in federal prison.  Mohammed Hamid, 31, of Avon Lake, Ohio, previously pleaded guilty to his role in the conspiracy and will be sentenced in the future.

This case was investigated as part of Operation Synthetic Opioid Surge (S.O.S.)., an initiative that seeks to reduce the supply of deadly synthetic opioids and to identify wholesale distribution networks and international and domestic suppliers in Lorain County.

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Elyria Police Department, Lorain Police Department, Lorain County Drug Task Force and the FBI Cleveland conducted the investigation.  This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Vasile C. Katsaros and Robert F. Corts.

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 www.justice.gov/OCDETF.

 

Source: United States Department of Justice News

PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney Jacqueline C. Romero announced that Old Man’s Home of Philadelphia d/b/a Saunders House will pay $819,640 to settle claims that the skilled nursing facility provided medically unnecessary rehabilitation therapy to residents to maximize revenue, and without prioritizing clinical needs. Saunders House is located in Wynnewood, PA.

The settlement resolves allegations in a whistleblower complaint filed in federal court in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act. These provisions allow private citizens to bring civil actions on behalf of the United States and share in any recovery. The whistleblower, a physical therapist assistant who provided physical therapy services at Saunders House through his employment with a contracted therapy provider, generally alleged that Saunders House overbilled federal healthcare programs such as Medicare for therapy services. He alleged that Saunders House: (a) overbilled federal healthcare programs such as Medicare for therapy services provided; (b) billed for services not provided; (c) billed for unreasonable, unnecessary, and sometimes harmful therapy; and (d) allowed the therapy provider to manipulate clinical services to maximize billing.

During the relevant time period, Medicare Part A paid for services rendered to a beneficiary in a skilled nursing facility at a daily rate based, in part, on a Resource Utilization Group (RUG) to which the beneficiary is assigned. Each distinct RUG was intended to reflect the anticipated costs associated with providing nursing and rehabilitation services to beneficiaries with similar characteristics or resource needs. The highest reimbursement level was Ultra High or RU. The resolution is based on claims that Saunders House caused the submission of false claims for Ultra High RUG therapy levels despite evidence that the RU level of therapy was not reasonable or necessary for the respective patients.

“Focusing on profits over the needs of individual patients violates the public trust and creates a potential for harm of some of the most vulnerable among us,” said U.S. Attorney Romero. “It also shifts taxpayers’ funds away from the vital services of law-abiding therapy providers. We thank the whistleblower for helping to make the government aware of these allegations. We also thank Saunders House for fully cooperating with the government’s investigation—that cooperation was taken into account when determining an appropriate resolution of these allegations.”

“Protecting the integrity of our Medicare program is of the utmost importance,” said Special Agent in Charge Maureen R. Dixon of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Inspector General. “Patients need to depend on the decisions made by their health care providers and know those decisions are made to improve their conditions and not to increase providers’ individual profits. HHS-OIG will continue to work with the U.S. Attorney’s Office to investigate allegations of fraudulent actions.”  

Assistant United States Attorneys Landon Y. Jones III and Elizabeth L. Coyne handled the case in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, with assistance from auditor Dawn Wiggins, and worked with Albert Mayer, Trial Attorney, of the Civil Fraud Section of the Department of Justice. The case was investigated by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General.

The Department of Justice, committed to protecting our nation’s seniors through its Elder Justice Initiative, works in coordination with U.S. Attorneys’ Offices to support the efforts of state and local prosecutors, law enforcement, and other elder justice professionals to combat elder abuse, neglect and financial exploitation, with the development of training, resources and information. Learn more about the Justice Department’s Elder Justice Initiative at http://www.justice.gov/elderjustice.

The case is docketed as United States et al. ex rel. Carson v. Select Rehabilitation, Inc., et al., Civil Action No. 15-5708 (E.D. Pa.). The settled civil claims are allegations only. There has been no determination of civil liability.