Month: August 2022

Source: United States Department of Justice News

The Justice Department tonight issued the following statement from Attorney General Merrick B. Garland following the U.S. District Court of the District of Idaho’s decision to issue a preliminary injunction blocking the enforcement of Idaho’s ban on abortion as applied to medical care required by the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA). The law, Idaho Code § 18-622, prohibits abortion even when abortion is the medically necessary treatment to stabilize a patient’s emergency medical condition.

On Aug. 2, the Justice Department filed a lawsuit challenging the law on the grounds that it is preempted by EMTALA. It is set to go into effect on Thurs., Aug. 25. 

“Today’s decision by the District Court for the District of Idaho ensures that women in the State of Idaho can obtain the emergency medical treatment to which they are entitled under federal law.  This includes abortion when that is the necessary treatment. As the District Court ruled, a state law that attempts to prevent a hospital from fulfilling its obligations under EMTALA violates federal law and the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. 

“The Department of Justice will continue to use every tool at its disposal to defend the reproductive rights protected by federal law.

“The Department disagrees with yesterday’s decision by the District Court for the Northern District of Texas, which preliminarily enjoins the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ July 11, 2022 guidance on EMTALA and Secretary Becerra’s accompanying letter as applied to the plaintiffs in that litigation. We are considering appropriate next steps.”

The Justice Department is committed to protecting access to reproductive services. Following the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs, the Justice Department established the Reproductive Rights Task Force, chaired by Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta. The Task Force is charged with protecting access to reproductive freedom under federal law. For additional information on the work of the Task Force visit www.justice.gov/reproductive-rights.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

CHICAGO — A man has admitted in federal court that he robbed eight Chicago-area banks over a seven-month period in 2019.

MANUEL MARTINEZ, 26, of Chicago, pleaded guilty Tuesday to three counts of bank robbery.  Martinez admitted in a plea agreement that he robbed a total of eight banks in Chicago and nearby suburbs from April to September of 2019.

Two co-defendants – ANDRES ADAME, 37, of Melrose Park, Ill., and AARON FLORES, 24, of Chicago – previously pleaded guilty to three counts of bank robbery apiece and admitted to participating with Martinez in some of the heists.

Each count of bank robbery is punishable by up to 20 years in federal prison.  U.S. District Judge Ronald A. Guzman set sentencings for Oct. 4, 2022, for Adame; Oct. 13, 2022, for Flores; and Nov. 30, 2022, for Martinez.

The guilty pleas were announced by John R. Lausch, Jr., United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; Ashley Johnson, Acting Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI; and David Brown, Superintendent of the Chicago Police Department.  Valuable assistance was provided by the Elmwood Park Police Department, Park Ridge Police Department, Franklin Park Police Department, Niles Police Department, and Schiller Park Police Department.  The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Ashley A. Chung.

Martinez, Adame, and Flores admitted to participating in the following robberies:

• Citibank, 3535 N. Central Ave. in Chicago, on Sept. 17, 2019.
• TCF Bank, 1 W. Devon Ave. in Park Ridge, Ill., on Sept. 18, 2019.
• PNC Bank, 10272 W. Grand Ave. in Franklin Park, Ill., on Sept. 26, 2019.
• Fifth Third Bank, 5670 N. Milwaukee Ave. in Chicago, on Sept. 27, 2019.
• U.S. Bank, 7312 W. Grand Ave. in Elmwood Park, Ill., on Oct. 2, 2019.

Martinez and Adame also admitted to participating in the following robberies:

• Chase Bank, 7007 Dempster St. in Niles, Ill., on April 6, 2019.
• TCF Bank, 9343 W. Irving Park Rd. in Schiller Park, Ill., on Sept. 6, 2019.

In addition, Martinez admitted to robbing Citibank, 3535 N. Central Ave. in Chicago, on April 10, 2019, while Adame admitted to robbing U.S. Bank, 10035 W. Grand Ave. in Franklin Park, Ill., on Feb. 2, 2019, and Chase Bank, 2639 N. Milwaukee Ave. in Chicago, on April 27, 2019.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

SHREVEPORT, La. – United States Attorney Brandon B. Brown announced that a Shreveport Police Department (SPD) officer has been indicted by a federal grand jury. The indictment, which was returned today, charges James Cisco, 51, of Shreveport, with six counts of wire fraud.

The indictment alleges that beginning on or about January 6, 2020, and continuing through on or about at least January 19, 2021, Cisco knowingly devised a scheme to defraud the City of Shreveport out of funds which were designated for overtime pay to SPD officers. It is alleged that Cisco claimed overtime for which he had not worked and received payments for unworked overtime.

It is alleged in the indictment that Cisco submitted falsified reports to the SPD stating he worked overtime hours for the SPD on the Community-Based Crime Reduction (CBCR) Grant and certified that he had worked the hours. It is further alleged in the indictment that on three of the dates Cisco submitted falsified reports, the SPD mobile device assigned to him was in the East Texas area during the same period he claimed to be working overtime in Shreveport for the SPD. The indictment also alleges that on five other occasions, Cisco submitted falsified reports claiming to have worked overtime, and records show that he was working at an off-duty job for another company at the same time. 

The Innovations in Community-Based Crime Reduction (CBCR) Program is administered by the Department of Justice and seeks to reduce crime and improve community safety in distressed, high-crime neighborhoods. As part of the program, CBCR awards grants to local and tribal communities to be used for overtime for police officers. The City of Shreveport received a CBCR award grant which was used in 2020 to pay for officers with the SPD to work overtime details and provided officers with 1.5 times their regular rate of pay for overtime hours worked.

An indictment is merely an accusation and a defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

If convicted, Cisco faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, 3 years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000. 

This is an ongoing investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Justice-Office of Inspector General and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Seth D. Reeg.

# # #

Source: United States Department of Justice News

A federal grand jury in Miami returned an indictment today charging a Venezuelan national for laundering the proceeds of substantially inflated procurement contracts obtained by making bribe payments to senior officials at Petropiar, a joint venture between Venezuela’s state-owned and state-controlled energy company and an American oil company.  

According to the indictment, from at least 2015 through at least May 2019, Rafael Rixon Rafael Moreno Oropeza, 46, allegedly engaged in a scheme to obtained multimillion-dollar contracts from Petropiar by paying bribes to senior officials at Petropiar. Moreno allegedly agreed to pay a $1 million bribe to a senior official in the Venezuelan government to install another person as a high-ranking official in the procurement division of Petropiar. In addition, Moreno allegedly sent millions of dollars in bribe payments to senior Petropiar officials from accounts he controlled in South Florida. In exchange for these bribe payments, Moreno allegedly received benefits including over $30 million in payments on contracts from Petropiar to accounts Moreno controlled in South Florida. Illustrative of this, Moreno received approximately $2.7 million from a Petropiar contract to supply breathing devices, a contract whose price had been allegedly inflated to 100 times the actual cost. Moreno allegedly used the proceeds obtained from the Petropiar contracts for his own personal benefit, including to purchase real estate, a private jet, and luxury vehicles in South Florida. 

Moreno is charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering; concealment money laundering; international promotional money laundering; and engaging in transactions involving criminally derived property. If convicted, Moreno faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison for each count of money laundering and conspiracy to commit money laundering and up to 10 years in prison for each count of engaging in transactions in criminally derived property. 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 Juan Antonio Gonzalez of the Southern District of Florida, Special Agent in Charge Anthony Salisbury of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Miami Field Office, and Special Agent in Charge Matthew D. Line of the IRS Criminal Investigation’s (IRS-CI) Miami Field Office made the announcement.

HSI’s Miami Field Office and IRS-CI Miami Field Office investigated this case.

Trial Attorney Alexander Kramer of the Justice Department’s Fraud Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Berger of the Southern District of Florida are prosecuting the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Sara Klco of the Southern District of Florida is handling asset forfeiture.

The Criminal Division’s Fraud Section is responsible for investigating and prosecuting all FCPA matters. Additional information about the Justice Department’s FCPA enforcement efforts can be found at www.justice.gov/criminal/fraud/fcpa.

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

Source: United States Department of Justice News

MONROE, La. – Delon Scott, 34, of Hahnville, Louisiana, has been sentenced by United States District Judge Terry A. Doughty, announced United States Attorney Brandon B. Brown. Scott was sentenced to 180 months in prison, followed by 5 years of supervised release, on drug trafficking and possession of firearms charges.

Scott pleaded guilty May 17, 2022 to a Bill of Information charging him with possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine and possession of firearms in furtherance of drug trafficking. According to evidence presented to the court, Scott was stopped by a Mangham, Louisiana police officer on December 8, 2020 for speeding. During the course of the traffic stop, law enforcement officers developed probable cause to search the vehicle. Inside the vehicle, officers found methamphetamine, a pocket scale and Ziploc bags. In addition, the following four firearms were found underneath the hood of the vehicle: a Taurus 9mm pistol, a Glock 9mm pistol, a FEG PA-63 9x18mm pistol, and a Smith and Wesson Bodyguard .380 pistol.

The seized narcotics were sent to the North Louisiana Criminalistics Laboratory for analysis and their testing confirmed that the amount of pure methamphetamine exceeded 50 grams.

The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, Rapides Parish Sheriff’s Office and Mangham Police Department, and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jessica D. Cassidy.

# # #