Month: September 2022

Source: United States Department of Justice News

Ocala, Florida – Senior United States District Judge John Antoon II has sentenced Ronrico Lionel Farmer (33, Ocala) to five years and four months in federal prison for possessing a firearm as a convicted felon. Farmer had pleaded guilty on June 16, 2022.

According to court documents, on April 17, 2021, a City of Ocala police officer conducted a traffic stop of a vehicle driven by Farmer. Farmer gave the officer a false name to conceal his suspended license. A subsequent search of the vehicle revealed a powdery substance (fentanyl), which Farmer referred to as “his children’s candy,” on the driver’s door and floorboard. Also on the floorboard, the officer discovered a loaded 9mm handgun with an extended magazine. The FBI conducted a DNA analysis of the recovered firearm and determined, with a likelihood ratio of 190 sextillion, that Farmer’s DNA was on the weapon. As a multi-convicted felon, Farmer is prohibited from possessing firearms or ammunition under federal law.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the City of Ocala Police Department. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Robert E. Bodnar, Jr.

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 gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

GOL Linhas Aéreas Inteligentes S.A. (GOL), an airline headquartered in São Paulo, Brazil, will pay more than $41 million to resolve parallel bribery investigations by criminal and civil authorities in the United States and Brazil. According to court documents, GOL entered into a three-year deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) with the Department of Justice in connection with a criminal information filed in the District of Maryland charging the company with conspiracy to violate the anti-bribery and books and records provisions of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA).

Pursuant to the DPA, GOL will pay a criminal penalty of $17 million. The department has agreed to credit up to $1.7 million of that criminal penalty against an approximately $3.4 million fine the company has agreed to pay to authorities in Brazil in connection with related proceedings to resolve an investigation by the Controladoria-Geral da União (CGU) and the Advocacia-Geral de União (Attorney General’s Office). In addition, GOL will give up approximately $24.5 million over two years as part of the resolution of a parallel investigation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).  

“GOL paid millions of dollars in bribes to foreign officials in Brazil in exchange for the passage of legislation that was beneficial to the airline,” said Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “The company entered into fraudulent contracts with third-party vendors for the purpose of generating and concealing the funds necessary to perpetrate this criminal conduct, and then falsely recorded the sham payments in their own books. Today’s resolution demonstrates the Department of Justice’s commitment to holding accountable companies that corrupt the functions of government for their own financial gain.”  

“Our office’s strong working relationship with the Department of Justice’s Fraud Section demonstrates our commitment to weed out corruption by companies that operate throughout Maryland,” said U.S. Attorney Erek Barron for the District of Maryland. “I am committed to ensuring that any company operating in this District does so lawfully and ethically without corrupt conduct.”

“Companies bribing their way to profits will ultimately pay the price for their crimes,” said Assistant Director Luis Quesada of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division. “GOL paid off foreign officials to pass favorable legislation and then tried to conceal its bribes as legitimate transactions. Today’s settlement is proof that the FBI and our law enforcement partners will work to eliminate corruption anywhere it occurs, whether at home or abroad.”

According to the company’s admissions and court documents, between 2012 and 2013, GOL conspired to offer and pay approximately $3.8 million in bribes to foreign officials in Brazil. Specifically, GOL caused multiple bribe payments to be made to various officials in Brazil to secure the passage of two pieces of legislation favorable to GOL. The legislation involved certain payroll tax and fuel tax reductions that financially benefitted GOL, along with other Brazilian airlines.

According to court documents, in order to effectuate the bribery scheme, a member of GOL’s Board of Directors caused GOL to enter into sham contracts with, and make payments to, various entities connected to the relevant Brazilian officials. GOL maintained books and records that falsely listed the corrupt payments as legitimate expenses, including as advertising expenses and other services.    

As part of the DPA, GOL has agreed to continue to cooperate with the department in any ongoing or future criminal investigations relating to this conduct. In addition, under the agreement, GOL agreed to continue to enhance its compliance program and provide reports to the department regarding remediation and the implementation of compliance measures for the term of the DPA.

The government reached this resolution with GOL based on a number of factors, including, among others, the nature, seriousness, and pervasiveness of the offense. GOL received full credit for its cooperation with the department’s investigation, which included, among other things, timely providing the facts obtained through the company’s internal investigation – which included reviewing voluminous documents, interviewing witnesses, conducting background checks, and testing over two thousand transactions. The company promptly engaged in remedial measures by, among other things, redesigning its entire anti-corruption program. Accordingly, the criminal penalty calculated under the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines reflects a 25% reduction off the bottom of the applicable guidelines fine range.  Due to GOL’s financial condition and demonstrated inability to pay the penalty calculated under the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, however, GOL and the department agreed, consistent with the department’s inability to pay guidance, that the appropriate criminal penalty is $17 million. 

The FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office is investigating the case. Assistant Chief Derek J. Ettinger and Trial Attorney Joseph McFarlane of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section, as well as Assistant U.S. Attorney David I. Salem of the District of Maryland, are prosecuting the case. Authorities in Brazil provided assistance in this matter, as did the Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs.

The Fraud Section is responsible for investigating and prosecuting FCPA matters. Additional information about the Justice Department’s FCPA enforcement efforts can be found at www.justice.gov/criminal-fraud/foreign-corrupt-practices-act.

Source: United States Department of Justice

A federal grand jury in Yakima, Washington, returned an indictment charging a Washington woman and her now-closed company with manufacturing and distributing tainted fruit juice and deceiving customers about the contaminated products.

The indictment alleges that Mary Ann Bliesner, 80, of Sunnyside, Washington, and her company, Valley Processing Inc. (VPI), conspired with others to distribute tainted and potentially unsafe apple and grape juice concentrate to customers in the United States and abroad. The indictment alleges that between October 2012 and June 2019, Bliesner’s juice products were made under insanitary conditions and contained potentially harmful levels of contaminants, such as arsenic.

The indictment further alleges that Bliesner (the former president and primary owner of VPI) and VPI lied to customers about the age and quality of their products. The indictment alleges that in some instances, the defendants sold juice products after storing them for years outside and exposed to the elements. According to the indictment, at least some of those products later were sold to customers who supplied the National School Lunch Program, which provides free or reduced-cost lunches to children. The indictment additionally alleges that Bliesner and VPI failed to register two facilities that they used to store fruit juice products and lied to inspectors with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) about the existence and use of those facilities. 

In November 2020, the United States filed a civil complaint in federal court seeking to enjoin Bliesner and VPI from producing, storing or selling juice or juice products. In January 2021, Bliesner and VPI agreed to a consent injunction in which Bliesner and VPI promised that they were no longer processing, manufacturing, preparing, packing, holding or distributing any type of food, and would not do so in the future without first notifying and receiving approval from the FDA. VPI subsequently closed.

The criminal indictment returned today charges Bliesner with 12 felony counts of fraud, conspiracy, false statements, and violating the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. The defendant is scheduled for her initial court appearance Oct. 5 before U.S. Magistrate Judge Alex Ekstrom of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington. If convicted, she faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

The FDA’s Office of Criminal Investigations investigated the case. Trial Attorney James J. Hennelly and Senior Trial Attorney David Gunn of the Justice Department’s Civil Division’s Consumer Protection Branch, and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Dan Fruchter and Tyler H.L. Tornabene for the Western District of Washington are prosecuting the case.

For more information about the enforcement efforts of the Consumer Protection Branch, visit their website at http://www.justice.gov/civil/consumer-protection-branch.

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

The Justice Department today announced a settlement agreement with New Bedford Public Schools to resolve the department’s investigation into the school district’s practices for communicating with limited English proficient parents and guardians, including speakers of K’iche’, an Indigenous Mayan language. 

Among other steps, the district will implement effective measures to correctly identify the languages spoken by students, as well as parents and guardians, so that school staff do not assume K’iche’ speakers are native Spanish speakers based on their country of origin. The district has also agreed to improve its practices and professional development to address the specific needs of English learner students who speak K’iche’ so that they can access the same educational opportunities as other students in the district. 

“Students and families from Indigenous Maya communities often face unique barriers to accessing educational opportunities,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “This comprehensive agreement ensures that the district recognizes and addresses the needs of its substantial population of K’iche’-speaking students, and empowers parents to participate fully in their children’s education. The Civil Rights Division is committed to protecting every child’s right to equally participate in school.”  

The agreement results from the department’s investigation under the Equal Educational Opportunities Act of 1974, opened in 2020. The district cooperated at every stage of the investigation and committed to improving its programs through revised practices and professional development. The Justice Department will monitor the district’s implementation of the settlement agreement for at least three full school years to ensure that the district complies with its obligations.

The enforcement of the Equal Educational Opportunities Act of 1974 is a top priority of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. Additional information about the Civil Rights Division is available on its website at www.justice.gov/crt.

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

A federal jury convicted a Kentucky man today for illegally prescribing controlled substances Oxycontin, Klonopin, Ambien, and Valium in violation of the Controlled Substances Act.  

According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Dr. David Suetholz, 71, of Ludlow, unlawfully prescribed controlled substances to his patients outside the usual course of professional practice and not for a legitimate medical purpose. Some patients were prescribed high doses of medication and in dangerous combinations without justification. Suetholz also prescribed to patients without assessing their risks for addiction or their past history of substance abuse.

Suetholz was convicted of 12 counts of unlawful distribution of a controlled substance. He is scheduled to be sentenced on March 22, 2023, and faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison on each 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 Carlton S. Shier, IV for the Eastern District of Kentucky; Assistant Director Luis Quesada of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division; Administrator Anne Milgram of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA); Special Agent in Charge Tamala E. Miles of the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG); and Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron made the announcement.

The FBI, DEA, HHS-OIG, and the Kentucky Medicaid Fraud Control Unit investigated the case.

Trial Attorneys Dermot Lynch and Maryam Adeyola of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section are prosecuting the case.