Month: October 2022

Source: United States Department of Justice News

BOSTON – A father and son who own and operate two Woburn restaurants, Taste of Brazil—Tudo No Brasa and The Dog House, were arrested today and charged with human smuggling. 

Jesse James Moraes, 64, and Hugo Giovanni Moraes, 42, both of Woburn, were charged with conspiring to encourage and induce an alien to come to, enter, and reside in the United States for the purpose of commercial advantage or private financial gain, knowing and in reckless disregard of the fact that such coming to, entry, and residence is or will be in violation of law. Marcos Chacon, 29, also of Woburn, was charged with knowing transfer of a false identification document knowing that such document was produced without lawful authority, and with illegal reentry by a deported alien. The word “alien” is used in this release because it is the language utilized in the statute(s) these individuals are alleged to have violated.

Following an initial appearance this afternoon before U.S. District Court Chief Magistrate Judge M. Page Kelley in federal court in Boston, Jesse Moraes, Hugo Moraes and Marcos Chacon were detained pending a detention hearing.

Additionally, Chelbe Willams Moraes, a resident of Brazil, was charged in a four-count indictment unsealed today with conspiracy to encourage and induce an alien to come to, enter, and reside in the United States for financial gain; encouraging and inducing an alien to come to, enter, and reside in the United States for financial gain; money laundering; and money laundering conspiracy. He is the brother of Jesse Moraes and uncle of Hugo Moraes.

According to the charging documents, Chelbe Moraes and his coconspirators smuggled individuals from Brazil into the United States for a fee of approximately $18,000 – 22,000. Once the individuals were in the United States, Jesse Moraes and Hugo Moraes allegedly employed them in their restaurants in Woburn, withholding their wages in order to pay off their smuggling debts. Chelbe Moraes, Jesse Moraes and Hugo Moraes also allegedly gave or offered to give fake documentation to the individuals in order to support asylum claims or obtain work authorization. Marcos Chacon allegedly sold fake documentation to the individuals at the request of the Moraes defendants.

The charge of encouraging and inducing, and conspiring to encourage and induce, an alien to come to, enter, and reside in the United States for financial gain, knowing and in reckless disregard of the fact that such coming to, entry, and residence is or will be in violation of law provides for a sentence of up to 10 years in prison, up to three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000. The charge of knowing transfer of a false identification document knowing that such document was produced without lawful authority provides for a sentence of up to 15 years in prison, up to three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000. The charge of illegal reentry by a deported alien provides for a sentence of up to two years in prison, up to three years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000. The charges of money laundering and money laundering conspiracy provide for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of $500,000 or twice the amount involved in the transaction, whichever is greater. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutes which govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case.

United States Attorney Rachael S. Rollins; Matthew Millhollin, Special Agent in charge for the Homeland Security Investigations New England Field Office; Jonathan Mellone, Special Agent in Charge of the Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General; Joleen D. Simpson, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigations in Boston; and Woburn Police Chief Robet F. Rufo, Jr., made the announcement today. Valuable assistance in the investigation was provided by the Norwood Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorneys James D. Herbert, Kelly Lawrence and Samuel R. Feldman of Rollins’ Criminal Division are prosecuting the case.

The details contained in the charging documents are allegations. The defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

          LOS ANGELES – A Bay Area man and former FBI special agent was found guilty today by a federal jury of conspiring to accept at least $150,000 in cash bribes and other items of value in exchange for providing sensitive law enforcement information to a corrupt lawyer with ties to Armenian organized crime.

          Babak Broumand, 56, of Lafayette, California, was found guilty of one count of conspiracy, two counts of bribery of a public official, and one count of monetary transactions in property derived from specified unlawful activity.

          United States District Judge R. Gary Klausner scheduled a January 30, 2023 sentencing hearing, at which time Broumand will face statutory maximum sentences of 15 years in federal prison for each bribery count, 10 years in federal prison for each unlawful monetary transactions count, and five years in federal prison for the conspiracy count.

          Judge Klausner ordered Broumand remanded into federal custody.

          Broumand, an FBI special agent from January 1999 until shortly after search warrants were served on his home and businesses in 2018, was responsible for national security investigations and was assigned to the FBI Field Office in San Francisco.

          According to evidence presented at his 11-day trial, from January 2015 to December 2018, Broumand accepted cash, checks, private jet flights, a Ducati motorcycle, hotel stays, escorts, meals, and other items of value from an organized crime-linked lawyer – identified in court papers as “E.S” and each man acted to conceal the true nature of their corrupt relationship.

          In return for the bribe payments and other items of value, Broumand conducted law enforcement database inquiries and used those inquiries to help E.S. and his associates avoid prosecution and law enforcement monitoring. Specifically, Broumand informed E.S. whether a particular person or entity was under criminal investigation by stating that E.S. should “stay away” from that person or that they were “OK.”

          To conceal the nature of their corrupt relationship, Broumand made it falsely appear that E.S. was working as an FBI source. Broumand wrote reports after the fact to make it falsely appear that he conducted legitimate law enforcement database inquiries.

          In exchange for the illegal inquiries, E.S. paid Broumand at least $150,000 in cash and check bribes, including a Ducati motorcycle and accessories valued at more than $36,000. The bribes were deposited into the accounts for Love Bugs LLC, a Lafayette-based lice-removal hair salon business that Broumand and his wife started in 2007.

          Soon after the bribery scheme began, E.S. asked Broumand to query the FBI database for Levon Termendzhyan, an Armenian organized crime figure for whom E.S. had worked. The database search “rang all the bells” and revealed an FBI investigation in Los Angeles, according to court documents, which note that Broumand accessed the FBI case file on Termendzhyan repeatedly in January 2015. Broumand also allegedly accessed the Termendzhyan FBI case file in May 2016.

          Termendzhyan, a.k.a. “Lev Aslan Dermen,” was found guilty in March 2020 in federal court in Utah on criminal charges related to a $1 billion renewable fuel tax credit fraud scheme. He awaits sentencing.

          In December 2015, at E.S.’s request, Broumand searched a confidential FBI database for information about Sam Sarkis Solakyan, a medical imaging companies CEO, and later warned E.S. to “stay away” from Solakyan, who was “trouble,” meaning that Solakyan was under law enforcement investigation. Solakyan eventually was charged, tried, convicted and sentenced to five years in federal prison for running a scheme that submitted more than $250 million fraudulent claims through California’s workers compensation system.

          In May 2016, Broumand interfered with an FBI investigation into Felix Cisneros Jr., a corrupt special agent with Homeland Security Investigations who also had ties to Termendzhyan. Cisneros was convicted at trial in two different cases. The first trial, in 2018, resulted from Cisneros’s corrupt acts for Termendzhyan. The second trial, earlier this year, resulted from Cisneros’ corrupt acts for E.S. Cisneros is scheduled for sentencing on October 17.

          “Ensuring public confidence in those who investigate and enforce the law is paramount,” said United States Attorney Martin Estrada. “By taking bribes and gifts from a person he knew was linked to organized crime, Mr. Broumand breached the public trust placed in him and violated his oath of office, something which simply cannot be tolerated. The FBI’s agents and staff work tirelessly every day to keep us safe, and I am proud that they partnered with our Office to ferret out this corruption.”

          “The conviction of Mr. Broumand, a veteran FBI agent who chose greed over integrity and turned his back on the oath he swore to uphold, is proof that the FBI will root out corruption of any kind, to include veteran agents within its ranks,” said Don Alway, the Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office. “This prosecution was the result of hard work by multiple partner agencies to work through the painful truth of having to investigate one of its own.”

          “Broumand conspired with the very types of criminals he was trusted to investigate. Today’s guilty verdict sends a clear message that no one is above the law, and any Department of Justice employee who participates in these types of schemes will be brought to justice,” said Zachary Shroyer, Special Agent in Charge of the Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General Los Angeles Field Office.

          “All of us in law enforcement are held to a higher standard and this is no exception,” stated IRS Criminal Investigation Oakland Field Office Special Agent in Charge Mark H. Pearson. “The American public places high expectations on law enforcement to uphold and defend the law. While today is a blemish in our community as Babak Broumand, a former FBI Agent, was found guilty for conspiring, bribery, and money laundering; I want to emphasize and highlight the exceptional professionalism, integrity and dedication demonstrated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation special agents, the Office of Inspector General, DOJ, the United States Attorney’s Office – CDCA, and the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation, for their commitment to upholding the law and seeing that justice is sought in all cases regardless of a person’s affiliation. I want to thank our partners for entrusting us with this investigation, and hope that the American public sees our efforts as an example of what the good men and women in law enforcement represent.”

          The jury today also found Broumand not guilty of one count of bribery of a public official and one count of monetary transactions in property derived from specified unlawful activity.

          The FBI, the United States Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General, and IRS Criminal Investigation investigated this matter and were assisted at trial by the Department of Homeland Security, Office of the Inspector General.

          Assistant United States Attorney Ruth C. Pinkel of the Public Corruption and Civil Rights Section and Assistant United States Attorneys Michael J. Morse and Juan M. Rodríguez of the General Crimes Section are prosecuting this case.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

Vanessa Roberts Avery, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, today announced that Yale University, on behalf of Yale Medicine and the Yale Fertility Center, has entered into a civil settlement agreement with the federal government in which it will pay a total of $308,250 to resolve allegations that it violated civil provisions of the Controlled Substances Act.

The Yale Fertility Center is a fertility medical practice located on Yale University’s West Campus, in Orange, Connecticut.  The Yale Fertility Center is operated by Yale Medicine, the clinical practice for the Yale School of Medicine, and a component of Yale University (collectively, “Yale”).  The settlement resolves allegations that Yale failed to maintain complete and accurate records concerning the controlled substances it purchased and dispensed at the Yale Fertility Center, and failed to provide effective controls and procedures to guard against theft and diversion of controlled substances.

In November 2020, Donna Monticone, a nurse responsible for ordering and inventorying controlled substances at the Yale Fertility Center, was discovered to have tampered with vials of fentanyl.  The fentanyl was kept at the Yale Fertility Center for patient use during out-patient surgical fertility procedures.  A criminal investigation revealed that Monticone stole the fentanyl for her own use.  She withdrew the fentanyl from the vials, reinjected saline into the vials and reintroduced the vials into the stock of the Yale Fertility Center to be used during surgical procedures.

In March 2021, Monticone pleaded guilty in federal court to tampering with a consumer product.  A related civil investigation identified 685 separate occasions in which the record-keeping requirements of the Controlled Substances Act were allegedly violated by Yale.  The DEA’s audit of the Yale Fertility Center’s inventory of controlled substances revealed discrepancies of 665 units of controlled substances, including vials of fentanyl 100mcg, ketamine 10mg, and midazolam 2mg.  The investigation also found that Yale failed to maintain an initial inventory, failed to keep a record of destruction of controlled substances, and was unable to readily produce DEA e222 forms, which are required records for purchase and sale of Schedule II controlled substances.

Congress, with the passage of the Controlled Substances Act, took steps to create “a closed system” of distribution for controlled substances in which every facet of the handling of the substances – from their manufacture to their consumption by the ultimate user – was to be subject to intense governmental regulation.  This mission was taken against the backdrop of trying to prevent the diversion and abuse of legitimate controlled substances, while still ensuring that an adequate supply of those substances meet the medical and scientific needs of the United States. 

“This settlement highlights our office’s efforts to ensure compliance with the Controlled Substances Act,” said U.S. Attorney Avery.  “Healthcare providers’ obligations to keep accurate records and safeguard access to controlled substances are key to prevent diversion of these powerful drugs, and to ensure the safety of our community.”

“The DEA is committed to ensuring that all registrants are in compliance with the required regulations, which are enforceable through the Controlled Substances Act,” said Brian D. Boyle, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration for New England.  “Failure to do so increases the potential for diversion and jeopardizes public health and public safety.  DEA pledges to work with our law enforcement and regulatory partners to ensure these rules and regulations are followed.”

This investigation was conducted by the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Office of Diversion Control.  The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Sara Kaczmarek. 

Source: United States Department of Justice News

PITTSBURGH – A resident of Pittsburgh, PA, has been sentenced to 96 months imprisonment and four years of supervised release on charges of violating federal firearms and drug laws, United States Attorney Cindy K Chung announced today.

United States District Judge Robert J. Colville imposed the sentence on Brandon Washington, age 36, formerly of the City’s Spring Hill neighborhood.

According to information presented to the court, on March 4, 2021, Washington delivered a quantity of cocaine to an undercover narcotics detective with the City of Pittsburgh Bureau of Police in a hotel located on the North Shore of Pittsburgh. On March 18, 2021, DEA agents and members of the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police executed federal search warrants on several rooms utilized by Washington in the same hotel where the undercover drug buy took place. During the search of the hotel rooms detectives located crack cocaine and a semi-auto handgun that was possessed by Washington in furtherance of his drug trafficking crimes.

Assistant United States Attorney Michael R. Ball prosecuted this case on behalf of the government.

United States Attorney Chung commended the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police and the Drug Enforcement Administration for the investigation leading to the successful prosecution of Brandon Washington.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

ATLANTA – Anthony Mills, a former Atlanta gynecologist, and Raphael Ogunsusi, a licensed pharmacist who owned two pharmacies, have pleaded guilty for their roles in operating an Atlanta-area “pill mill” network that supplied addicts and drug dealers with large amounts of dangerous prescription drugs through illegal prescribing and dispensing.

“Mills and Ogunsusi are now admitted drug dealers who violated the public’s trust by engaging in black-market sales of staggering amounts of dangerous opioid pills,” said U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Buchanan.  “With opioid overdoses continuing to rise in Georgia, our office will continue to devote resources to prosecuting licensed professionals who fuel rather than help to stem the opioid epidemic.”

“The dispensing of addictive prescription pain medication under the guise of a doctor’s care isn’t about the good of the community or an individual’s specific health needs – it’s about greed,” said Robert J. Murphy, the Special Agent in Charge of the DEA’s Atlanta Field Division. “Individuals like these defendants who operated a ‘pill mill’ are nothing more than drug dealers who are licensed to wear white coats and carry stethoscopes. They will now face the consequences for their criminal actions.”

“These pleas should serve as a warning to any medical professional considering exploiting their patients for profit: you will be caught, you will be prosecuted, and you will pay a steep price,” said Lisa Fontanette, Assistant Special Agent in Charge IRS Criminal Investigation, Atlanta Field Office. “IRS-CI remains committed to working with our law enforcement partners to bring those seeking to enrich themselves at the expense of their patients, to justice.”

According to U.S. Attorney Buchanan, the charges and other information presented in court: Anthony Mills was a medical doctor licensed to practice medicine in the State of Georgia since 1997, and whose specialty was listed with the medical board as “Gynecology.”  Since at least October 2018, Mills operated a “pill mill” out of his personal residence, where he issued prescriptions for controlled substances (such as large quantities of oxycodone) to drug addicts and drug dealing “sponsors” in exchange for cash payments. Mills did not obtain necessary prior medical records of his “patients,” conduct physical exams, or do anything to establish a valid patient-physician relationship. Instead, he issued prescriptions in the names of individuals he never met or evaluated.  Some of the prescriptions that Mills issued were in the names of individuals whose identities had been stolen and others who were incarcerated or deceased at the time Mills wrote the prescriptions.

A large percentage of the illegitimate prescriptions written by Mills to drug-dealing sponsors were filled by licensed pharmacist Raphael Ogunsusi through his pharmacies, Evansmill Pharmacy and Retox Pharmacy.  Ogunsusi knew that Mills operated a pill mill out of his home, and that Mills prescribed in excess of medically appropriate dosages and combinations of controlled substances. But Ogunsusi nonetheless dispensed controlled substances pursuant to prescriptions issued by Mills and others, which Ogunsusi knew were issued without a legitimate medical purpose and outside the usual course of professional practice. 

Ogunsusi accepted large cash payments in exchange for filling these illegal prescriptions, including as much as $900 to fill just one prescription for oxycodone and $500 to fill one prescription for Percocet.  Ogunsusi knew these prices were well above the market value for legitimate prescriptions.  To disguise the significantly inflated prices that he was charging to dispense illegal controlled substance prescriptions, Ogunsusi falsified, and directed others to falsify, the pricing information on his pharmacy computers to give the appearance that he had charged market prices for the controlled substance prescriptions.  Ogunsusi also required sponsors to purchase a battery of additional non-controlled substances, which he referred to as the “Shebang,” as a condition for filling illegal controlled substance prescriptions.  The purpose of these non-controlled substances was to maximize profits for his illegal dispensing. Ogunsusi also directed his pharmacy employees, including another licensed pharmacist, to dispense the illegal prescriptions.

Ogunsusi also pled guilty to money laundering based upon his purchase of an airplane using the proceeds of his illegal drug dispensing and distribution.

In addition to Mills and Ogunusi, pharmacist Moses Kirigwi, as well as sponsors Brittany Tinker and Keandre Bates, pleaded guilty to conspiring with Mills and Ogunsusi.  Criminal charges remain pending against eight additional defendants.

Anthony Mills, 56, of Atlanta, Georgia, will be sentenced on February 7, 2023.  Keandre Bates and Moses Kirigwi will be sentenced on February 6, 2023.  Sentencing dates for Ogunsusi and Brittany Tinker have not yet been scheduled.

This case is being investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration and Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys David A. O’Neal and Laurel Boatright Milam are prosecuting the case.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Atlanta recommends parents and children learn about the dangers of drugs at the following web site: www.justthinktwice.gov.

For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at USAGAN.PressEmails@usdoj.gov or (404) 581-6016.  The Internet address for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia is http://www.justice.gov/usao-ndga.