Month: October 2022

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Security News: Previously convicted sex offender sent to prison again

Source: United States Department of Justice News

McALLEN, Texas – A 35-year-old non-U.S. citizen illegally residing in Palmview has been ordered to federal prison for obtaining child pornography and being unlawfully present in the United States, announced U.S. Attorney Jennifer B. Lowery.

Jose Ricardo Zamora-Ibarra pleaded guilty Dec. 14, 2021.

Today, U.S. District Judge Randy Crane ordered Zamora-Ibarra to serve a total of 180 months in federal prison. Not a U.S. citizen, he is expected to face removal proceedings following his imprisonment. Zamora-Ibarra was further ordered to pay $15,000 in restitution to known victims and must register as a sex offender.

At the time of his plea, Zamora-Ibarra admitted to downloading over 250 files of child pornography utilizing a peer-to-peer platform.

During the course of the investigation, authorities recovered Zamora-Ibarra’s laptop computer and an external hard drive. A forensic examination of the files determined the videos and images depicted prepubescent children engaged in sexually-explicit conduct. Zamora-Ibarra saved the child pornography onto his devices into created files named “preteen boy sex” and “preteen girl sex.”

Zamora-Ibarra was previously convicted of sexual assault of a child and subsequently removed from the United States. He then illegally re-entered the country without authorization.  

He will remain in custody pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.

Homeland Security Investigations conducted the investigation with the assistance of the U.S. Marshals Service and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.  

Assistant U.S. Attorney Devin V. Walker prosecuted the case, which was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood (PSC), a nationwide initiative the Department of Justice (DOJ) launched in May 2006 to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section leads PSC, which marshals federal, state and local resources to locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children and identifies and rescues victims. For more information about PSC, please visit DOJ’s PSC page. For more information about internet safety education, please visit the resources tab on that page.

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Security News: Luzerne County Man Sentenced To Five Years’ Imprisonment For Methamphetamine Trafficking

Source: United States Department of Justice News

SCRANTON – The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced that Michael Marchese, age 30, of Swoyersville, Luzerne County, was sentenced on October 3, 2022, by U.S. District Court Judge Robert D. Mariani, to five years’ imprisonment on the charge of conspiracy to distribute more than fifty grams of methamphetamine. 

According to United States Attorney Gerard M. Karam, Marchese previously entered a guilty plea and admitted to conspiring with other individuals to distribute methamphetamine in the Luzerne County area in 2020. The charge resulted from an investigation in May 2020 in which police obtained a search warrant for a residence in Swoyersville where Marchese was residing and seized crystal methamphetamine, a scale, drug packing materials, and $2245 in U.S. Currency.

The investigation was conducted by the Luzerne County Drug Task Force, the Kingston Police Department, the Swoyersville Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF).  Assistant United States Attorney Robert J. O’Hara prosecuted the case.

This case is also 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.

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Security News: Former Rensselaer County Corrections Officer Pleads Guilty to Sexual Abuse of Inmate

Source: United States Department of Justice News

Sean Morrissey Admitted Rubbing Genitalia of Federal Inmate while she was in Rensselaer County Correctional Facility in September 2018

SYRACUSE, NEW YORK – Sean Morrissey, age 51, of Waterford, New York, pled guilty today to abusive sexual contact of a ward, announced United States Attorney Carla B. Freedman and Janeen DiGuiseppi, Special Agent in Charge of the Albany Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

Morrissey pled guilty today before United States District Judge Glenn T. Suddaby in Syracuse.  As part of the plea, Morrissey admitted that between September 7, 2018 and September 21, 2018, while he was a corrections officer at Rensselaer County Correctional Facility, he knowingly rubbed the genitalia of a female federal inmate, with the intent to abuse, humiliate, harass, degrade, or arouse or gratify the sexual desire of a person.

Sentencing is scheduled before Judge Suddaby in Albany on February 23, 2023.  Morrissey faces a maximum sentence of 2 years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, and a term of supervised release of up to 1 year.  A defendant’s sentence is imposed by a judge based on the particular statute the defendant is charged with violating, the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other factors.

This case was investigated by the FBI and the Rensselaer County Sheriff’s Office, and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Benjamin S. Clark.

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Security News: Owner of Northeast Philadelphia Pharmacy Sentenced to 3 ½ Years for Conspiracy to Distribute Oxycodone and Fraud

Source: United States Department of Justice News

The Fox Chase-area Pharmacy and Pharmacist also agreed to resolve a Civil Fraud and Controlled Substance Liability Lawsuit for Over $4 Million in August

PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney Jacqueline C. Romero announced that Mitchell Spivack, 63, of Collegeville, PA, was sentenced to three years and six months in prison, two years of supervised release, and ordered to pay $451,328 restitution and to forfeit $116,000 by United States District Court Judge Harvey Bartle III, for conspiracy to distribute controlled substances and healthcare fraud. These charges were the result of a joint investigation between the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General.

In June 2022, the defendant pleaded guilty to a Criminal Information charging him with these offenses. According to the charging documents, Spivack owned Verree Pharmacy, a small neighborhood pharmacy located in the Fox Chase section of Philadelphia, and was the pharmacist in charge for more than thirty years. During that time in business, Spivack and his coconspirators allegedly cultivated Verree’s reputation as a “no questions asked” pharmacy for oxycodone and other dangerous and addictive opioid drugs. By 2016, Verree was the largest purchaser of oxycodone among retail pharmacies in the entire Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. In furtherance of the conspiracy, Spivack and his coconspirators filled prescriptions for wholesale quantities of high-dose oxycodone despite obvious alterations to the prescriptions and other red flags indicating that the drugs were not for a legitimate medical purpose. In addition, Spivack and other employees of Verree submitted entirely fraudulent claims to health care benefit programs for prescription drugs not dispensed. These drugs were designated in patient profiles as “BBDF” which was an acronym for “Bill But Don’t Fill.” From 2013 through 2019, Medicare and other insurers paid over $450,000 for these bogus claims.

In August 2022, U.S. Attorney Romero announced that the United States filed a civil judgment with Philadelphia-based Spivack, Inc., previously operating under the name Verree Pharmacy, and defendant Spivack, to resolve allegations similar to the criminal charges. The pharmacy and Spivack have agreed to pay over $4.1 million to resolve their civil liability under the Controlled Substances Act, False Claims Act, and forfeiture. The judgment also permanently bans them from ever dispensing controlled substances in the future.

“Pharmacies and pharmacists engage in the deepest violation of the community’s trust when they exploit their access to opioids and other controlled substances and illegally dispense the drugs for their own financial gain,” said U.S. Attorney Romero. “It is even more disturbing when pharmacists take advantage of their position of trust by fraudulently billing Medicare and other federal health care programs. Our Office will use every resource it has to pursue and hold these individuals accountable, including criminal charges and civil penalties, as was the case here.”

“Mitchell Spivack filled prescriptions outside of medical standards for the highly addictive drug oxycodone, adding fuel to the fire of a crisis that kills 14 Pennsylvanians every day,” said Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro. “Pharmacies and medical professionals have a responsibility under the law to dispense these drugs only when appropriate. Nothing will bring back the lives we’ve lost to this epidemic, but today’s sentence holds Spivack, and Verree pharmacy, accountable for their actions.” 

If the public has any information regarding health care fraud allegation, individuals should contact the HHS-OIG hotline at 800-HHS-TIPS.

The criminal case was investigated by the Philadelphia Field Division of the Drug Enforcement Administration, HHS-OIG, the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General Bureau of Narcotics Investigation, and the Pennsylvania Department of State’s Bureau of Enforcement and Investigation. The criminal case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney M. Beth Leahy and Special Assistant United States Attorney Linda Montag, who was specially designated by the PA OAG. The civil case is being handled by Assistant United States Attorneys Sarah Grieb and Anthony D. Scicchitano.  

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Security News: Kanawha County Man Pleads Guilty to Federal Gun Crime

Source: United States Department of Justice News

CHARLESTON, W.Va. – Jonathan Kennedy, 41, of St. Albans, pleaded guilty today to being a felon in possession of a firearm.

According to court documents and statements made in court, on June 30, 2022, law enforcement officers were dispatched to Leon Sullivan Way in Charleston in response to a report of shots fired. Officers found a bullet hole at the entrance of Jet Life Apparel and obtained a search warrant for the store’s video surveillance system, which showed two firearms inside the store: a Dickinson, model XXPA, 12-gauge shotgun; and a Smith & Wesson, model M&P 15, 5.56-caliber rifle. The video surveillance footage also showed Kennedy running across the store while holding the shotgun following an apparent altercation outside.

Officers recovered both firearms from a vehicle in an alley near Jet Life Apparel. Each firearm was loaded with a high-capacity drum magazine.

Federal law prohibits a person with a prior felony conviction from possessing a firearm or ammunition. Kennedy knew he was prohibited from possessing a firearm because of his felony convictions for interstate travel in aid of drug trafficking and use of a communication facility in furtherance of an unlawful act in the United States District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia on December 3, 2014.

Kennedy is scheduled to be sentenced on January 25, 2023, and faces a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a $250,000 fine.

United States Attorney Will Thompson made the announcement and commended the investigative work of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and the Charleston Police Department.

Chief United States District Judge Thomas E. Johnston presided over the hearings. Assistant United States Attorney Nowles Heinrich is prosecuting the case.

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.

A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of West Virginia. Related court documents and information can be found on PACER by searching for Case No. 2:22-cr-145.

 

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