Month: November 2022

Source: United States Department of Justice News

MACON, Ga. – A Macon resident who was previously convicted and sentenced to ten years imprisonment for voluntary manslaughter in Bibb County pleaded guilty to a federal gun charge resulting from Operation United Front, an ongoing ATF-led investigation into illegal gun possession and drug distribution in Middle Georgia utilizing the National Integrated Ballistic Information Network (NIBIN).

Jeffery Maurice Willis, 44, of Macon, pleaded guilty to possession of a firearm by a convicted felon before U.S. District Judge Marc Treadwell on Oct. 27. Willis faces a maximum sentence of ten years imprisonment to be followed by three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine.

“We will use every resource available to protect our communities from the threat of illegal gun possession,” said U.S. Attorney Peter D. Leary. “Working with law enforcement, our office will hold violent felons caught possessing or selling guns accountable at the federal level.”

“There is no initiative more critical to ATF than increasing the safety of our communities,” said ATF Special Agent in Charge Beau Kolodka. “Cases which result in the arrest and prosecution of violent criminals are fundamental to continuing this initiative while simultaneously showing criminals that ATF and its law enforcement partners will not falter in this mission.”

“Jeffery Willis is an example of misdeeds happening in the past affecting someone’s future. Mr. Willis’ prosecution should serve as a reminder that a firearm violence conviction as a young person has serious consequences when that person decides to take up arms later in life,” said Bibb County Sheriff David Davis.

According to court documents, ATF agents observed and recorded Willis sell a .44 revolver and five rounds of ammunition in Macon on May 6, 2021. Willis had been previously convicted of voluntary manslaughter in case number 97CR47052 in the Superior Court of Bibb County, Georgia, on Oct. 20, 1997. It is illegal for a convicted felon to possess a firearm.

This case is being prosecuted as part of the joint federal, state, and local Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) Program, the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts. PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime. Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and the Bibb County Sheriff’s Office investigated the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Will Keyes is prosecuting the case.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

WHEELING, WEST VIRGINIA – United States Attorney William Ihlenfeld announced today that Assistant United States Attorney (AUSA) Stephen D. Warner will lead the efforts of his office in connection with the Justice Department’s nationwide Election Day Program for the upcoming November 8, 2022, general election.  AUSA Warner has been appointed to serve as the District Election Officer (DEO) for the Northern District of West Virginia, and in that capacity is responsible for overseeing the District’s handling of election day complaints of voting rights concerns, threats of violence to election officials or staff, and election fraud, in consultation with Justice Department Headquarters in Washington.

The Department of Justice has an important role in deterring and combatting discrimination and intimidation at the polls, threats of violence directed at election officials and poll workers, and election fraud.  The Department will address these violations wherever they occur.  The Department’s longstanding Election Day Program furthers these goals and also seeks to ensure public confidence in the electoral process by providing local points of contact within the Department for the public to report possible federal election law violations.

Federal law protects against such crimes as threatening violence against election officials or staff, intimidating or bribing voters, buying and selling votes, impersonating voters, altering vote tallies, stuffing ballot boxes, and marking ballots for voters against their wishes or without their input.  It also contains special protections for the rights of voters, and provides that they can vote free from interference, including intimidation, and other acts designed to prevent or discourage people from voting or voting for the candidate of their choice.  The Voting Rights Act protects the right of voters to mark their own ballot or to be assisted by a person of their choice (where voters need assistance because of disability or inability to read or write in English).  

In order to respond to complaints of voting rights concerns and election fraud during the upcoming election, and to ensure that such complaints are directed to the appropriate authorities, AUSA/DEO Warner will be on duty in the District while the polls are open.  He can be reached by the public at the following telephone number: 304-637-2121.

In addition, the FBI will have special agents available in each field office and resident agency throughout the country to receive allegations of election fraud and other election abuses on election day.  The local FBI field office can be reached by the public at 412-432-4000.

Complaints about possible violations of the federal voting rights laws can be made directly to the Civil Rights Division in Washington, DC by phone at 800-253-3931 or by complaint form at https://civilrights.justice.gov/ .

Please note, however, in the case of a crime of violence or intimidation, please call 911 immediately and before contacting federal authorities.  State and local police have primary jurisdiction over polling places, and almost always have faster reaction capacity in an emergency.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

AKRON – Deepak Raheja, 66, of Hudson, Ohio, and Frank Mazzucco, 44, of Dublin, Ohio, pleaded guilty on Monday, Oct. 31, 2022, to their roles in a pharmaceutical kickback conspiracy in which Raheja, a licensed Ohio physician, wrote prescriptions for a drug to patients that did not have the condition in exchange for money and other items of value.

Raheja and Mazzucco both pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to solicit, receive, offer and pay health care kickbacks before U.S. District Judge Sara Lioi.

According to court documents, Raheja was a physician who specialized in psychiatry and neurology, practicing in Cleveland, Ohio.  Mazzucco was employed by Avanir Pharmaceuticals as a regional business manager tasked with supervising pharmaceutical sales representatives in the region where Raheja practiced.

Avanir Pharmaceuticals manufactured Nuedexta, a drug approved by the FDA solely to treat pseudobulbar (PBA).  PBA is a condition characterized by involuntary, sudden and frequent episodes of uncontrollable laughing and crying.

Court documents state that between February 2011 and July 2016, Raheja, Mazzucco and other codefendants conspired together to increase the number of prescriptions Raheja and other coconspirators wrote for Nuedexta in exchange for the payment of monetary kickbacks and other items of value.

According to court documents, Avanir promoted Nuedexta through a speaker’s bureau, in which Avanir representatives engaged doctors to speak about and promote Nuedexta to other medical professionals.  Typical speaking engagements involved dinner at a high-end restaurant in which the doctor made a presentation with a slide deck provided by Avanir.  An Avanir sales representative was responsible for inviting attendees and attending the presentation.

Court documents state that Raheja joined Avanir’s speaker’s bureau in February 2011 and gave approximately 211 speaking presentations at various restaurants and doctor’s offices between October 2011 and April 2016.  Raheja received approximately $1,500 each for these purported presentations.

In total, court documents state that Raheja received approximately $331,550 in payments from Avanir between October 2011 and April 2016.  During this time, Raheja wrote approximately 10,088 Nuedexta prescriptions – the highest in the country.

As part of the conspiracy, Mazzucco and other codefendants incentivized physicians, including Raheja, to write Nuedexta prescriptions through various means, such as arranging speaker’s bureau programs, which were mostly social events; honoraria payments; the falsification of sign-in sheets from speaking engagements to maximize payments and providing food and beverages to doctors and their office staff. 

Court documents show that Raheja and the other codefendants took steps in return for these things of value, including writing more Nuedexta prescriptions; causing the submission of billings to Medicare and Medicaid for Nuedexta prescriptions for patients that did not have PBA; falsely diagnosing patients with PBA and recording fictitious symptoms in patient records to support a diagnosis of PBA.

As part of the terms of the plea agreement, defendant Raheja has agreed to a sentence of 30 months in prison, surrendering his medical license, at least $1,178,460.40 million in restitution and a fine to be determined. 

Raheja is scheduled to be sentenced on Feb. 3, 2023, and Mazzucco is set to be sentenced on Feb. 15, 2023, before U.S. District Judge Sara Lioi.

This case was investigated by the Cleveland FBI, Health and Human Services – Office of Inspector General (HHS OIG) and the Ohio Attorney General’s Healthcare Fraud Section.  This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michael L. Collyer and Megan R. Miller.