Month: December 2022

Source: United States Department of Justice News

A Texas married couple was sentenced today for a $1 million Medicare fraud scheme, including violations of the federal Anti-Kickback Statute.

Lindell King, 53, of Missouri City, was sentenced to 60 months in prison. Ynedra Diggs, 45, also of Missouri City, was sentenced to 70 months in prison. King and Diggs were also ordered to pay $537,992.55 in restitution.

On April 4, King and Diggs were convicted after trial in the Southern District of Texas of conspiracy to defraud the United States and to pay and receive health care kickbacks, and multiple substantive violations of the Anti-Kickback Statute.

According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, both Diggs and King were patient recruiters who owned and operated group homes in which Medicare beneficiaries lived. In exchange for sending their group home residents to the Behavioral Medicine of Houston (BMH), a community mental health center that purported to provide partial hospitalization services, BMH paid Diggs, King, and other patient recruiters illegal kickbacks in cash and by check, often concealed as payment for “transportation” or other sham services. During the course of the conspiracy, BMH fraudulently billed approximately $1 million to Medicare in claims related to patients it received in exchange for the kickbacks paid to Diggs and King.

Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite, Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; U.S. Attorney Jennifer B. Lowery for the Southern District of Texas; Acting Special Agent in Charge Jason Meadows of the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General’s (HHS-OIG) Dallas Region; Assistant Director Luis Quesada of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division; Special Agent in Charge James H. Smith III of the FBI Houston Field Office; and Chief William Marlowe of the Texas Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit (MFCU) made the announcement.

The HHS-OIG, FBI, and MFCU investigated the case.

Trial Attorney Monica Cooper and Acting Assistant Chief Brynn Schiess of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section are prosecuting the case.

The Fraud Section leads the Criminal Division’s efforts to combat health care fraud through the Health Care Fraud Strike Force Program. Since March 2007, this program, comprised of 15 strike forces operating in 24 federal districts, has charged more than 4,200 defendants who collectively have billed the Medicare program for more than $19 billion. In addition, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, working in conjunction with the Office of the Inspector General for the Department of Health and Human Services, are taking steps to hold providers accountable for their involvement in health care fraud schemes. More information can be found at https://www.justice.gov/criminal-fraud/health-care-fraud-unit.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

Spyros Panos, Previously Convicted in 2013, Was Sentenced to 111 Months in Prison for Fraud and Aggravated Identity Theft

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

A former police chief in Amite City, Louisiana and a former Amite City councilmember were each sentenced yesterday to one year in prison for violating federal election laws as part of a conspiracy to pay, or offer to pay, voters for voting in a federal election.

In addition to the prison sentence, the former police chief was also ordered to pay a $10,000 fine. Today, an additional co-conspirator was sentenced to four months in prison for his role in the scheme. 

According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Jerry Trabona, 73, the former Chief of Police in Amite City, and Kristian “Kris” Hart, 50, a former Amite City councilmember, agreed with each other and others to pay or offer to pay voters residing in Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana, for voting during the 2016 Open Primary Election and the 2016 Open General Election, contests in which Trabona and Hart were candidates. Trabona and Hart’s vote buying scheme included the solicitation and hiring of individuals responsible for identifying potential voters, the transportation of those voters to the polls, and payment and offer of payment to the voters for voting. In the 2016 election, co-conspirator Sidney Smith, 69, of Amite City, paid voters with money provided by Trabona and Hart.

Two other Louisiana men who previously pleaded guilty for their involvement in the vote buying scheme, Calvin Batiste and Louis Ruffino, will be sentenced at a later date.

Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite, Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans for the Eastern District of Louisiana, Assistant Director Luis Quesada of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division, and Special Agent in Charge Douglas Williams of the FBI New Orleans Field Office made the announcement.

The FBI New Orleans Field Office investigated the case.

Trial Attorneys Rosaleen T. O’Gara and Michael N. Lang of the Criminal Division’s Public Integrity Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney M. Irene González for the Eastern District of Louisiana are prosecuting the case.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

TUCSON, Ariz. – Yesterday, United States District Judge Jennifer G. Zipps sentenced Oscar Sun Acuna, Jr., 36, of Tucson, Arizona, to 15 years in prison, followed by five years of supervised release. Additionally, Acuna forfeited a .40 caliber handgun and ammunition. Acuna previously pleaded guilty to Distribution of Fentanyl Resulting in Death in connection with the overdose death of a young woman in May 2020.

In May 2020, Acuna sold two pills containing fentanyl to the victim and her boyfriend for $30. At his arrest, the defendant was in possession of a loaded handgun, 73 fentanyl pills, hundreds of dollars in cash, and Narcan.

In a press release earlier this month, the DEA announced as part of its One Pill Can Kill public service campaign, that six out of every 10 fentanyl-laced pills tested so far in 2022 contain a potentially lethal dose of fentanyl (https://www.dea.gov/alert/dea-laboratory-testing-reveals-6-out-10-fentanyl-laced-fake-prescription-pills-now-contain).

Homeland Security Investigations and the Tucson Police Department conducted the investigation in this case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Stefani Hepford, District of Arizona, Tucson, handled the prosecution.

CASE NUMBER:            CR-20-01564-TUC-JGZ (MSA)
RELEASE NUMBER:    2022-219_Acuna

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For more information on the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Arizona, visit http://www.justice.gov/usao/az/

Follow the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Arizona, on Twitter @USAO_AZ for the latest news.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

HOUSTON – A 47-year-old Colorado man has been sent to federal prison following his conviction of stalking and threatening a woman with releasing sexually-explicit images unless she moved with him across the country, announced U.S. Attorney Jennifer B. Lowery.

Moses Cano pleaded guilty Sept. 20.

Today, U.S. District Judge Jeffrey V. Brown ordered Cano to serve 46 months in federal prison to be immediately followed by three years of supervised release. At the hearing, the court heard how the victim was still emotionally distraught about Cano, has changed how she interacts with others and has moved. Judge Brown heard that the victim chose not to be present at the hearing so not to give Cano the satisfaction of seeing her again. In handing down the sentence, the court noted Cano, while on supervised release, would not be able to contact the victim directly or indirectly or contact any of her friends or family that he knows based on their relationship.

Cano and the victim dated for a brief amount of time. At the end of that relationship, Cano made threats to her if she did not agree to come to Colorado with him. The victim refused. In retaliation, he then sent sexually-explicit images of the victim to her place of employment and several of her friends.

At the time of his plea, he admitted he took over her Facebook account and used it to send the images and other messages to her contacts.

In distress, the victim contacted authorities.

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

The FBI conducted the investigation with the assistance of Matagorda County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Sherri L. Zack prosecuted the case.