Okaloosa County Man Sentenced To 25 Years In Federal Prison For Drug Trafficking And Firearm Offenses

Source: United States Department of Justice News

PENSACOLA, FLORIDA – Kendall Ivan Brown, 41, of Okaloosa County, Florida, was sentenced to twenty-five years in federal prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to distribute 5 kilograms or more of cocaine, possession with intent to distribute 5 kilograms or more of cocaine, possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. The sentence was announced by Jason R. Coody, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Florida.

“I am proud of our federal, state, and local partners for their tireless efforts to keep us safe and serve a critical role in our efforts to remove addictive and deadly controlled substances from our communities,” said U.S. Attorney Coody. “We will continue to support the efforts our law enforcement partners as we work together to investigate and prosecute criminals bringing drugs into North Florida.”

In August 2021, U.S. Postal Inspectors identified multiple packages shipped from Puerto Rico to addresses in Okaloosa County, Florida, over several months, containing large quantities of cocaine.  Working with the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office and the Drug Enforcement Administration, investigators were able to identify Brown as the recipient and determine that he was receiving the packages at several different addresses in Fort Walton Beach, Shalimar, and Crestview.  On November 16, 2021, investigators executed search warrants at three locations associated with Brown and discovered over eight kilograms of cocaine.  At one of the locations, the cocaine was concealed with a loaded Sig Sauer 9mm pistol. 

This case resulted from a joint investigation by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Assistant United States Attorney Walter Narramore prosecuted 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.

As part of its PSN strategy, the United States Attorney’s Office is encouraging everyone to lock their car doors, particularly at night. Burglaries from unlocked automobiles are a significant source of guns for criminals in the Northern District of Florida. Please do your part and protect yourself by locking your car doors.

The United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Florida is one of 94 offices that serve as the nation’s principal litigators under the direction of the Attorney General. To access public court documents online, please visit the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida website. For more information about the United States Attorney’s Office, Northern District of Florida, visit http://www.justice.gov/usao/fln/index.html.

Anchorage Man Indicted on 8 Counts of Producing Child Pornography

Source: United States Department of Justice News

ANCHORAGE – A federal grand jury in Alaska returned an indictment charging an Anchorage man with eight counts of sexual exploitation of a child – production of child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography.

According to court documents, between July 2018 and August 2021, Michael Vernon Ross, 31, allegedly used and coerced a minor to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing child pornography.

If the public has any further information regarding Ross’s activities, please contact the FBI Anchorage Field Office at    907-276-4441.

minimum sentence of 15 to 30 years in prison on each count of production of child pornography. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors. 

U.S. Attorney S. Lane Tucker of the District of Alaska made the announcement.

The FBI and Anchorage Police Department are investigating the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Seth Brickey-Smith and Adam Alexander are prosecuting the case.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), 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.

An indictment is merely an allegation and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

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EDVA Collects Over $25 M in Civil and Criminal Actions in Fiscal Year 2022

Source: United States Department of Justice News

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – U.S. Attorney Jessica D. Aber announced today that the Eastern District of Virginia (EDVA) collected over $25 million in criminal and civil actions in Fiscal Year 2022. Of this amount, roughly $14 million was collected in criminal actions and almost $11 million was collected in civil actions.

Additionally, EDVA worked with other U.S. Attorney’s Offices and components of the Department of Justice to collect an additional $6.1 million in cases pursued jointly by these offices. Of this amount, $13,000 was collected in criminal actions and over $6 million was collected in civil actions.

In November, EDVA secured a civil resolution with Raley and Advanced Spine and Pain, PLLC, owned by Thomas Raley, Jr, at the time, where the parties jointly paid $3,159,378.51 to settle civil claims under the False Claims Act, the Virginia Fraud Against Taxpayers Act, and common law remedies. Raley was writing and referring compounded drug prescriptions in return for illegal kickback payments and sentenced to 3 years in prison after pleading guilty to criminal charges.

In February, after pleading guilty to fraud charges for 12-year bribery scheme with former Norfolk Sheriff Robert McCabe, Gerard Boyle, Chief Executive Officer of Correct Care Solutions, was sentenced to three years in prison and EDVA secured a court order for Boyle to forfeit $2,700,000, in addition to a $35,000 fine, both of which Boyle has paid in full.

The U.S. Attorneys’ Offices, along with the Department of Justice’s litigating divisions, are responsible for enforcing and collecting civil and criminal debts owed to the U.S. and criminal debts owed to federal crime victims. The law requires defendants to pay restitution to victims of certain federal crimes who have suffered a physical injury or financial loss. In FY 2022, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in EDVA collected over $14,803,207 in restitution for crime victims. While restitution is paid to the victim, criminal fines and felony assessments are paid to the Department’s Crime Victims Fund, which distributes the funds collected to federal and state victim compensation and victim assistance programs.

Additionally, the U.S. Attorney’s office in EDVA, working with Department of Justice partner agencies and divisions, obtained over $72.3 million in criminal asset forfeiture judgments and collected over $13.5 million in asset forfeiture actions in FY 2022. This amount does not include forfeitures in partnership with Department of Treasury law enforcement agencies. Forfeited assets are either deposited into the Department of Justice Assets Forfeiture Fund or are used to restore funds to crime victims.  Assets deposited into the Assets Forfeiture Fund are used for a variety of law enforcement purposes.

U.S. Attorney Aber extends her gratitude to the attorneys and staff in EDVA’s Asset Recovery Unit, who are responsible for ensuring that these significant funds are recovered in full to victims and the public fisc.

A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information are located on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.

Gun Shop and Owner Charged with Transfer of Firearm to a Felon, Aiding and Abetting Unlicensed Firearm Trafficking, and Failure to Maintain Firearm Records

Source: United States Department of Justice News

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – A federal grand jury returned a three-count indictment against Aileene Mudafort-Fernández and Mudafort Xtreme Sports & Motorsports Inc. for disposing of a pistol to a felon, aiding and abetting in unlicensed firearm trafficking, and failure to maintain firearm records.  In a separate indictment, José Berrios-Aquino, an armorer of Mudafort Xtreme Sports & Motorsports Inc., was charged with the possession of a machinegun.

According to the indictments, since at least 2020, Ms. Mudafort-Fernández and her gun shop aided and abetted “R.R.M.” in the illegal trafficking of guns. Additionally, Ms. Mudafort-Fernández disposed of a Taurus pistol in 2019 to “P.C.T.,” knowing that he was a felon. Ms. Mudafort-Fernández and her armory further failed to maintain firearm accords according to law. 

An armorer of Mudafort Xtreme Sports & Motorsports Inc., José Berrios-Aquino, was charged in a separate indictment with possessing a pistol that had been modified to be a machinegun.  According to public documents, Mr. Berrios-Aquino’s gun had been altered with an Alamo-15 Forced Reset Trigger, which modifies a gun to automatically fire more than one shot without manual reloading by a single function of the trigger.

“Violent crimes involving guns are often committed by people who cannot legally obtain a firearm, but they find a way. According to the indictments, these defendants engaged in the business of dealing guns without following the firearms laws,” said W. Stephen Muldrow, United States Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico. “The manufacturing and unlicensed sale for profit of high-capacity firearms is a serious threat to public safety. We will continue to vigorously investigate gun dealers and prosecute violations of the law.”

“Federal Firearms Licensees hold a special responsibility as the first line of defense against the illegal diversion of firearms from lawful commerce,” said ATF Special Agent in Charge Christopher A. Robinson. “A dereliction of that duty by willfully participating in these alleged actions will never be tolerated by ATF.”

Assistant U.S. Attorney Linet Suarez of the Violent Crimes Section is in charge of the prosecution of the case. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is in charge of the investigation. If convicted, each defendant faces a sentence of up to ten years in prison.  An indictment contains only charges and is not evidence of guilt.

An indictment is merely an allegation and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

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Security News: Justice Department Files Nationwide Lawsuit Against AmerisourceBergen Corp. and Subsidiaries for Controlled Substances Act Violations

Source: United States Department of Justice 2

Complaint Alleges Companies’ Years of Repeated Violations Contributed to Opioid Epidemic

In a civil complaint filed today, the Department of Justice alleges that AmerisourceBergen Corporation and two of its subsidiaries, AmerisourceBergen Drug Corporation and Integrated Commercialization Solutions, LLC (together “AmerisourceBergen”), collectively one of the country’s largest wholesale pharmaceutical distributors, violated federal law in connection with the distribution of controlled substances to pharmacies and other customers across the country, contributing to the prescription opioid epidemic.

The complaint alleges that this unlawful conduct resulted in at least hundreds of thousands of violations of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA). The Justice Department seeks civil penalties and injunctive relief.

“The Department of Justice is committed to holding accountable those who fueled the opioid crisis by flouting the law,” said Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta. “Companies distributing opioids are required to report suspicious orders to federal law enforcement. Our complaint alleges that AmerisourceBergen — which sold billions of units of prescription opioids over the past decade — repeatedly failed to comply with that requirement.”

“AmerisourceBergen, one of the largest wholesale distributors of opioids in the world, had a legal obligation to report suspicious orders to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), and our complaint alleges that the company’s repeated and systemic failure to fulfill this simple obligation helped ignite an opioid epidemic that has resulted in hundreds of thousands of deaths over the past decade,” said DEA Administrator Anne Milgram. “The men and women of the DEA will stop at nothing to hold accountable registrants that fail to uphold their responsibility of saving American lives by filing suspicious order reports.”

Pharmaceutical distributors that sell controlled substances, including AmerisourceBergen, have a longstanding legal obligation to monitor the orders that they receive from pharmacies and other customers and must inform the DEA each and every time they receive a suspicious order.

The complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania alleges that over the course of nearly a decade, from 2014 through the present, AmerisourceBergen violated the CSA by failing to report at least hundreds of thousands of suspicious orders of controlled substances to the DEA as required by law. The alleged unlawful conduct includes filling and failing to report numerous orders from pharmacies that AmerisourceBergen knew were likely facilitating diversion of prescription opioids. Today’s filing is the result of a multi-year investigation by the DEA, the Civil Division’s Consumer Protection Branch and several U.S. Attorneys’ Offices.

“For years, AmerisourceBergen put its profits from opioid sales over the safety of Americans,” said U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger for the District of New Jersey. “According to the complaint, this was part of a brazen, blatant and systemic failure by one of the largest companies in America to comply with its obligations to report suspicious opioid orders, contributing to the epidemic of opioid abuse throughout this country.”

“Companies like AmerisourceBergen that sell controlled substances across the country have a significant responsibility to ensure that their product is handled appropriately and that they comply with their federal legal obligations,” said U.S. Attorney Jacqueline C. Romero for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. “The allegations against AmerisourceBergen are disturbing, especially for a company that is headquartered only a few miles from neighborhoods in Philadelphia devastated by the opioid epidemic.”

“When drug distributors like AmerisourceBergen fail to alert the DEA of suspicious orders of prescription drugs by pharmacies, they shirk a key obligation in dealing with addictive drugs that can end lives,” said U.S. Attorney Cole Finegan for the District of Colorado. “This complaint makes clear that the Department of Justice will continue to hold accountable corporations that disregard the public’s safety for their own profit.”

“We allege that AmerisourceBergen, a wholesale drug distributor, flagrantly and repeatedly violated its obligation to notify DEA of suspicious orders for controlled substances, which directly contributed to the epidemic of prescription opioid abuse across the United States,” said U.S.  Attorney Breon Peace for the Eastern District of New York.

The government’s complaint specifies several pharmacies for which AmerisourceBergen allegedly was aware of significant “red flags” suggesting the existence of diversion of prescription drugs to illicit markets. The complaint asserts that AmerisourceBergen nevertheless continued to distribute drugs to the pharmacies for years and reported few suspicious orders to the DEA. The five examples include: two pharmacies, one in Florida and one in West Virginia, for which AmerisourceBergen knew the drugs it distributed were likely being sold in parking lots for cash; a New Jersey pharmacy that has pleaded guilty to unlawfully selling controlled substances; another New Jersey pharmacy whose pharmacist-in-charge has been indicted for drug diversion; and a Colorado pharmacy that AmerisourceBergen knew was its largest purchaser of oxycodone 30mg tablets in all of Colorado. The government further alleges that for this Colorado pharmacy, AmerisourceBergen specifically identified eleven patients as potential “drug addicts” whose prescriptions likely were illegitimate. Two of those patients subsequently died of overdoses.

The complaint further alleges that AmerisourceBergen not only ignored red flags of diversion, but also relied on internal systems to monitor and identify suspicious orders that were deeply inadequate, both in design and implementation. These systems allegedly flagged only a tiny fraction of suspicious orders, thereby enabling diversion and AmerisourceBergen’s failure to report orders it was legally obligated to identify to the DEA. In fact, the complaint asserts that in the midst of the opioid epidemic, AmerisourceBergen intentionally altered its internal systems in a way that reduced the number of controlled substances reported as suspicious. Even for the small percentage of orders that AmerisourceBergen did identify as suspicious, the company routinely failed to report them to the DEA.

The government’s complaint alleges that for years AmerisourceBergen flouted its legal obligations and prioritized profits over the well-being of Americans.

If AmerisourceBergen is found liable, it could face escalating civil penalties depending on when each violation occurred and the type of controlled substance at issue, specifically, up to $10,000 for each reporting violation before November 2015, up to $16,864 for each violation between November 2015 and October 2018 and for each violation relating to a suspicious order for a non-opioid controlled substance not reported after October 2018, and up to $109,374 for each violation relating to a suspicious opioid order not reported after October 2018, potentially totaling billions of dollars in penalties. The court also may award injunctive relief to prevent AmerisourceBergen from committing future CSA violations.

The United States is represented in the filed action by Trial Attorneys Michael Wadden, Amy DeLine and Deborah Sohn of the Justice Department’s Civil Division’s Consumer Protection Branch, Assistant U.S. Attorneys Hayden M. Brockett and Jordann R. Conaboy for the District of New Jersey, Assistant U.S. Attorneys Anthony D. Scicchitano and Landon Jones for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, Assistant U.S. Attorneys Amanda Rocque and David Moskowitz for the District of Colorado, and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Elliot M. Schachner and Diane Leonardo for the Eastern District of New York. The DEA collaborated with the Civil Division’s Consumer Protection and the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices to investigate the case.

Additional information about the Consumer Protection Branch and its enforcement efforts may be found at http://www.justice.gov/civil/consumer-protection-branch.

The claims made in the complaint are allegations that, if the case were to proceed to trial, the government must prove by a preponderance of the evidence.