Month: January 2023

Source: United States Department of Justice News

Karin Robinson Smuggled Narcotics to Inmate at the George R. Vierno Center

Source: United States Department of Justice News

A superseding indictment was unsealed today charging two Texas men and a Louisiana man for conspiracy to defraud the United States and to pay and receive health care kickbacks, resulting the submission of over $107 million in false and fraudulent genetic testing claims to Medicare.

According to court filings, John Grisham, 49, of Hickory Creek, Texas, Rob Wilburn, 51, of San Antonio, Texas, and Richard Speights Jr., 52, of Lake Charles, Louisiana, and their co-conspirators, were allegedly responsible for the submission of at least $107 million in genetic testing claims to Medicare and Medicare Advantage as the result of a sophisticated and nationwide health care kickback scheme.

The defendants allegedly owned and operated a genetic testing laboratory, Trinity Clinical Laboratories LLC, located in Lewisville, Texas. From January 2018 through October 2019, in exchange for kickbacks and bribes, Grisham, the chief executive officer, Wilburn, the chief financial officer, Speights Jr., a co-owner, and their co-conspirators, allegedly acquired thousands of Medicare beneficiaries’ DNA specimens and corresponding prescriptions that Trinity Clinical Laboratories used to fraudulently bill Medicare and Medicare Advantage for genetic testing. To conceal the nature of the kickback payments, the defendants and their co-conspirators allegedly utilized sham contracts for purported marketing and other services. During the same time frame, Medicare allegedly reimbursed Trinity Clinical Laboratories approximately $44 million based on the fraudulent claims submitted due to the defendants’ payment and receipt of kickbacks and bribes.

All three defendants are charged with one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States and to pay and receive kickbacks and bribes. Grisham and Wilburn are each charged with six counts, and Speights Jr. is charged with two counts of paying and receiving health care kickbacks and bribes. If convicted, the defendants face 10 years in prison on each count of paying and receiving health care kickbacks and bribes and five years in prison on the conspiracy count. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite, Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; U.S. Attorney Leigha Simonton for  the Northern District of Texas; Acting Special Agent in Charge Jason Meadows of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG) Dallas Region; Acting Special Agent in Charge James Dwyer of the FBI Dallas Field Office; Chief William Marlowe of the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit of the Texas Office of the Attorney General (TX-MFCU); Inspector in Charge Thomas Noyes of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) Fort Worth Division; Special Agent in Charge Christopher Altemus of the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) Dallas Field Office; and Regional Director Deborah L. Perry of the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) Employee Benefits Security Administration Dallas Office made the announcement.

The HHS-OIG, FBI, TX-MFCU, USPIS, IRS-CI, and DOL are investigating the case, which was brought as part of Operation Double Helix, a federal law enforcement action led by the Health Care Fraud Unit of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section, in partnership with the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices for the Southern District of Florida, Middle District of Florida, Southern District of Georgia, Eastern District of Louisiana, Middle District of Louisiana, District of New Jersey, and Northern District of Texas.

Trial Attorneys Carlos A. López and Lee Hirsch 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.

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

Source: United States Department of Justice News

FARGO – United States Attorney Mac Schneider announced that on January 6, 2023, United States District Judge Daniel L. Hovland sentenced 32-year-old Darius Sledge, a/k/a Ace, a/k/a Man Man, a/k/a Frank Love, a/k/a Gary, a/k/a Bill, to serve 30 years in prison followed by three years supervised release.

In June of 2022, following a 12-day trial, a jury returned guilty verdicts on multiple counts against Sledge and another man from Detroit, Michigan, for their leadership in a drug trafficking organization targeting three of North Dakota’s Native American Reservations.

Darius Sledge was convicted of Continuing Criminal Enterprise, Conspiracy to Distribute and Possess with Intent to Distribute a Controlled Substance, Money Laundering Conspiracy, and Maintaining a Drug-Involved Premise. Sledge also forfeited his rights to more than $20,000 in seized United States currency.

His trial co-defendant, Baquan Sledge, a/k/a Rell, a/k/a TJ, a/k/a Matthew Pierce, was also convicted of Continuing Criminal Enterprise, Conspiracy to Distribute and Possess with Intent to Distribute a Controlled Substance, Money Laundering Conspiracy,and Maintaining a Drug-Involved Premise as well as Possession with Intent to Distribute Oxycodone. Baquan Sledge will be sentenced on January 13, 2023.

This case is part of “Operation Blue Prairie,” an Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigation into the multi-state trafficking of oxycodone.

“This sentence is a warning to anyone targeting our tribal communities for the distribution of dangerous drugs: You will be caught, you will be prosecuted, and you will serve a long sentence in federal prison”, said US Attorney Mac Schneider. “The United States Attorney’s Office is committed to continuing our partnership with federal, tribal, state, and local law enforcement to promote public safety in Indian country and across North Dakota.”

The multi-agency investigation led by the Bureau of Indian Affairs Division of Drug Enforcement revealed that the Sledge defendants and their co-conspirators targeted areas with fewer law enforcement resources where they could distribute controlled substances at a premium price. The Sledge defendants and others used local residences and people for distribution and stash houses to further their criminal activities for monetary gain. In total, twenty-six defendants were charged in the case.

This case was investigated by the Bureau of Indian Affairs Division of Drug Enforcement, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Drug Enforcement Administration, Rolette County Sheriff’s Department, Bottineau County Sheriff’s Department, Ward County Narcotics Task Force, Lake Region Narcotics Task Force, Mandan Hidatsa Arikara Division of Drug Enforcement, North Dakota Bureau of Criminal Investigation, North Dakota Crime Laboratory, Michigan State Police, Minot Police Department, United States Department of Homeland Security Investigations.

The case was prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office, with Assistant United States Attorneys Dawn Deitz and Lori Conroy assigned with the assistance of lead investigator Bureau of Indian Affairs Division of Drug Enforcement Special Agent Isaiah Soldier.

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Source: United States Department of Justice News

According to United States Attorney Gerard M. Karam, Johnson and Nickas were engaged in a conspiracy to obtain and distribute controlled substances, heroin and fentanyl, for the time beginning January 2020 through March 2021, which resulted in a death.  Both defendants were also found guilty of aiding and abetting each other in the December 10, 2020 distribution of heroin and fentanyl, resulting in that death.

Prosecutors from the U.S. Attorney’s Office presented the testimony of multiple witnesses during trial, including Dr. Michael Coyer, a Forensic Toxicologist, who opined that death resulted from the use of heroin and fentanyl; and a PSP Forensic Chemist, who analyzed drugs found at the scene of the death.  Additional testimony was provided by officers and detectives from the Monroe County District Attorney’s Office; the Pennsylvania State Police; the Pocono Township Police Department, the FBI – Scranton Office; and an FBI special agent from the Pittsburgh Office.

Nickas is currently scheduled to be sentenced on February 3, 2023.

The charges stem from a joint investigation involving the FBI in Scranton, the Pennsylvania State Police, and the Monroe County District Attorney’s Office.  Assistant United States Attorneys Michelle Olshefski and Sean Camoni prosecuted the case.

This case was brought as part of a district wide initiative to combat the nationwide epidemic regarding the use and distribution of heroin and fentanyl.  Led by the United States Attorney’s Office, the Heroin Initiative targets heroin traffickers operating in the Middle District of Pennsylvania and is part of a coordinated effort among federal, state and local law enforcement agencies to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who commit heroin related offenses.

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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Source: United States Department of Justice News

Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that JENNIFER SHAH was sentenced today by United States District Judge Sidney H. Stein to 78 months in prison for running a nationwide telemarketing fraud scheme.  SHAH previously pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud in connection with telemarketing. 

U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said: “With today’s sentence, Jennifer Shah finally faces the consequences of the many years she spent targeting vulnerable, elderly victims.  These individuals were lured in by false promises of financial security, but in reality, Shah and her co-conspirators defrauded them out of their savings and left them with nothing to show for it.  This conviction and sentence demonstrate once again that we will continue to vigorously protect victims of financial fraud and hold accountable those who engage in fraudulent schemes.”

According to the Superseding Indictment and statements made in court proceedings and filings:

From at least 2012 until her arrest in March 2021, SHAH was an integral leader of a wide-ranging, nationwide telemarketing fraud scheme that victimized thousands of innocent people.  The scheme principally involved selling those victims so-called “business services” in connection with the victims’ purported online businesses (the “Business Opportunity Scheme”).  In particular, SHAH knowingly and intentionally facilitated the sale of “leads” — contact information for potential victims who had been identified as susceptible to the scheme’s lies — to sales floors that were perpetrating the Business Opportunity Scheme and, during the latter portion of her participation in the scheme, owned and operated one of the sales floors that was part of the scheme.

Many of SHAH’s victims were elderly or vulnerable.  Many of those people suffered significant financial hardship and damage.  At SHAH’s direction, victims were defrauded over and over again until they had nothing left.  She and her co-conspirators persisted in their conduct until the victims’ bank accounts were empty, their credit cards were at their limits, and there was nothing more to take.

SHAH was not deterred by the Federal Trade Commission’s investigations or enforcement actions, nor by learning that dozens of her co-conspirators had been arrested by federal law enforcement, pled guilty for their roles in the scheme, and that two were convicted at trial.  SHAH was not ignorant of these developments: she took a series of increasingly extravagant steps to conceal her criminal conduct from the authorities.  She directed others to lie, she put businesses and bank accounts in the name of others, she required payment in cash, she instructed others to delete text messages and electronic documents, she moved some of her operations overseas, and she tried to put computers and other evidence beyond the reach of investigators.  These efforts were not short-lived or narrow in scope.  She engaged in a yearslong, comprehensive effort to hide her continued role in the scheme.

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In addition to the prison term, SHAH, 49, of Salt Lake City, Utah, was sentenced to five years of supervised release.  She was also ordered to forfeit $6,500,000, 30 luxury items, and 78 counterfeit luxury items, and to pay $6,645,251 in restitution.

Mr. Williams praised the outstanding investigative work of Homeland Security Investigations’ El Dorado Task Force.

This case is being handled by the Office’s Money Laundering and Transnational Criminal Enterprises Unit.  Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kiersten A. Fletcher, Benet J. Kearney, Robert B. Sobelman, and Sheb Swett are in charge of the prosecution.