Month: January 2023

Source: United States Department of Justice News

SAN ANTONIO – A federal grand jury in San Antonio recently returned an indictment charging a group of three defendants with 22 counts related to healthcare fraud, identity theft and kickbacks.

According to court documents, Kuba Zarobkiewicz, 35, of San Antonio, and Anthony Fermin, 32, of Boca Raton, Florida, own various medical equipment companies and pharmacies involved in a scheme to defraud Medicare by paying kickbacks to telemarketing firms owned and operated by Farrukh Mirza, 39, of Richmond, Texas, in exchange for signed doctor’s orders issued for unnecessary hip, knee and back braces.

Zarobkiewicz, Fermin and Mirza were charged in December 2022 with one count of conspiracy to pay and receive health care kickbacks; one count of conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud; six counts of healthcare fraud; and six counts of aggravated identity theft and aiding and abetting.  Additionally, Zarobkiewicz and Fermin are charged with four counts of payment of illegal healthcare kickbacks, while Mirza is charged with four counts of receipt of illegal healthcare kickbacks.

All three defendants are currently released on bond while they await trial.  If convicted, they each face maximum penalty of five years in prison on the count of conspiracy to pay and receive healthcare kickbacks, 10 years in prison on the respective counts pertaining to healthcare fraud, plus a mandatory two-year consecutive sentence if convicted on the aggravated identity theft counts. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

U.S. Attorney Jaime Esparza of the Western District of Texas and Special Agent in Charge Oliver E. Rich Jr. of the FBI San Antonio Division made the announcement.

The FBI, Office of the Inspector General for the Department of Health and Human Services, and Medicaid Fraud Control Unit are investigating the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Justin Chung is prosecuting the case.

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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Source: United States Department of Justice News

WICHITA, KAN. – A Kansas man pleaded guilty to distribution of fentanyl. 

According to court documents, Javyn Johnson, 24, of Wichita sold Chanelle Pratt, 29, of Wichita, what she thought to be two Percocet pills in August 2019. Later the same day, Pratt was found dead in her home after ingesting one of the pills. An autopsy determined her cause of death to be Fentanyl toxicity. In his plea agreement, Johnson claims he didn’t know the tablets contained Fentanyl, however, he acknowledges giving her the Fentanyl that caused her death. 

“Our nation is in the midst of a crisis where lives are lost every day due to Fentanyl poisoning,” said U.S. Attorney Duston Slinkard. “This case is an example of how the Department of Justice will hold people who distribute Fentanyl accountable.”

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) and the Wichita Police Department investigated the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Lanny Welch and Katie Andrusak are prosecuting the case.

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Source: United States Department of Justice News

Defendant Joined Confrontation With Officers at Lower West Terrace

            WASHINGTON – A Kentucky man was sentenced today to 12 months and a day in prison for a felony charge stemming from his actions during the breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. His actions and the actions of others disrupted a joint session of the U.S. Congress convened to ascertain and count the electoral votes related to the 2020 presidential election.

            Roger Kent Baugh, 51, of Louisville, KY, pleaded guilty on October 21, 2022, in the District of Columbia to interfering with law enforcement officers during a civil disorder. In addition to the prison term, U.S. District Court Judge James E. Boasberg ordered $2,000 restitution and 24 months of supervised release.

            According to court documents, on Jan. 6, 2021, Baugh and a friend, Mark Mazza, illegally entered the Capitol grounds. Baugh was aware that day that Mazza was armed with a firearm. At approximately 2:50 p.m., both men moved up a staircase and to the West Front Terrace. About 20 minutes later, Baugh moved to the mouth of a tunnel area leading into the Capitol Building. While there, he observed numerous acts of violence against law enforcement officers attempting to secure the building. Baugh entered the tunnel and assisted other rioters who were pushing against the officers. He then participated in “heave-ho” efforts to apply significant physical force and pressure on the officers to remove them from the doorway. Baugh finally retreated from the rioters who were actively resisting officers in the tunnel. But he returned moments later for a second effort. Officers pushed rioters back, and Baugh finally left the tunnel area at approximately 3:18 p.m.

            Baugh subsequently falsely denied entering the tunnel area or being involved in any violence against officers, in a November 2021 interview with the FBI, and during another interview, in March 2022, with an Assistant U.S. Attorney and the U.S. Capitol Police.

            Mazza, 57, of Shelbyville, Indiana, pleaded guilty on June 17, 2022, to assaulting, resisting, or impeding officers with a dangerous weapon and carrying a pistol without a license. He was sentenced on October 21, 2022 to 60 months in prison.

            This case was prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and the Department of Justice National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section.

            The case was investigated by the U.S. Capitol Police with valuable assistance from the FBI’s Louisville, Washington, and Indianapolis Field Offices, as well as the Metropolitan Police and Shelbyville, Indiana Police Departments.

            In the 24 months since Jan. 6, 2021, more than 950 individuals have been arrested in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol, including over 284 individuals charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement. The investigation remains ongoing. 

            Anyone with tips can call 1-800-CALL-FBI (800-225-5324) or visit tips.fbi.gov.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

RICHMOND, Va. – A Highland Springs man was sentenced today to 20 years in prison for distribution of child pornography.

According to court documents, on or about April 12, 2022, Deric Wallace Peacock, 39, used Wickr, an encrypted messaging service, to distribute child pornography using his “vapastor” user account. At the time that Peacock distributed the child pornography, he was on probation for two prior state court convictions for procuring sex acts by computer of an individual believed to be under the age of 15. Prior to his incarceration stemming from his 2014 convictions, the defendant was a youth pastor at South Hopewell Church of God, which no longer exists.

Jessica D. Aber, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia and Stanley M. Meador, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Richmond Field Office, made the announcement after sentencing by U.S. Magistrate Judge Mark R. Colombell.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Carla Jordan-Detamore prosecuted the case.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by U.S. Attorney’s Offices and the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc

In 2021, EDVA launched “UnMasked,” a community-based educational outreach and prevention program in Virginia dedicated to raising awareness and educating the community about the prevalence of online sexual exploitation involving children and young adults. UnMasked is a multi-disciplinary partnership of local, state, federal, and non-profit stakeholders. The core curriculum is provided by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children’s (NCMEC) NetSmartz program. To report an incident involving online sexual exploitation, call 1-800-843-5678 or submit a report at report.cybertip.org. To request an UnMasked event at your school or organization, please contact EDVA’s Community Outreach Coordinator at USAVAE-UnMasked@usdoj.gov.

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 or on PACER by searching for Case No. 3:22-cr-109.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

RICHMOND, Va. – Three Midlothian individuals were sentenced yesterday for conspiracy to commit forced labor for compelling the domestic labor of a Pakistani woman for 12 years. 

Zahida Aman, 80, was sentenced to 12 years in federal prison, Mohammed Rehan Chaudhri, 48, to 10 years in federal prison, and Mohammad Nauman Chaudhri, 55, to 5 years in federal prison in the Eastern District of Virginia. Additionally, the Court ordered Aman and Rehan Chaudhri to pay the victim approximately $250,000 in restitution for back wages and other financial losses she incurred as a result of the defendants’ criminal conduct. 

According to court documents, in 2002, the victim married Aman’s son, and the brother of defendants Nauman and Rehan Chaudhri. Thereafter, she lived in the home of the defendants. Over the next 12 years, the three defendants forced her to perform domestic services. To coerce that labor, the defendants verbally assaulted and physically abused the victim. The defendants slapped, kicked, and pushed the victim, even beat her with wooden board, and, on one occasion, hog-tied her hands and feet and dragged her down the stairs in front of her children. In addition, though the victim, a native of Pakistan, had temporary immigration status in the United States, defendant Aman took the victim’s immigration documents. Thereafter, defendants threatened the victim with deportation should she not obey their demands. The defendants also threatened to separate the victim from her children to coerce her labor.

Following a seven-day trial in May 2022, the jury convicted all of the defendants of conspiracy to commit forced labor, convicted two of the defendants of forced labor, and convicted Aman of document servitude.

Jessica D. Aber, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia and Stanley M. Meador, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Richmond Field Office, made the announcement after sentencing by U.S. District Judge John A. Gibney.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Shea Gibbons, Stephen Miller, and Heather H. Mansfield are prosecuting the case, along with Trial Attorney Leah L. Branch of the Civil Rights Division’s Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit.

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 or on PACER by searching for Case No. 3:19-cr-85.