Month: January 2023

Source: United States Department of Justice News

A federal jury convicted a doctor formerly licensed in Ohio today for illegally prescribing controlled substance pills in violation of the Controlled Substances Act.

According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Freeda Flynn, 69, formerly of St. Clairsville, unlawfully prescribed controlled substances, such as oxycodone, hydrocodone, and methadone, to her patients outside the scope of professional practice and not for a legitimate medical purpose. Some patients were prescribed high doses of medication without justification despite their addictions, which were known to Flynn and which placed them at risk for overdose or death. Others were prescribed medication in dosages, or in combinations, that were outside the course of professional practice. Flynn previously surrendered her DEA registration to prescribe controlled substances, and her medical license was revoked by the State Medical Board of Ohio in January 2021. 

Flynn was convicted in the Southern District of Ohio of eight counts of unlawful distribution of a controlled substance. She faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison on each count. A sentencing date has not yet been set. 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 Kenneth L. Parker for the Southern District of Ohio; Special Agent in Charge J. William Rivers of the FBI Cincinnati Field Office; Special Agent in Charge Orville O. Greene of the DEA Detroit Division; and Special Agent in Charge Mario M. Pinto of the Department of Health and Human Service Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG) made the announcement. 

The DEA, FBI, HHS-OIG, Ohio Attorney General’s Office, and Ohio Board of Pharmacy investigated the case.

Trial Attorneys Christopher Jason and Maryam Adeyola of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section are prosecuting the case.

The Fraud Section leads the Appalachian Regional Prescription Opioid (ARPO) Strike Force. Since its inception in late 2018, ARPO has partnered with federal and state law enforcement agencies and U.S. Attorneys’ Offices throughout Alabama, Kentucky, Ohio, Virginia, Tennessee, and West Virginia to prosecute medical professionals and others involved in the illegal prescription and distribution of opioids. Over the past three years, ARPO has charged over 115 defendants, collectively responsible for issuing prescriptions for over 115 million controlled substance pills. To date, more than 60 ARPO defendants have been convicted. More information can be found at https://www.justice.gov/criminal-fraud/health-care-fraud-unit.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

A Florida man was sentenced today to 133 months in prison for his role in an international telemarketing scheme orchestrated from a call center in Costa Rica that defrauded more than 400 victims – many of whom were elderly – in the United States out of millions of dollars.

Manuel Mauro Chavez, 32, of Hollywood, was convicted at trial in July 2021 in the Western District of North Carolina of one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, six counts of wire fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit international money laundering, and six counts of international money laundering. According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Chavez was a U.S.-based participant in a fraudulent scheme in which telemarketers based in Costa Rica falsely posed as U.S. government officials and contacted victims in the United States to tell them they had won a substantial “sweepstakes” prize, but before collecting this supposed prize, they needed to make a series of up-front payments to cover purported taxes or other fees. After deceiving victims out of their money, Chavez transmitted these funds from the United States for the benefit of the call center and others involved in the scheme in Costa Rica.

In two related matters, Mark Raymond Oman, 38, of Long Beach, Washington, was sentenced on Nov. 17, 2022, to three years and one month in prison, and Paul Andy Stiep, 30, of Miami, was sentenced on Dec. 20, 2022, to seven years in prison. Oman worked at the call center soliciting victims and collected victim funds in Costa Rica, while Stiep transmitted victims’ payments from the United States for the benefit of the call center in Costa Rica.

Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite, Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Assistant Director Luis Quesada of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division, Acting Special Agent in Charge Michael Scherck of the FBI Charlotte Field Office, Inspector in Charge Tommy Coke of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service’s (USPIS) Atlanta Division, and Special Agent in Charge Bryant Jackson of the IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) Cincinnati Field Office made the announcement.

The FBI, USPIS, and IRS-CI investigated the case.

Trial Attorneys Joshua DeBold and Della Sentilles of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section prosecuted the case.

The department’s extensive and broad-based efforts to combat elder fraud seek to halt the widespread losses seniors suffer from fraud schemes. The best method for prevention, however, is by sharing information about the various types of elder fraud schemes with relatives, friends, neighbors, and other seniors who can use that information to protect themselves.

If you or someone you know is age 60 or older and has been a victim of financial fraud, help is available at the National Elder Fraud Hotline: 1-833-FRAUD-11 (1-833-372-8311). This Department of Justice hotline, managed by the Office for Victims of Crime, is staffed by experienced professionals who provide personalized support to callers by assessing the needs of the victim and identifying relevant next steps. Case managers will identify appropriate reporting agencies, provide information to callers to assist them in reporting, connect callers directly with appropriate agencies, and provide resources and referrals, on a case-by-case basis. Reporting is the first step. Reporting can help authorities identify those who commit fraud and reporting certain financial losses due to fraud as soon as possible can increase the likelihood of recovering losses. The hotline is staffed seven days a week from 6:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. ET. English, Spanish, and other languages are available.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

On Sunday, Jan. 8, in connection with the North America Leaders’ Summit, Attorney General Merrick B. Garland traveled to Mexico City, Mexico for bilateral meetings with Mexican and Canadian officials on shared law enforcement priorities.

On Monday, Jan. 9, the Attorney General joined members of the cabinet and President Joseph R. Biden in a bilateral meeting with Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador and members of his cabinet. The bilateral meeting included discussions on deepening and expanding security cooperation between countries, including efforts to combat drug trafficking.

On Tuesday, Jan. 10, the Attorney General joined members of the cabinet and President Biden for a bilateral meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and members of his cabinet to discuss strengthening our defense and security cooperation and addressing regional and global challenges, including Russia’s war in Ukraine and instability in Haiti. The Attorney General also met with Canadian Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino on those issues and other shared law enforcement priorities such as combating drug and firearms trafficking.

While in Mexico City, the Attorney General participated in additional meetings on the Justice Department’s work to combat trafficking of fentanyl and other drugs, including fentanyl precursors, firearms trafficking, and human smuggling. The Attorney General returned to the United States on Tuesday, Jan. 10.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

“Today, the Justice Department has taken several significant enforcement actions to disrupt large-scale illegal gun and drug trafficking operations,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. “I am grateful to all of the Department’s agents, prosecutors, and staff involved in these actions, as well as to our state and local partners, for their tireless work. The actions taken today represent the work that is being done by this Department every single day to disrupt violent crime, combat gun violence, and get deadly fentanyl out of our communities.”

Earlier today, at the federal courthouse in Brooklyn, a seven-count indictment was unsealed charging David Mccann, Tajhai Jones, Raymond Minaya, and Calvin Tabron with allegedly conspiring to illegally traffic more than 50 firearms. Mccann and Minaya are also charged with conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute cocaine base; Mccann is additionally charged with conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute fentanyl. Mccann, Jones, Minaya, and Tabron were arrested this morning. Mccann and Minaya are scheduled to be arraigned this afternoon before United States Magistrate Judge Taryn A. Merkl. Jones and Tabron will be arraigned in Virginia.

This prosecution is the first in New York, and among the first in the country, to charge the gun trafficking provisions of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, which Congress and the President enacted in June 2022. The Act is the first federal statute specifically designed to target gun trafficking. Among other provisions, it creates a standalone firearm trafficking conspiracy offense, which the government has charged in this case to hold accountable those who conspire to illegally sell firearms. The Act provides for sentences of up to 15 years’ imprisonment.

Read more about the case here.

In the Northern District of West Virginia today, two Baltimore-based drug trafficking organizations that supplied large amounts of fentanyl to West Virginia and caused at least two deaths have been dismantled by separate federal indictments that were unsealed today.

Thirty-four people from Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia were indicted on charges related to the sale of fentanyl, heroin, and other drugs in Hampshire County and Mineral County. The drugs distributed led to a spike in overdoses in the region, both fatal and non-fatal. Much of the fentanyl had high levels of purity and had a purple tint to distinguish it from drugs sold by competitors.

In the first indictment, Kentrel Anthony Rollins, aka T-Rock, 30, of Baltimore, Maryland, is alleged to be the leader of a fentanyl distribution operation in Hampshire County and elsewhere from January 2020 to October 2021. Court documents show that in addition to the sale of drugs, there was firearms trafficking and the trading of guns for drugs. Many of the firearms were acquired by a straw purchaser on behalf of the organization. 12 people are charged in this matter, which also includes the alleged trafficking of heroin, methamphetamine and cocaine.

In the second indictment, Sean Jarred Davis, 31, also of Baltimore, is alleged to be the leader of a conspiracy to distribute more than 40 grams of fentanyl, as well as heroin, in Hampshire County and elsewhere from February 2021 to January 2023. A total of 22 individuals are charged in the case.

Read more about the case here.

And in the Southern District of Georgia today, 76 defendants are named in a newly unsealed federal indictment describing a massive drug trafficking investigation tied to the Ghost Face Gangsters criminal street gang that includes allegations of multiple deaths from illegal drug overdoses.

As announced today at a multi-agency news conference held at Glynn County Police Department Headquarters in Brunswick, Georgia, the indictment in USA v. Alvarez et. al, dubbed Operation Ghost Busted, charges 76 defendants with involvement in a drug trafficking conspiracy that distributed large amounts of methamphetamine, fentanyl, heroin, and alprazolam in the greater Glynn County area. The primary conspiracy charge in the indictment carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison, up to life, along with substantial financial penalties and a period of supervised release following any prison term.

Read more about the case here.

An indictment is merely an accusation. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty