Month: March 2023

Source: United States Department of Justice News

            WASHINGTON – A District of Columbia man pleaded guilty today to bribing a public official to smuggle drugs into the D.C. jail. Keywaune McLeod, 28, of Washington D.C., pleaded guilty in United States District Court to one count of bribery. The plea was announced by U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves for the District of Columbia and Special Agent in Charge Wayne A. Jacobs of the FBI Washington Field Office. U.S. District Court Judge Dabney L. Friedrich scheduled a sentencing hearing for June 12, 2023.

            According to court documents, as part of his plea, McLeod admitted that, in June of 2022, McLeod was contacted via jail telephone by an inmate being housed at D.C. Jail. Specifically, McLeod was recruited by the inmate to act as a conduit outside of D.C. jail to package narcotics and manage payments from the sale of those narcotics from inside the jail. As a part of this conspiracy, McLeod would package and provide drugs to a public official, a Correctional Officer working at the jail, who would smuggle them into the facility by concealing them on her body. Once inside the D.C. Jail, the Correctional Officer would transfer the drugs to the inmate who would then distribute the drugs for a profit. McLeod would accept and manage the proceeds from such distribution using CashApp and make bribe payments to the Correctional Officer for the drug smuggling.

            Previously, in September and October 2022, McLeod was charged as part of a three-co-defendant complaint, later followed by an indictment.  Specifically, D.C. Jail Correctional Officer Beverly Williams, 52, of Upper Marlboro, Maryland, and Andre Gregory, 31, an incarcerated inmate at the D.C. Jail’s CDF awaiting trial, along with McLeod, were charged with conspiracy, bribery, and smuggling.  All charges as to Williams and Gregory remain pending.  A complaint and an indictment are merely allegations, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

            The bribery charge to which McLeod pleaded guilty carries a statutory maximum sentence of 15 years in prison, as well as potential financial penalties. The federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

            The FBI Washington Field Office is investigating the case.  

            This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Gauri Gopal and Ahmed Baset with assistance from Paralegal Specialist Lisa Abbe, of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia’s Fraud, Public Corruption, and Civil Rights Section.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

Baltimore, Maryland – Luminis Health Doctors Community Medical Center, Inc., (“DCMC”), and Diagnostic Imaging Associates, LLC (“DIA”), both located in Lanham, Maryland, have agreed to pay the United States $2,002,052.17 to resolve allegations that they violated the federal False Claims Act. 

According to the settlement agreement, DCMC and DIA entered into a long-standing arrangement whereby DIA billed Medicare and Medicaid under its assigned number for both the professional services provided by DIA and for the technical services rendered by DCMC’s outpatient cancer screening facility (the “Center”).  DIA then paid the Center a portion of the Medicare or Medicaid reimbursed global fee for the technical services provided by the Center.  The Center was not enrolled in Medicare and Medicaid during that time, so it did not have a billing number and was not eligible for reimbursement from those programs.

The civil settlement was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland, Erek L. Barron and Special Agent in Charge Maureen Dixon, Office of Investigations, Office of Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services. 

“The resolution in this matter demonstrates the commitment of the United States Attorney’s Office to rigorously protect Medicare and Medicaid from those who would flout the regulations prescribed by those programs for the reimbursement of medical care,” said United States Attorney Erek L. Barron.  

“Health care providers have a responsibility to follow the law, and exploiting insurers for personal gain defies that objective,” stated Maureen Dixon, Special Agent in Charge with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG).  “HHS-OIG is committed to safeguarding the integrity of our federal health care programs.  We thank the tireless efforts of our agents and law enforcement partners to fight fraud that targets these programs and to protect taxpayer dollars that fund them.”  

DCMC owns and operates a hospital (“Hospital”) that provides acute care services, including radiation oncology and breast health care services.  Specifically, the Hospital provides biopsy and mammography services and bone density screenings to diagnose and treat breast cancer and other diseases through an outpatient cancer screening facility (the Center).  DIA provides diagnostic and interventional radiology services.  DIA executed a written agreement with the Hospital to provide diagnostic and interventional radiology services to the Center, as well as the interpretation of such tests.  The Center, through the Hospital, provided the imaging equipment, office space, technicians and supplies to facilitate the performance of the radiology-related tests.  The contract between the Hospital and DIA specified that tests performed at the Center would be billed by the Center on a global fee basis under the Center’s provider number, with DIA being paid a percentage of the Medicare or Medicaid reimbursed global fee for performing the professional component, that is, interpreting the tests.  A global fee reflects payment for both the technical and professional components of a medical service billed together as a unit. 

However, the Center did not obtain its own number under which it could bill Medicare and Medicaid for the services provided to beneficiaries insured by those programs.  Between March 15, 2010, and October 19, 2020, by agreement between the Hospital and DIA, DIA submitted claims to Medicare and Medicaid using DIA’s supplier number to bill those programs for both the professional and technical components of the services rendered in the Center even though the Hospital performed the technical component of the Center’s services.  Both the Hospital and DIA knew that the Center did not have a billing number as required by Medicare and Medicaid to be eligible for reimbursement for rendered medical services.

The claims resolved by this settlement are allegations.  The settlement is not an admission of liability by DCMC and DIA, nor a concession by the United States that its claims are not well founded.  The case arose from DCMC’s and DIA’s reporting of the billing arrangement to the United States Department of Health and Human Services Provider Self-Disclosure Protocol; DCMC and DIA cooperated throughout the ensuing federal investigation conducted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland.    

United States Attorney Erek L. Barron commended the DHHS-OIG for its work in this investigation.  Mr. Barron thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Tarra DeShields who handled this case.

For more information on the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office, its priorities, and resources available to report fraud, please visit www.justice.gov/usao-md and https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/report-fraud.

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Source: United States Department of Justice News

ABF Freight System Inc. (ABF), a freight carrier that operates more than 200 transportation facilities in 47 states and Puerto Rico, has resolved allegations that it violated requirements of the Clean Water Act (CWA) relating to industrial stormwater at locations across the country. Under the proposed settlement, ABF will enhance and implement its comprehensive, corporate-wide stormwater compliance program at all its transportation facilities except those located in the state of Washington, and will pay a civil penalty of $535,000, a portion of which will be directed to the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality, the State of Maryland, and the State of Nevada who all joined this settlement.

The complaint in the case, filed contemporaneously with the proposed consent decree, alleges that ABF failed to comply with certain conditions of their CWA permits (e.g., spills that had not been cleaned up; failure to implement required spill prevention measures; failure to implement measures to minimize contamination of stormwater runoff; failure to conduct monitoring of stormwater discharges as required; and failure to provide all required training to ABF’s employees) at nine of its transportation facilities. 

“Companies must comply with Clean Water Act provisions to prevent waterways from being contaminated by industrial pollutants,” said Assistant Attorney General Todd Kim of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division. “This consent decree ensures that measures will be implemented at hundreds of transportation facilities across the nation to protect nearby waterways and the communities that live along them.”

“Through this settlement ABF will implement an enhanced, comprehensive stormwater management program at transportation facilities they operate across the country,” said acting Assistant Administrator Larry Starfield of EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance. “This settlement exemplifies EPA’s commitment to working with companies like ABF who notify EPA of noncompliance and then work to improve compliance with the Clean Water Act to help ensure the protection of local water resources.”

“Water quality affects every citizen equally, it’s importance simply cannot be overstated,” said U.S. Attorney Clay Fowlkes for the Western District of Arkansas. “This agreement ensures that ABF will take significant steps towards ensuring that water quality is not negatively affected by its operations. This settlement would not have been possible without the commitment and cooperation of all the federal, state and local agencies involved along with ABF.”

In April 2015, ABF voluntarily disclosed to EPA that it failed to obtain industrial stormwater permit coverage at multiple facilities and had discovered additional areas of noncompliance with the CWA through the company’s own compliance audits which were conducted at nearly all its facilities during 2013 and 2014. Between October 2016 and April 2019, EPA, the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality, the State of Maryland, and the State of Nevada conducted 15 inspections of ABF’s facilities and observed noncompliance with applicable stormwater laws at both CWA permitted facilities and No Exposure Certification (NEC) facilities.

To address the extent of ABF’s noncompliance, the proposed consent decree requires ABF to continue to implement and enhance its comprehensive, corporate-wide stormwater compliance program. This includes a memorialization of stormwater roles and responsibilities, comprehensive employee training with contractor awareness, implementation of standard operating procedures, stormwater pollution prevention plan management, and tracking facility-specific corrective actions. The settlement also requires ABF to conduct tiered management oversight inspections at its permitted and NEC facilities throughout the three-year implementation of this consent decree.

Stormwater runoff from industrial facilities can pick up pollutants like trash, chemicals, oils and sediment that can harm waters throughout the country. Pollutants in stormwater can cause changes in hydrology and water quality that result in habitat modification and loss, increased flooding, decreased aquatic biological diversity, and increased sedimentation and erosion. It is critical that all facilities requiring permit coverage appropriately apply for permit coverage and adhere to applicable stormwater regulations to ensure environmental impacts are effectively minimized.

The injunctive relief measures set forth in the proposed consent decree are designed to result in effective stormwater runoff management at ABF’s facilities, including those facilities that conduct vehicle maintenance and equipment cleaning.

The consent decree, lodged in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Arkansas, is subject to a 30-day federal public comment period and approval by the federal court. The consent decree can be viewed at: www.justice.gov/enrd/consent-decrees.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

A federal grand jury in Louisville, Kentucky, returned an indictment on March 8, charging a Tennessee man with sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion. The indictment further charged that the defendant conspired with a Kentucky woman to commit that crime.

According to the indictment, between Aug. 8 and 11, 2022, Portier Q. Govan, 36, of Memphis, Tennessee, used force, threats of force and coercion to compel an adult woman to engage in commercial sex. The indictment also charges Govan and Brittany R. Howard, 24, of Bowling Green, Kentucky, with entering into an agreement to commit sex trafficking by force, fraud and coercion. 

Govan made his initial court appearance before a U.S. Magistrate Judge in the Western District of Kentucky today. Howard is expected to make her initial appearance later this week. If convicted of sex trafficking, Govan faces a minimum sentence of 15 years in prison, up to life imprisonment. If convicted of conspiracy to commit sex trafficking, Govan and Howard face a maximum sentence of life imprisonment. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors. There is no parole in the federal system.

Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, U.S. Attorney Michael A. Bennett for the Western District of Kentucky, and Special Agent in Charge Jodi Cohen of the FBI Louisville Field Office made the announcement.

The Bowling Green Police Department and the FBI Louisville Field Office investigated the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Amanda E. Gregory for the Western District of Kentucky and Trial Attorney Francisco Zornosa of the Civil Rights Division’s Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit are prosecuting the case.

The FBI is asking anyone with information about Portier Govan or Brittany Howard to contact the FBI Bowling Green Resident Agency at (270) 781-4734. If you or someone you know is a victim of human trafficking, please call the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 1 (888) 373-7888.

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