Month: September 2024

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Readout of the Justice Department’s Violent Crime Reduction Steering Committee Meeting

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

The Justice Department’s Violent Crime Reduction Steering Committee met last week to discuss the efforts, challenges, and successes in reducing violent crime — as well as how the Department can further the steady, continued decline in violent crime in 2024. The Steering Committee is chaired by Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General (PADAG) Marshall Miller and composed of leadership and representatives from across the Department.

After PADAG Miller called the meeting to order, the Committee was briefed on the latest violent-crime statistics. Preliminary data from 88 cities showed that violent crime has continued to decline considerably in 2024, including a 16.9% decline in murder, a 7.5% decrease in rape, a 3.4% decrease in aggravated assault, and a 5.2% decline in robbery.

The Committee received updates from U.S. Attorney Andrew Luger for the District of Minnesota on the various initiatives employed by members of the U.S. Attorney community to crack down in violent crime during the summer months, when violent crime historically surges. These initiatives, employed by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices across the country, included such efforts as: increased outreach and intervention activities; weekly, data-driven coordination with local law enforcement to identify shooters and other drivers of violent crime for federal prosecution; surges in federal firearms prosecutions; increased focus on prosecution for possession or use of machinegun conversion devices, which convert semi-automatic firearms into fully automatic machineguns; launch and implementation of carjacking task forces; and partnerships with the Department’s Criminal Division to bring prosecutions under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act. Early data showed successful outcomes from initiatives that included, for example, further year-over-year reductions in homicides in Detroit and a zeroing out of carjackings in the Eastern District of Texas during the summer months of 2024. 

The Committee was briefed by the Drug Enforcement Administration and the U.S. Marshals Service on their efforts and successes in combating violent crime over the summer through Operation Overdrive and Operation North Star, respectively, and from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives regarding the Department’s convening with the additive manufacturing industry on how to reduce the availability and use of unlawful machinegun conversion devices, which was held Friday and included remarks from the Deputy Attorney General.

The Committee also heard from the Department’s grantmaking components regarding grants and additional resources to combat violent crime. The Office of Justice Programs discussed its use of grants, training, and technical assistance to assist state, local, and Tribal justice agencies in addressing their communities’ specific public safety needs. After previewing plans to observe the upcoming 30th anniversary of the Violence against Women Act, the Office of Violence Against Women briefed the Committee on its work at the intersection of firearms and domestic violence and on an important resource for prosecutors, the Framework for Prosecutors to Strengthen Our National Response to Sexual Assault & Domestic Violence Involving Adult Victims. The Department’s Community Oriented Policing Services discussed additional grants and resources available for combatting violent crime, including the award of grants to local law enforcement to hire career law enforcement officers.

At the conclusion of the meeting, Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General Miller discussed a new directive from the Deputy Attorney General on combating machinegun conversion devices. He also indicated that the Steering Committee’s work would be reported to Department leadership, including developments from the Department’s violent crime reduction initiatives and recommendations regarding additional policy and enforcement strategies.

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Defense News: USS Richard M. McCool, Jr. Commissions

Source: United States Navy

Naval Air Station Pensacola, Fla. – The San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock USS Richard M. McCool, Jr. (LPD 29) commissioned at Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida, September 7.

Welcomed throughout the week, the crew, joined by the ship’s sponsor, Shana McCool, and McCool’s great-grandchildren, attended community events supported by local businesses, flyovers by the Navy’s Blue Angels flight demonstration squadron, a visit by the Pensacola Blue Wahoos, and ceremony host, Naval Air Station Pensacola. Participating in the ceremony were Marine Aviation Training Support Groups Two-One and Two-Three, Navy Training Wing Ten (VT-10) Wildcats, Navy Band Southeast, McGuire’s Pipe and Drum Band, and 350 Junior ROTC and Navy League Sea Cadets from Alabama, Arkansas, and Pensacola.

During the ceremony guest speaker Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro honored the ship’s namesake as they brought the ship to life, beginning its commissioned service. “Captain McCool’s leadership in the face of grave danger and his acts of heroism to save the crew and the ship our nation entrusted to him are indeed an example for all throughout.”

“I am proud that the Department of the Navy is pursuing the award of the Amphibious Multi-Ship Procurement Contract for a total of three San Antonio class amphibious ships—just like USS Richard M. McCool Jr.—along with an America class amphibious assault ship,” Del Toro continued. “I am proud to see these Sailors and Marines bring this incredible warship to life in service to our nation, much like this ship’s courageous namesake.”

Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Lisa Franchetti also reflected on the importance of the Navy-Marine Corps team. “The LPD plays an essential role on our Blue-Green team as the workhorse of our Amphibious Fleet, and soon McCool will set sail and begin embarking, transporting, and landing elements of our Navy-Marine Corps team,” said Franchetti. “The commissioning of this warship puts another player with more capability on the field in America’s Warfighting Navy, providing more options to our Nation’s leaders to deter and if necessary, fight and win our Nation’s wars in this decade and beyond.”

“LPD 29 represents a shift in what an amphibious warship is,” said Gen. C.J. Mahoney, Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps. “With the latest in integrated SPY-6 (air and missile defense radar system) and Next Generation Surface Search Technology, she enables reconnaissance and counter reconnaissance on the forward edge of the battlespace – making sense and decision space for the Fleet and Joint Force Commanders.”

Emphasizing the critical role of the integrated Navy-Marine Corps team in the event that deterrence fails, Gen. Mahoney concluded, “If the Marine Corps is a bullet to be fired by the Navy, the USS Richard M. McCool, Jr. – with the very crew you see here today – will pull the trigger.”

Commanding officer Capt. Jeff Baker thanked family, friends, the commissioning committee, those who were not able to be present, the communities of Pascagoula and Pensacola, and Gulf Coast shipbuilders – electricians, machinists, pipe fitters, painters, riggers, welders, and more; everyone who helped to bring this ship to life

Echoing McCool’s words when receiving the Medal of Honor “Fight as a unit, not as an individual”, Baker talked about the importance of the crew. “I hope that we’ve made him proud. I hope that we have lived up to and will continue to honor his legacy. The remarkable warship moored behind me is ready for pictures but full of potential energy. It takes 330 officers, chief petty officers, and enlisted crew to sail her and make our warship ready for tasking. Manning these rails are the finest men and women this country has to offer. I couldn’t be prouder of them. The ship needs them all. I need them all. The Navy and our country need them all. Please thank them. They’ve got the watch.”

“LPD 29, Richard M. McCool, when deployed comes equipped with the most advanced weapons system ever produced. The weapons system with unlimited reach, lethality, and combat effectiveness. The only system known to mankind that cannot be defeated by any adversary anywhere in the world. The weapons system of the United States Marines Corps.”

LPD 29 is the 13th San Antonio-class LPD commissioned in the United States Navy, and the first U.S. Navy ship to bear this namesake.

The naming of LPD 29 honors U.S. Navy Capt. Richard M. McCool, Jr., Ret. who received the Medal of Honor in 1945 for the heroism he displayed after his ship, USS LSC 122, was attacked by kamikaze aircraft in the Battle of Okinawa. Despite suffering from shrapnel wounds and painful burns, he led efforts to battle a blazing fire on his ship and rescue injured Sailors.

McCool was a leader whose life and legacy revolved around service. In addition to USS LSC 122, he commanded the USS LSC 44 and served on the USS McKean (DD-784), USS Frank Knox (DD-742), and USS Leyte (CV-32), and at the University of Oklahoma, and Eighth Naval District, New Orleans, Louisiana. Attending Boston University in Massachusetts, he was redesignated as a public information officer with assignments as the deputy commander at the Armed Forces Information School at Fort Slocum, New York; and to Commander, Naval Base, Long Beach, California; Bureau of Naval Personnel in Washington, D.C.; Commander, South Eastern Asia Treaty Organization, Bangkok, Thailand; Ninth Naval District at Great Lakes, Illinois; Commander, First Fleet; and Commander, U.S. Naval Forces, and Commander, Seventh Fleet, Japan. Retiring as a captain in 1974 after 35 years of active duty, he continued serving his community through engagement in local politics in the Bremerton, Washington, area. McCool died in March 2008 and is buried at Naval Academy Cemetery in Annapolis, Maryland.

San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock ships are warships that embark, transport, and land elements of a landing force for a variety of expeditionary warfare missions. They provide the Navy and Marine Corps with modern, sea-based platforms that are networked, survivable, and built to operate in the 21st century, with the MV-22 Osprey, the upgraded Amphibious Assault Vehicle, and future means by which Marines are delivered ashore.

For more news from Commander, Naval Surface Forces, visit https://www.surfpac.navy.mil/com or follow on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/SurfaceWarriors

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Defense News: USS Richard M. McCool Commissioning CNO Remarks

Source: United States Navy

Thank you, Commander Karlo and good morning everyone!

It is an absolute pleasure to be here with you in beautiful Pensacola here on the Emerald Coast a city with proud Navy heritage a city that helped bring Naval aviation to life and has supported our Sailors for just shy of two hundred years. Mayor Reeves, please accept my heartfelt thanks for this city’s continued support of our Navy team and especially for its hospitality this week.  

Honorable Gates, Secretary Del Toro, General Mahoney, state and local leaders, members of the Commissioning Committee, members of the McCool family, ladies and gentlemen, active and reserve Sailors and Marines, Navy Civilians, 400 NJROTC and Sea Cadets and most importantly the crew and builders of this ship today is a great Navy day!

As General Mahoney just said, today we get to commission the Navy’s newest San Antonio Class Amphibious Transport Dock our last LPD Flight I and bridge to our future LPD Flight II LPD-29, the USS Richard M. McCool, Jr.

In just a few minutes, McCool will officially enter our Navy and join the Fleet with 12 of her sister ships.

The LPD plays an essential role for our Blue-Green team as the workhorse of our Amphibious Fleet. And soon McCool will set sail and begin embarking, transporting, and landing elements of our Navy-Marine Corps team.

Executing missions like amphibious assault, special operations, and expeditionary warfare using the latest technology which together bring a quantum leap in capability to the Amphibious Ready Group and to the Joint Force.

The commissioning of this warship puts another player with more capability on the field in America’s Warfighting Navy providing more options to our Nation’s leaders to deter and, if necessary, fight and win our Nation’s wars in this decade and beyond.

As you’ve all seen on the news the events of this past year and the actions taken by your Navy-Marine Corps team whether in the Indo-Pacific, in the Mediterranean, in the Red Sea, and beyond underscore the enduring importance of this ship and more broadly American Naval power.

With an average of 110 ships and 70,000 Sailors and Marines deployed at sea on any given day the Navy-Marine Corps team is executing our mission around the world and around the clock, delivering power for peace, defending our national security interests and ensuring our security and prosperity every single day.  

I am so proud of the amazing roster of players in America’s Warfighting Navy-a roster that the McCool is about to join.

There is no other Navy-Marine Corps team that operates at this scale. No other Navy in the world can train, deploy sustain such a lethal, globally deployed, and combat credible force able to synchronize effects in every single domain.

And, so I’d like to say thank you to those gathered here today and those you represent for working together to put this warship into our Fleet and drive forward with one purpose: to deliver the Navy the Nation needs.

I know CAPT Baker, CDR Karlo, CMC Gonzalez, and the crew of Richard M. McCool Jr. are ready to take the watch, bring this ship to life, and live up to the gallantry, sacrifice, and legacy of its namesake.

We’re so happy to have CAPT McCool’s granddaughter and sponsor of the McCool … Shana (Shawn-aaa) … and his great-grandchildren here with us today.  This legacy lives on in you, and in this powerful warship.

To the crew of the Richard M. McCool Jr., you are the cornerstone of our naval power. Your ship is among the best in the world, with all the latest technology, but I know that it can go nowhere and do nothing without you.

I ask that you to be good stewards of this warship like it’s your first car because your fingerprints will forever be etched in this ship’s history.

Always remember to live up to your motto to “fight as a unit, not as individuals” because teamwork on this ship, on the blue-green team, and across the Joint warfighting ecosystem is critical to our every success. I look forward to seeing all you will accomplish together and to seeing you out in the Fleet.

Let me again say thank you to the crew of the Richard M. McCool Jr. and thank you to our active and reserve Sailors, Marines, and civilians for your service and sacrifice. You make a difference every single day.

Please extend my thanks to your families and support networks for their service and sacrifice as well and for they enable us to accomplish our mission, every day.  It now gives me great pleasure to welcome Secretary Del Toro the 78th Secretary of the Navy to offer today’s principal address.

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Pharmacists Convicted of $13M Medicare, Medicaid, and Private Insurer Fraud Scheme

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

A federal jury convicted four pharmacy owners yesterday for conspiracy to commit health care fraud and wire fraud.

According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Raef Hamaed, of Maricopa County, Arizona; Kindy Ghussin, of Greene County, Ohio; Ali Abdelrazzaq, of Macomb County, Michigan; and Tarek Fakhuri, of Windsor, Ontario, Canada, all licensed pharmacists, billed Medicare, Medicaid, and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan for prescription medications that they did not dispense at pharmacies they owned in Michigan and Ohio. The defendants collectively caused over $13 million of loss to Medicare, Medicaid, and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan.

Hamaed, Ghussin, Abdelrazzaq, and Fakhuri were convicted of conspiracy to commit health care and wire fraud. Abdelrazzaq was also convicted of two counts of health care fraud and Fakhuri was convicted of one count of health care fraud. Sentencing hearings will be set at a later date. 

Hamaed, Ghussin, Abdelrazzaq, and Fakhuri face a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison on the conspiracy count, and Abdelrazzaq and Fakhuri face a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison on each health care fraud count. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri, head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; Special Agent in Charge Cheyvoryea Gibson of the FBI Detroit Field Office; and Special Agent in Charge Mario Pinto of the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG) made the announcement. 

The FBI Detroit Field Office and HHS-OIG investigated the case.

Trial Attorneys Claire Sobczak, Kelly M. Warner, and S. Babu Kaza 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, currently comprised of nine strike forces operating in 27 federal districts, has charged more than 5,400 defendants who collectively have billed federal health care programs and private insurers more than $27 billion. In addition, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, working in conjunction with HHS-OIG, are taking steps to hold providers accountable for their involvement in health care fraud schemes. More information can be found at www.justice.gov/criminal-fraud/health-care-fraud-unit.

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Indiana Man Sentenced for Sexually Exploiting Children

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

An Indiana man was sentenced today to 17 and a half years in prison for possessing and creating images of child sexual abuse. 

According to court documents, Timothy J. Carpenter, 36, of Portage, came to the attention of law enforcement around July 2022 after he used peer-to-peer software to knowingly receive and distribute child sexual abuse material (CSAM) on the internet through his cellular device.

During the investigation, Indiana State Police (ISP) recovered Carpenter’s cellular phone, which contained hundreds of images and dozens of videos depicting the sexual abuse of children. During an interview with ISP investigators, Carpenter admitted that he used his phone to access CSAM. Further analysis of Carpenter’s phone revealed that Carpenter also created multiple videos depicting a prepubescent child fully nude in a shower. These videos show Carpenter concealing a camera in multiple locations near the shower to capture video of the child’s genitals and pubic region.

In addition to the prison sentence, Carpenter will also be required to register as a sex offender in the place where he resides, where he is an employee, and where he is a student and to pay restitution totaling $76,000 to his victims.

Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri, head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; U.S. Attorney Clifford D. Johnson for the Northern District of Indiana; and Special Agent in Charge Sean Fitzgerald of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Chicago Division made the announcement.

HSI investigated this case with the assistance of the ISP, Lake County Sheriff’s Special Victims Unit, and Porter County Prosecutor’s Office.

Trial Attorney Eduardo A. Palomo of the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS) and Assistant U.S. Attorney Emily A. Morgan for the Northern District of Indiana prosecuted the case.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse, launched in May 2006 by the Justice Department. Led by U.S. Attorney’s Offices and 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.