Category: US Department of Justice

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

Ray Hunt, also known as Abdolrahman Hantoosh, Rahman Hantoosh, and Rahman Natooshas, 71, of Owens Cross Roads, Alabama, has been sentenced to five years in prison for violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. In July 2024, Hunt pleaded guilty to conspiring to export U.S.-origin goods to the Islamic Republic of Iran in violation of the U.S. trade sanctions.

According to court documents, in May 2014, Hunt registered Vega Tools LLC with the Alabama Secretary of State, listing the nature of the business as “the purchase/resale of equipment for the energy sector.” He operated Vega Tools, including purchasing, receiving, and shipping U.S.-origin goods, from locations in Madison County, Alabama. Beginning at least as early as 2015 and continuing to the time of his arrest in November 2022, Hunt conspired with two Iranian companies located in Tehran, Iran, to illegally export U.S.-manufactured industrial equipment for use in Iran’s oil, gas, and petrochemical industries.

Hunt engaged in a series of deceptive practices to avoid detection by U.S. authorities, including using third-party transshipment companies in Turkey and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and routing payments through UAE banks, as well as lying to shipping companies about the value of his exports to prevent the filing of Electronic Export Information to U.S. authorities. Hunt lied to suppliers and shippers by claiming the items he purchased on behalf of the Iranian co-conspirators were destined for end-users in Turkey and UAE, while knowing the exports were ultimately destined for Iran. Hunt also lied to U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers regarding the nature and existence of his business when questioned upon his return from a March 2020 trip to Iran.   

Sue Bai, head of the Justice Department’s National Security Division; U.S. Attorney Prim F. Escalona for the Northern District of Alabama; Acting Assistant Secretary for Export Enforcement John Sonderman of the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS); and Assistant Director Kevin Vorndran of the FBI’s Counterintelligence Division announced the sentence.

BIS investigated the case with valuable assistance provided by the FBI.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jonathan Cross and Henry Cornelius for the Northern District of Alabama and Trial Attorneys Emma Ellenrieder and Adam Barry of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section prosecuted the case.

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

A federal jury in Detroit convicted a California man today for his role in defrauding Medicare of over $4 million in fraudulent claims for medically unnecessary urine drug testing for patients receiving pain management treatment.

According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Sherif Khalil, 50, of Redondo Beach, conspired with others to submit claims to Medicare for the highest-reimbursing urine drug testing panels, which doctors did not want or order.

Sherif Khalil operated Spectra Clinical Labs, a toxicology lab located in Gardena, California. As the owner of Spectra, Khalil implemented a scheme to pay marketers a percentage of Medicare reimbursements and incentivize them to obtain doctors’ orders for expensive drug testing panels. Khalil concealed Spectra’s payments to marketers by routing the payments through nominally independent marketing companies that Khalil secretly controlled. To maximize Spectra’s profits and their own commission payments, Spectra’s marketers then trained staff members at doctors’ offices to send Spectra orders for medically unnecessary urine drug tests that doctors did not actually want or authorize. Khalil also knew that orders Spectra received from physician practices were not supported by documentation of medical necessity.

The medically unnecessary laboratory tests ordered in exchange for illegal kickbacks to marketers caused Medicare to pay more than $4 million to the Spectra Clinical Labs.

Khalil was found guilty of one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States and to pay, offer, receive, and solicit health care kickbacks. Khalil is scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 7 and faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison on the conspiracy to commit health care fraud and wire fraud count and five years in prison on the count for conspiracy to defraud the United States and to pay, offer, receive, and solicit health care kickbacks. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Supervisory Official Antoinette T. Bacon 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 S. Babu Kaza, Jeffrey A. Crapko, and Kelly Warner and Assistant Chief Shankar Ramamurthy of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section prosecuted 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 5,800 defendants who collectively have billed federal health care programs and private insurers more than $30 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.

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

Two alleged members of the Barrio Azteca (BA), a transnational criminal organization allied with the Juarez Cartel, were extradited from Mexico to the United States to face charges related to the March 2010 murders of U.S. Consulate employees in Juarez, Mexico. Eduardo Ravelo, also known as Tablas, Tablero, and T-Blas, and Enrique Guajardo Lopez, also known as Kiki, arrived in the United States on Feb. 20 and made their initial appearances today in the Western District of Texas. Ravelo, a former FBI Top 10 Most Wanted Fugitive, and Guajardo were charged in a 12-count third superseding indictment unsealed in March 2011.

“The defendants allegedly participated in the murder of three U.S. Consulate employees in Mexico in March 2010, along with many other acts of senseless violence,” said Supervisory Official Antoinette T. Bacon of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “No U.S. citizen, on either side of our border with Mexico, should have to live in fear of Barrio Azteca, any other violent border gang, or any drug cartel. The defendants’ extradition to the United States is an example of the Department’s unwavering commitment to eliminating transnational criminal organizations and the pursuit of justice for the victims of those tragic murders in Juarez, Mexico.”

“The extradition and U.S. custody of these two defendants, who are both alleged to be members of Barrio Azteca operating along the border, is essential to our mission of disrupting and dismantling these dangerous criminal organizations,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Margaret Leachman for the Western District of Texas. “With the help of our federal, state and local law enforcement partners, this U.S. Attorney’s Office will aggressively prosecute Ravelo and Guajardo throughout this case for their alleged participation in the 2010 Consulate murders and other gang related activity.”

“These extraditions demonstrate the FBI’s commitment to holding violent criminals accountable, no matter where they flee,” said Assistant Director Chad Yarbrough of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division. “The FBI and our partners will continue to aggressively pursue the Barrio Azteca and other transnational gangs wherever they operate and seek justice for the victims affected by their violent actions.”

“The extradition of these two members of the Barrio Azteca transnational criminal organization brings us another step closer to justice for the victims of the 2010 U.S. Consulate murders in Juarez,” said Acting Administrator Derek S. Maltz of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). “DEA never forgets and we never give up. Our commitment to pursue the members of violent criminal organizations threatening American lives is as strong as ever, and our message is clear — DEA will use every resource we have to get justice for American lives lost as a result of these violent networks.”

A total of 35 BA members and associates based in the United States and Mexico were charged in the third superseding indictment for allegedly committing various criminal acts, including racketeering, narcotics distribution and importation, retaliation against persons providing information to U.S. law enforcement, extortion, money laundering, obstruction of justice, and murder. Of the 35 defendants, 10 Mexican nationals, including Ravelo and Guajardo, were charged with the March 13, 2010, murders in Juarez of U.S. Consulate employee Leslie Ann Enriquez Catton; her husband, Arthur Redelfs; and Jorge Alberto Salcido Ceniceros, the husband of another U.S. Consulate employee. All the defendants have been apprehended, and 28 have pleaded guilty. Three defendants have been convicted at trial, one committed suicide before the conclusion of his trial, and one is awaiting extradition from Mexico.

According to court documents and evidence presented at co-defendant trials, the BA is a violent street and prison gang that began in the late 1980s and expanded into a transnational criminal organization. In the 2000s, the BA formed an alliance in Mexico with “La Linea,” which is part of the Juarez Drug Cartel (also known as the Vincente Carrillo Fuentes Drug Cartel or VCF). The purpose of the BA-La Linea alliance was to battle the Chapo Guzman Cartel and its allies for control of the drug trafficking routes through Juarez and Chihuahua. The drug routes through Juarez, known as the Juarez Plaza, are important to drug trafficking organizations because they are a principal illicit drug trafficking conduit into the United States.

The gang has a militaristic command structure and includes captains, lieutenants, sergeants, and soldiers — all with the purpose of maintaining power and enriching its members and associates through drug trafficking, money laundering, extortion, intimidation, violence, threats of violence, and murder.

According to court documents, Ravelo and Guajardo participated in BA activities, including narcotics trafficking and acts of violence by BA members, both in Mexico and the United States. If convicted, Ravelo and Guajardo each face a maximum penalty of life in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Ravelo’s and Guajardo’s extraditions are the result of close coordination between U.S. law enforcement and the government of Mexico in the investigation and prosecution of this case. The cooperation and assistance of the government of Mexico was essential to achieving the successful extraditions.

The FBI El Paso Field Office; FBI Albuquerque Field Office, Las Cruces Resident Agency; DEA Juarez Division; and DEA El Paso Division investigated the case. Special assistance was provided by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement; U.S. Marshals Service; U.S. Customs and Border Protection; Federal Bureau of Prisons; U.S. Diplomatic Security Service; Texas Department of Public Safety; Texas Department of Criminal Justice; El Paso Police Department; El Paso County Sheriff’s Office; El Paso Independent School District Police Department; Texas Alcohol and Beverage Commission; New Mexico State Police; Dona Ana County, New Mexico Sheriff’s Office; Las Cruces, New Mexico Police Department; Southern New Mexico Correctional Facility and Otero County Prison Facility New Mexico.

Trial Attorney Jay Bauer of the Criminal Division’s Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section, Trial Attorney Christina Taylor of the Criminal Division’s Violent Crime and Racketeering Section, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven Spitzer for the Western District of Texas are prosecuting the case.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Mexico, the Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs, and the Criminal Division’s Office of Enforcement Operations provided significant assistance in this case.

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 Criminal Division

Extensive coordination and cooperation efforts between U.S. and Mexican law enforcement authorities culminated in the extradition of an alleged alien smuggler who operated in Mexicali on the U.S.-Mexico border for several years as part of an international alien smuggling conspiracy.

Raul Saucedo-Huipio, 49, was arrested in Mexico on March 2, 2023, pursuant to a U.S. request for his extradition, and was surrendered by Mexico to U.S. authorities on Feb. 21 to face charges previously filed in the District of Arizona. Saucedo-Huipio made his initial appearance on Feb. 21 in the Southern District of California. His co-conspirator, Ofelia Hernandez-Salas, 62, was extradited to the United States from Mexico in 2023 and pleaded guilty on Dec. 18, 2024, to conspiracy to bring an alien to the United States and substantive counts of bringing an alien to the United States.

According to court documents, Saucedo-Huipio conspired with other smugglers, including Hernandez-Salas, to facilitate the travel of large numbers of migrants into the United States from and through Bangladesh, Yemen, Pakistan, Eritrea, India, the United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, Russia, Egypt, Brazil, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, and Mexico. Saucedo-Huipio and Hernandez-Salas allegedly charged the migrants as much as tens of thousands of dollars to make the journey and directed the migrants where to unlawfully cross the border into the United States, including by providing them with a ladder to climb over the border fence. Saucedo-Huipio and co-conspirators also allegedly robbed the migrants of money and personal belongings while armed with guns and knives.

In June 2023, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) imposed corresponding sanctions on this transnational criminal organization.

Supervisory Official Antoinette T. Bacon of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Acting U.S. Attorney Rachel C. Hernandez for the District of Arizona, and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations (ICE HSI) Arizona Special Agent in Charge Francisco B. Burrola, made the announcement.

ICE HSI Yuma is investigating the case with assistance from U.S. Border Patrol, Customs and Border Protection (CBP); U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Enforcement and Removal Operations; FBI; and the U.S. Marshals Service, working in concert with ICE HSI Tijuana, INTERPOL, and the HSI Human Smuggling Unit in Washington, D.C. HSI also received substantial assistance from CBP’s National Targeting Center/Counter Network Division and OFAC.

Trial Attorney Alexandra Skinnion of the Criminal Division’s Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section (HRSP) and Assistant U.S. Attorney Stuart J. Zander for the District of Arizona are prosecuting the case.

The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs (OIA) provided significant assistance in securing the defendant’s arrest and extradition from Mexico. The Justice Department thanks its Mexican law enforcement partners, who were instrumental in arresting Saucedo-Huipio, and the Mexican Attorney General’s Office and the Mexican Foreign Ministry for making the extradition possible.

The indictments against Raul Saucedo-Huipio and Hernandez-Salas, and their subsequent arrests and extraditions, were coordinated through Joint Task Force Alpha (JTFA). JTFA was created in partnership with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to strengthen the Justice Department’s efforts to combat the rise in prolific and dangerous smuggling emanating from Central America and impacting our border communities. JTFA’s goal is to disrupt and dismantle human smuggling and trafficking networks operating in El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico, with a focus on networks that endanger, abuse, or exploit migrants, present national security risks, or engage in other types of transnational organized crime. The initiative was expanded to Colombia and Panama to combat human smuggling in the Darién in June 2024. JTFA comprises detailees from U.S. Attorneys’ Offices along the southwest border, including the Southern District of California, the District of Arizona, the District of New Mexico, and the Western and Southern Districts of Texas. Dedicated support is provided by numerous components of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, led by HRSP and supported by the Office of Prosecutorial Development, Assistance and Training; the Narcotic and Dangerous Drug Section; the Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section; the Office of Enforcement Operations; OIA; and the Violent Crime and Racketeering Section. JTFA also relies on substantial law enforcement investment from DHS, FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and other partners. To date, JTFA’s work has resulted in over 355 domestic and international arrests of leaders, organizers, and significant facilitators of human smuggling; more than 300 U.S. convictions; more than 245 significant jail sentences imposed; and forfeitures of substantial assets.

This investigation is also supported by the Extraterritorial Criminal Travel Strike Force (ECT) program, a partnership between the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and HSI. The ECT program focuses on human smuggling networks that may present particular national security or public safety risks or raise grave humanitarian concerns. ECT has dedicated investigative, intelligence, and prosecutorial resources. ECT also coordinates and receives assistance from other U.S. government agencies and foreign law enforcement authorities.

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 Criminal Division

A white paper issued by the Chief FOIA Officer (CFO) Council Technology Committee’s Data Working Group (DWG) has been posted to FOIA.gov.  The white paper summarizes the DWG’s work, which included interviews with other FOIA programs to gain a better understanding of how they utilize data in managing their operations and how FOIA programs respond to FOIA requests for data.

The DWG interviewed ten agencies, ranging in size and mission, to better understand the role data plays in their day-to-day work. Through these interviews, the DWG identified commonalities across the federal government and areas for further consideration and improvement including:

1. While all agencies subject to the FOIA track metrics needed to complete annual reporting requirements, agencies benefit from tracking data beyond what is required.
2. Data analysis enables FOIA program managers and agency leadership to better identify, understand, and respond to emerging trends in their programs.
3. FOIA requests for agency data can be complex and difficult to manage. Having a plan to address those requests can make that process smoother, and, in some cases, may allow for proactive disclosures that obviate the need for future requests.
4. Partnerships with Chief Data Officers can benefit FOIA efforts and facilitate efficiency.

Agency FOIA professionals, agency FOIA leadership, and members of the public are encouraged to review this white paper for further observations and recommendations. For additional information about the CFO Council’s work, visit the Council’s page on FOIA.gov.