Actions taken in several states have uncovered millions of dollars of health care fraud spanning at least five states. In two Department of Justice (DOJ) releases, DOJ attorneys outline charges against 120 individuals.

A Colombian cartel leader was sentenced to 27 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release in the Southern District of Florida for bribing a former special agent with Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (ICE-HSI) team. The cocaine trafficker, Jose Bayron Piedrahita-Ceballos, bribed the ICE-HSI official to dismiss a drug trafficking indictment against him.

A federal grand jury in the Western District of Virginia returned a sealed indictment on September 11 charging a Florida man with making racially motivated threats against a prospective candidate for a local city council position in Charlottesville, Virginia. The incident was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) field office in Tampa, Florida.

Three individuals, including officials from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), have been indicted and arrested on charges of conspiracy to commit bribery of public officials; acts affecting a personal financial interest; false statements; disaster fraud; honest services wire fraud, Travel Act violations, and wire fraud. The arrests came as a result of a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) investigation.

Upon arrival at the George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, Texas, Milon Miah was arrested for conspiring to smuggle individuals into the United States. Miah allegedly conspired to bring and brought 15 Bangladeshi nationals to the U.S. in exchange for payment.

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and Health Care Fraud Unit of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section (HCF Unit) executed 36 search warrants, including 15 pharmacies and six “pill mill” clinics, as well as other offices and residences, aimed at disrupting networks of opioid distribution. The DEA also served immediate suspension orders on seven pharmacies and two providers involved in dispensing controlled substances without legitimate medical purpose. In total, 41 individuals have been charged in nine indictments.

American Airlines has agreed to settle a False Claims Act allegation stating that the airline falsely reported the times it delivered certain packages. The Office of Inspector General (OIG) of the Postal Service investigated the matter alongside the Postal Service Office of General Counsel. American Airlines paid $22 million to settle the matter.

A Colombian national has been arrested in Colombia and sent to the United States to serve his sentence for robbery. Oscar Javier Rodriguez Roa of Bogota pled guilty to his involvement in a South American theft ring targeting traveling jewelry salesmen in the U.S. and around the world.

The former Sheriff of Philadelphia John Green was sentenced last week to serve five years in prison followed by one year of supervised release and ordered to forfeit $76,581. Green accepted several hidden personal benefits from a co-defendant in exchange for providing the co-defendant with millions of dollars of business through the Philadelphia Sheriff’s Office.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) arrested a Chinese national living in the U.S. on a student visa for his role in trafficking counterfeit Apple products from China to the U.S. These products included phony iPhones and iPads.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) has released the grand jury indictment of a Florida couple who engaged in a large-scale conspiracy to traffic protected wildlife. The indictment charges the couple with smuggling wildlife from Indonesia to the U.S. and reselling the wildlife from their Florida home.

On July 16, 2018, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced Operation SOS to reduce the supply of deadly synthetic opioids in high impact areas. One year later, the department has reported on the progress of the program so far.

The last of 12 defendants have been sentenced this week for their role in a multi-state dog fighting conspiracy. These sentences mark the end of Operation Grand Champion, a multi-jurisdictional federal dog fighting investigation which began in 2015 and resulted in 12 convictions.

A doctor operating in both New Jersey and Pennsylvania was charged in an indictment unsealed this week in an alleged scheme to received bribes and kickbacks from a pharmaceutical company in exchange for prescribing large volumes of a powerful fentanyl narcotic. Kenneth Sun, M.D., 58, of Easton, Pennsylvania, was charged with one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States and to pay and receive health care kickbacks and four counts of receiving health care kickbacks.

An undercover investigation led by the US Fish and Wildlife service has resulted in the arrest of Wayne Martin, a New Mexico man who violated the Migratory Bird Treaty Act by killing multiple birds. Martin pled guilty to the crimes in 2017 and was sentenced this week by the Department of Justice (DOJ).

The Department of Justice (DOJ) announced this week that Internet Crimes Against Children task forces around the country have led to the arrests of nearly 1,700 suspected child sex predators. The 61 task forces, located in all 50 states and comprised of more than 4,500 federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies, coordinated the operation called “Broken Heart” throughout April and May 2019.

A member of the Big Hazard street gang was sentenced to 13 years in federal prison for orchestrating and executing a firebombing against African American families at the Ramona Gardens Housing Development in 2014. Jose Saucedo, also known as Lil’ Moe, pleaded guilty to four felonies: conspiracy to violate civil rights, violent crime in aid of racketeering, interference with the Fair Housing Act, and attempted arson of federal property.

A naturalized US citizen residing in Alexandria, Virginia has been sentenced to 37 months in prison for having fraudulently obtained US citizenship. Mergia Negussie Habteyes, 58, admitted to a series of lies in the naturalization process, including failure to disclose participation in persecution during the Red Terror Period in Ethiopia.

Benjamin Jaramillo Hernandez, 70, of Eugene, Oregon, was sentenced yesterday to 15 months in federal prison and three years of supervised release for hate crimes committed against St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Eugene, Oregon. Hernandez also possessed illegal ammunition.

Shaun Sullivan of Merrick, New York has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mail fraud in a multimillion dollar prize promotion scam aimed at stealing money from the elderly and vulnerable groups. Sullivan sent mailings to individuals which indicated that they could claim a large cash prize in exchange for a modest fee. There was no prize, and yet victims submitted over $30 million in fees.