MAN CHARGED WITH RUNNING ILLEGAL GAMBLING BUSNIESS

FROM:  U.S. DEPARTMENT OF  JUSTICE

Monday, May 7, 2012 

Alabama Resident Arrested and Charged with Bribery and Gambling Conspiracy

WASHINGTON – An Alabama man was arrested today on charges of conspiracy, federal programs bribery and operating an illegal gambling business, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division.

An indictment filed in the Northern District of Alabama and unsealed today charges Robert E. Taylor Jr., 41, of Warrior, Ala., with conspiring to bribe and bribing a public official in order to protect his interest in an illegal gambling business.  According to the indictment, from approximately November 2010 to approximately April 2011, Taylor and several others operated an illegal gambling business in the city of Kimberly, Ala., approximately 20 miles north of Birmingham, by placing numerous video gambling machines in private residences in and around the city. 

The indictment further alleges that Taylor conspired with eight other individuals to expand, protect and conceal the illegal gambling business, including by offering and paying bribes to Kimberly’s mayor, a public official.  In exchange for more than a dozen cash payments over the course of 15 weeks totaling $4,000, the mayor was expected to ensure that law enforcement officers from Kimberly and the surrounding area did not interfere with the illegal gambling operation.  In addition, the mayor was expected to notify a member of the conspiracy if Kimberly or any neighboring jurisdictions received complaints or tips regarding the illegal gambling business.

The indictment reveals, however, that the mayor of Kimberly was cooperating with the FBI throughout the entire period of the investigation.

An indictment is merely an accusation, and a defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in a court of law.

This case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Anthony J. Phillips and Richard B. Evans of the Criminal Division’s Public Integrity Section, and investigated by the FBI.

BOSTON PUBLIC SCHOOLS SETTLES WITH FEDERAL GOVERNMENT OVER ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNER STUDENTS OPPORTUNITIES

FROM:  U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT
Monday, April 23, 2012
Departments of Justice and Education Reach Settlement with Boston Public Schools to Ensure Equal Opportunites for ELL Students
The Department of Justice and the Department of Education reached agreement with the Boston Public Schools (the district) and its superintendent today to ensure that English Language Learner (ELL) students in Boston receive the services and supports they need to overcome language barriers, as required by the Equal Educational Opportunities Act of 1974 and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.  This agreement replaces an interim settlement agreement entered on Oct. 1, 2010, which required the district to implement short-term remedies to ensure that thousands of students improperly excluded from the district’s ELL programs were promptly assessed and provided services.

The agreement reached today governs the district’s transition from these short-term remedies to longer-term policies and programs that expand the coverage of Boston’s ELL program and are designed to ensure that the services provided to ELL students are of high quality, delivered by qualified teachers and tailored to the specific needs of each individual student.   The agreement requires the district to continue its efforts to accurately identify and place ELL students, and further ensures that ELL students, who face unique challenges, including students with interrupted former education and students with disabilities, receive assessments and services that are specially designed to address and ameliorate those challenges.   The agreement also affords ELL students greater access to the higher-level learning opportunities in the district. To ensure these programmatic changes are effective, the agreement further requires the district to evaluate the effect of these changes on student achievement over time through robust, disaggregated data analyses.

“We applaud the Boston Public Schools for working collaboratively with the United States to develop a comprehensive plan to effectively serve all students who are not proficient in English,” said Thomas E. Perez, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division.  “We believe this plan can guide other school districts seeking to ensure that its English Language Learner programs not only meet the requirements of federal law, but also empower English Language Learner students to strive for success in their education and lives.”  

“A key to success is access to a high quality education and today, the Boston Public Schools is promising to provide limited English proficient students an equal opportunity for success by giving them access to programs and services tailored to meet their needs, including access to accelerated programs,” said Russlynn Ali, Assistant Secretary for the Office for Civil Rights at the Department of Education.   “The Department of Education is committed to working with the Boston School Committee as it implements this comprehensive plan.”  

“ Our education system must provide our children with opportunities to develop into productive citizens regardless of their proficiency in English.  When English language learners lack properly trained teachers, those opportunities are curtailed,” said U.S.  Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz of the District of Massachusetts.  “We share the goal of continued improvement to Massachusetts schools and look forward to the progress of this collaborative effort.”

DETROIT MEDICARE FRAUDSTER PLEADS GUILTY

The following excerpt is from the Department of Justice website:
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
Three Detroit-Area Clinic Owners Plead Guilty for Their Roles in $5.4 Million Medicare Fraud Scheme
WASHINGTON – Three Detroit-area clinic owners pleaded guilty today for their participation in a Medicare fraud scheme, announced the Department of Justice, the FBI and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).  

Karina Hernandez, 28, Marieva Briceno, 46, and Henry Briceno, 58, all of Miami, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Arthur J. Tarnow in the Eastern District of Michigan to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud.  At sentencing, each defendant faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.      

According to the plea documents, Hernandez managed the daily operations of three Livonia, Mich., clinics: Blessed Medical Clinic, Alpha & Omega Medical Clinic and Manuel Medical Clinic.  Marieva Briceno contributed capital to fund the opening of one clinic, and assisted her daughter, Hernandez, in the daily management of the clinics.  At each clinic, Hernandez and Marieva Briceno hired recruiters, who paid cash bribes to Medicare beneficiaries to attend the clinics and provide their Medicare numbers and other information.  Hernandez and Marieva Briceno admitted that they used the beneficiary information to bill for medically unnecessary diagnostic tests and treatments.  Henry Briceno admitted that he incorporated Manuel Medical Clinic and opened a bank account to conceal the actual ownership of the clinic.  According to court documents, Blessed Medical Clinic, Alpha & Omega Medical Clinic and Manuel Medical Clinic fraudulently billed Medicare for $5.4 million during the course of the scheme.

Today’s guilty pleas were announced by Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan Barbara L. McQuade; Special Agent in Charge Andrew G. Arena of the FBI’s Detroit Field Office; and Special Agent in Charge Lamont Pugh III of the HHS Office of Inspector General’s (OIG) Chicago Regional Office.
   
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Frances Lee Carlson and Philip A. Ross of the Eastern District of Michigan, with assistance from Assistant Chief Gejaa T. Gobena of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section.  The case was investigated by the FBI and HHS-OIG, and was brought as part of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, supervised by the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Michigan.    

Since their inception in March 2007, the Medicare Fraud Strike Force operations in nine districts have charged more than 1,190 individuals, who collectively have falsely billed the Medicare program for more than $3.6 billion.  In addition, HHS’s Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, working in conjunction with the HHS-OIG, is taking steps to increase accountability and decrease the presence of fraudulent providers.

THREE CHARGED FOR 1998 RACIALLY-MOTIVATED MURDER

The excerpt below is from the department of Justice website: 

February 29, 2012

"WASHINGTON –  The Justice Department announced today that Ross Hack, 40, Leland Jones, 31, and Melissa Hack, 37, have been charged with first degree murder and firearms offenses in relation to the 1998 deaths of Lin Newborn and Daniel Shersty.  The murders took place on land owned and managed by the Federal Bureau of Land Management within the Las Vegas northwest valley.

According to the indictment, which was unsealed today, between on or about July 3 and July 4, 1998, Ross Hack, Leland Jones, Melissa Hack and others not named in the indictment, allegedly aided and abetted each other in the premeditated shooting and killing of the two victims.  A third man, John Butler, was convicted of the murders of Newborn and Shersty by the Clark County District Attorney’s Office in 2000 and is serving two consecutive life sentences in state prison.  Evidence at Butler’s trial indicated that the defendants were affiliated or associated with racist neo-Nazi “skinhead” groups at the time of the murders, and that Newborn, who was African-American, and Shersty, who was white, were members of the Anti-Racist Action Group, which is also known as the Skinheads Against Racial Prejudice (SHARPS).  Both victims were in their 20s at the time of their deaths.

“This case demonstrates that the Department of Justice will be vigilant in working to ensure that every perpetrator of racially-motivated violence is brought to justice,” said Thomas E. Perez, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division.  “I commend the partnership between federal and local law enforcement agencies that led to the charges in this indictment and for continuing to investigate circumstances surrounding the victims’ deaths.”

“I commend the law enforcement agents and detectives for their persistence and efforts in this investigation,” said Daniel G. Bogden, U.S. Attorney for the District of Nevada.  “We will pursue the prosecution of these defendants with equal vigor."

“This week's indictments and arrests in the brutal murders of Daniel Shertsy and Lin Newborn would not have been possible without the extraordinary effort and dedication of the FBI agents, Metro detectives and DOJ prosecutors who have worked on this matter,” said Kevin Favreau, FBI Special Agent in Charge in Las Vegas.  “Even though it was difficult, and it took a very long time to fully investigate, the FBI and Metro never gave up on this case.  And with the support of outstanding prosecutors from the U.S. Attorney's Office and the DOJ's Civil Rights Division in Washington, D.C., the public can rest assured that all those responsible for the murders of Daniel Shertsy and Lin Newborn will finally face justice.”

Ross Hack and Melissa Hack face potential penalties of life in prison or the death penalty.  Jones, who was not yet 18 years old at the time of the murders, faces a potential penalty of life in prison. 

This case is being investigated by the Las Vegas Division of the FBI and the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department.  It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kathleen Bliss of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Nevada and Trial Attorney Patricia Sumner of the Civil Rights Division’s Criminal Section.

An indictment is merely an accusation.  The defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt by the government at trial.