Category: Legal Issues

Source: United States Department of Justice

The Justice Department announced today that it and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued a joint letter to state Medicaid administrators urging them to ensure, in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), that their Medicaid programs allow people who have both Hepatitis C (HCV) and substance use disorder (SUD) to access life-saving HCV medications called direct-acting antivirals (DAAs). 

More than two million adults in the United States have HCV, which can result in a range of serious health conditions including liver disease, liver cancer and death. However, highly effective DAA medications cure HCV in more than 95% of cases.

“Medicaid recipients with substance use disorders are entitled to the same access as others to a cure for Hepatitis C,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “This letter reminds state Medicaid administrators that they have an obligation to ensure their programs are in compliance with federal civil rights law. The Justice Department stands ready to enforce the ADA in order to eliminate unnecessary barriers that stand in the way of equal access to health care.”

The letter highlights a settlement agreement between the Justice Department and Alabama’s Medicaid Agency (Alabama Medicaid) to address a policy that denied Medicaid coverage for DAAs to patients who had consumed any alcohol or illicit drugs within the six months prior to starting treatment. Alabama Medicaid’s policy meant that people with HCV and SUD, who also had evidence of recent use of alcohol and/or illicit drugs, were denied potentially life-saving medication. Following the initiation of an investigation by the department, Alabama Medicaid withdrew this policy and entered into an agreement to secure Medicaid coverage for such patients going forward.

The letter explains that both the Justice Department and HHS enforce the ADA with respect to state Medicaid programs. The ADA requires that states, in administering their Medicaid programs, provide individuals with disabilities, including SUD, equal opportunity to participate in and benefit from a state’s Medicaid program. The letter urges all state Medicaid administrators to review their current and forthcoming policies and practices, including those on HCV treatment, to determine if any changes are necessary to comply with the ADA.    

For more information on the Civil Rights Division, please visit www.justice.gov/crt. For more information on the ADA, please call the department’s toll-free ADA Information Line at 800-514-0301 (TTY 833-610-1264) or visit www.ada.gov. ADA complaints may be filed online at www.civilrights.justice.gov/report.

Source: United States Department of Justice

Good morning. I want to start by thanking Chair Marván and COFECE for inviting me to speak today. I am honored to help celebrate COFECE’s 10th anniversary and the 30th anniversary of the Federal Economic Competition Law. Chair Marván, congratulations. As your agency looks to its next decade, I am confident that COFECE is in excellent hands.

COFECE’s founding and its successes reflect values we hold dear in the United States. Antitrust is for the people. We believe in robust antitrust enforcement to keep markets free and working for our people instead of exploiting and excluding them.

Both of our agencies recognize this foundational view of competition. Mexico’s Federal Economic Competition law opposes activity that “impedes or distorts the process of competition and free market access.”[1] The U.S. merger guidelines similarly explain that “competition is a process of rivalry” that delivers lower prices, more choices, higher wages and increased innovation, resiliency and choice. At the same time, competition and the competitive process preserve economic freedom and are essential ingredients for a free and democratic society.[2]

Healthy and fair competition results in real benefits for real people. Competition means better pay for workers, lower prices for consumers and the opportunity for anyone to build a business and compete on their merits.

COFECE and the Antitrust Division therefore have, in many ways, a similar mission with a similar vision at its heart. Through our work protecting competition, we maintain structural protections for the economic liberty of our people.

We also have in common an understanding that it takes hard work to make that vision a reality. We must fight one case at a time to ensure the benefits of competition for our people.

Today I’d like to highlight three areas where both of our agencies are making antitrust work for the people.

First, our agencies have had a similar focus on the importance of competition in transportation. The impact of competition on our people’s economic liberty is easy to see in the transportation industry. Competitive markets for travel mean the freedom to visit loved ones, travel to school or take a vacation.

COFECE took this seriously in its findings related to bus transportation at the Mexico City International Airport.[3] Exclusionary conduct that limits competition and raises prices for transportation to and from the airport prevents people from traveling and exploits those that do pay the price with higher costs and fewer choices. I commend COFECE on the significant fine that resulted from that matter.

The Antitrust Division has been similarly focused on competition in transportation. After decades of consolidation in the United States, our airline industry has become too concentrated. Our people suffer the consequences of that oligopoly every day, with too little competition driving prices up and reducing service, choice and innovation.

Twice in the last year we have made that argument to our federal courts, and twice they have agreed. In one matter, we successfully challenged a tie-up between two airlines that stifled competition for a significant portion of the United States. After a lengthy hearing, the judge found that our antitrust laws are “not concerned with making individual competitors larger or more powerful.” The judge blocked the alliance because he recognized that antitrust law “preserve[s] the free functioning of markets.”

That was the first time in 40 years of consolidation that the Antitrust Division won a litigated judgment in court to preserve competition in airlines.  

We had to wait less than a year for the next win. Just last week, another federal judge enjoined a multibillion-dollar airline merger after a hard-fought trial by the Antitrust Division’s litigators. Our case was about preserving affordable fares for the most cost-conscious consumers.

In a thorough 113-page opinion carefully analyzing the facts of the industry, the judge agreed and went to great lengths to issue an opinion that prioritizes the interests of travelers and those who can least afford air travel.

Antitrust is for the people.

Second, our agencies recognize that people deserve and need competition in housing. Housing is usually the single biggest cost in a family’s budget. Competition in housing means lower rent and real estate costs for families. Competition in housing means being able to move up to a bigger house when you have a newborn or moving to a new city to pursue your career. And competition in housing means more money for a family to spend on the other necessities of life.

That is why the Antitrust Division has prioritized promoting competition in real estate and housing. We have multiple active matters involving the costs of buying a home or renting an apartment.  

COFECE’s work similarly shows the impact that competition enforcement in housing markets can have. As most of you know, COFECE uncovered a real estate broker cartel whose monopolistic practices increased broker commission rates, setting commission rates above 7% for certain transactions. Economic analysis showed the real-world impact of stopping this cartel, with real estate sales in the area doubling in relation to national figures following the fine.[4]

When real estate sales increase, more people can move into a new home that better fits their lives. Antitrust is for them. 

Third, our agencies are both fighting to ensure that concentrated corporate power does not suppress the wages and working conditions in our labor markets. Our economies suffer from abuses of monopoly and monopsony power alike. Competition matters for workers just as it does for end consumers.

COFECE’s enforcement program reflects this reality. Its landmark action against 17 Liga MX clubs and the Mexican Football Federation for fixing the wages of women players showed that competition in labor markets is an essential priority under the antitrust laws.

The Antitrust Division has also increased its emphasis on labor issues. Take for example, our 2023 Merger Guidelines, which prioritize labor competition and recognize that “labor markets are important buyer markets” and that harm in a labor market alone is a sufficient basis to challenge a merger.

As in many other places, that part of the guidelines reflects how we have been enforcing the antitrust laws in recent years. We demonstrated our commitment to protecting workers and creators in a pathbreaking publishing industry case last year. A proposed merger would have consolidated the “big 5” publishers into a new “big 4.” The merger would have further tightened an oligopoly facing writers — including both established authors of best-selling books and those working hard to break through. Authors and books are more than just economic units. They are vital to the marketplace of ideas, free speech and the public discourse.

Authors depend on competition among publishers to earn their advances and be able to do their work. A federal court agreed with our case, and entered an opinion prohibiting the merger and reaffirming that harm to a labor market is reason enough to prohibit a merger.

We saw another critical win for labor market competition in a court of appeals case last year. Leinani Deslandes was a fry cook at McDonald’s earning $7 an hour who worked her way up and was offered a management position. That’s supposed to be the upward mobility you can earn with free market capitalism.

Ms. Deslandes faced a problem, though. The management offer she got was from a competing McDonald’s. The corporation’s contracts with franchises stood in the way because they commit franchises not to hire each other’s workers. So, they said that Ms. Deslandes could not take the new management role or the better hours and better pay. And a federal district court agreed, dismissing the case.

The Antitrust Division participated in the appeal of that decision because we believe that agreements among employers not to hire each other’s workers restrain competition and deprive those workers of economic justice. Ms. Deslandes earned and deserved that promotion.

The good news is that the court of appeals agreed with our position, reversing the lower court and sending the case back for further proceedings. The court reaffirmed that the law does not treat benefits to consumers as justifying detriments to workers. Antitrust law, the court held, is also concerned with competition in the markets for inputs like labor.

Whether you are an author or a McDonald’s employee like Leinani Deslandes, we all benefit from competition in labor markets. Antitrust is for workers.  

I should add that when we talk about the people impacted by competition, our cases connect better with both the public and the courts. In the United States, we are seeing that across our work. Our new merger guidelines, designed to use more accessible and direct language, received tens of thousands of overwhelmingly supportive public comments. In the past, we typically received only a few dozen comments when revising the guidelines. Among other things, this was a byproduct of dependence on an overly technocratic process and often impenetrable language that largely excluded, rather than invited, participation from the general public. This time around, we took a different approach, which produced an outpouring of interests from all segments of our society. Our new guidelines use accessible language that invites public engagement with merger reviews that impact their lives and livelihoods. Not only is this good process, but it is also good policy as well.

Meanwhile the courts are connecting with these stories as well. In fact, in the last year the DOJ and FTC have seen an incredible string of successes in important merger cases in the federal courts.  

I believe those wins stem, in part, from the way our teams have emphasized the importance of competition in protecting the economic liberty of real people. Our litigators are telling human stories and seeing those stories resonate with the courts and the broader public.

I’d like to conclude by underscoring that transportation, housing and labor are not the only areas where COFECE has been a global leader and an important partner. Effective competition enforcement increasingly requires cross-border collaboration. We draw insight from the lessons you learn and encouragement from your achievements. Despite our different antitrust regimes, we have much to gain from this dialogue with each other.

That cooperation will necessarily increase further as we prepare together for the 2026 World Cup. Just a few months ago, our agencies launched a joint initiative to deter, detect and prosecute collusive schemes, fraud and corruption related to the provision of goods and services for the World Cup. As Chair Marván pointed out at the time, this event gives us the opportunity to make the benefits of competition tangible for the people of our nations.[5] I look forward to working closely with COFECE and the CCB on the initiative.

More broadly, as COFECE turns to its next 10 years, we at the Antitrust Division look forward to continued partnership and collaboration as we work to protect competition for the people of our nations. Congratulations again.

Source: United States Department of Justice

The Justice Department announced today that a federal judge sentenced a Philadelphia-area man to prison yesterday for his role in distributing medical devices without U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) clearance.

Peter Stoll III, 35, pleaded guilty last year to one felony count of violating the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act (FDCA) by causing the introduction of misbranded and adulterated medical devices into interstate commerce. U.S. District Judge Joseph F. Leeson sentenced Stoll to 12 months in prison and one year of supervised release.

According to court documents, Stoll was a regulatory affairs specialist at a medical device manufacturer located in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and was responsible for making submissions to the FDA that were required before the company could sell its medical devices. In pleading guilty, Stoll admitted that in 2017, he created two false letters that purported to show that FDA had granted clearance to sell two different medical devices. As a result, the company illegally sold tens of thousands of dollars’ worth of medical devices throughout the United States.

According to court documents, Stoll was responsible for shepherding two of the company’s devices through the FDA’s 510(k) clearance process: the ELAN-4 Air Drill, a high-speed surgical drill used for bone cutting, sawing and drilling, and the JS Series SterilContainer S2, a reusable sterilization container for medical instruments. Stoll admitted that he never submitted any 510(k) documents to FDA regarding either device. Instead, Stoll created a fraudulent letter using FDA letterhead and bearing the forged digital signature of an FDA official that falsely stated that FDA had cleared the ELAN-4 Air to be marketed. Stoll later created another, similarly fraudulent letter on FDA letterhead for the SterilContainer JS Series medical device.

“Individuals who subvert the FDA clearance process for medical devices put patients’ lives at risk,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian M. Boynton, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “The Justice Department will work with its law enforcement partners to prosecute individuals who falsify documents and violate the law.”

“The FDA’s checks and balances exist for one reason: to protect the public,” said U.S. Attorney Jacqueline C. Romero for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. “One of the medical devices illegally sold in this case is meant to be used in invasive surgeries; the other, to sterilize instruments, preventing infection or contamination. Evading the prescribed FDA clearance process can literally be a matter of life and death, which is why we take these cases so seriously and work to hold perpetrators responsible for their actions.”

“The FDA must be notified and given the opportunity to clear certain medical devices before they are distributed into interstate commerce,” said Assistant Commissioner for Criminal Investigations Justin D. Green of the FDA. “A medical device distributed without FDA clearance can put patients at risk. Our office will aggressively pursue those who place patients at risk by failing to follow the law. The FDA’s Office of Criminal Investigations (OCI) protects the American public by rigorously investigating allegations involving FDA-regulated products and violations of the FDCA. In this case, OCI worked with the Justice Department to ensure a just resolution, and we applaud the exceptional work done by the team.”

FDA’s OCI investigated the case.

Trial Attorney Max Goldman and Assistant Director Ross S. Goldstein of the Justice Department’s Consumer Protection Branch and Assistant U.S. Attorney and Health Care and Government Fraud Chief Mary Mary Beth Leahy for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania are prosecuting the case.

Additional information about the Consumer Protection Branch and its enforcement efforts can be found at www.justice.gov/civil/consumer-protection-branch.

Source: United States Department of Justice

A Florida woman was sentenced today to two years in prison for a scheme to file false tax returns and to two years in prison for an unrelated online romance scam. The two sentences are to run concurrently with each other.

According to court documents and statements made in court related to the tax scheme, Iona Coates owned and operated Bits & Bytes Accounting Services Inc., which provided tax preparation and bookkeeping services. Between 2015 and 2020, Coates claimed $228,788 in tax refunds on her individual federal income tax returns by falsely reporting that taxes had been withheld from her income and had been paid to the IRS. Coates further enriched herself by creating nearly 20 sham entities for the sole purpose of filing false tax returns that claimed fuel tax credits. Between 2017 and 2019, Coates prepared and filed 35 such returns.

According to court documents and statements made in court regarding the online romance scheme, in 2020, Coates met two individuals online through a dating website. She subsequently provided them with her bank account information and began receiving money into her account from victims of the scheme. She sent the money she received to them. In December 2020, U.S. Secret Service agents met with Coates and explained that she was acting as a “money mule” in an online romance scheme. As the agents described, the individuals, acting as fake suitors on dating websites, convinced victims to send money to Coates’s bank account. The Secret Service advised Coates to cease participation in the scheme, as the individuals were using her bank account to facilitate their theft. Coates, however, soon thereafter began acting as a money mule for another online romance scammer. Between December 2020 and September 2021, she received $229,376.26 into her bank accounts from victims of the scheme and sent the money to the scammer.

In addition to the term of imprisonment, U.S. District Judge Brian Davis ordered Coates to serve a total of three years of supervised release for both schemes. Judge Davis also ordered Coates to pay approximately $186,288 in restitution to the United States related to the tax charges and $229,376.26 in restitution to the victims of the romance scheme.

Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and U.S. Attorney Roger B. Handberg for the Middle District of Florida made the announcement.

IRS Criminal Investigation investigated the tax scheme and the U.S. Secret Service investigated the online romance scheme.

Trial Attorneys Kevin Schneider and Wilson Stamm of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin C. Frein for the Middle District of Florida prosecuted the tax case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Frein prosecuted the online romance scheme case.

Source: United States Department of Justice

A former Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) attorney pleaded guilty today to conspiring to sexually exploit numerous children.

According to court documents, between January 2018 and October 2021, Mark Black, 50, of Arlington, Virginia, was a member of two online groups dedicated to exploiting children. The goal of the two groups was to locate prepubescent girls online and convince them to livestream themselves engaging in sexually explicit conduct. Black and his co-conspirators would covertly record this conduct and share the videos with each other.

In July 2019, Black induced a prepubescent minor to engage in sexually explicit conduct on a live-streaming application while screen-recording that activity. That same month, Black and a co-conspirator also groomed another prepubescent minor to engage in sexually explicit acts on a photo and video-sharing application. The co-conspirator surreptitiously hacked into that girl’s live-video feed and recorded the sexual acts before sending them to Black.

Black was formerly the Arlington Aquatic Club (AAC) board president.

Black pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to produce child pornography and one count of coercion and enticement. He is scheduled to be sentenced on April 30 and faces a mandatory minimum of 15 years in prison and 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.

Acting Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Jessica D. Aber for the Eastern District of Virginia, Assistant Director Michael D. Nordwall of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division, and Assistant Inspector General for Investigations Shimon Richmond of the FDIC Office of Inspector General (FDIC-OIG) made the announcement.

The FBI and FDIC-OIG investigated the case.

Trial Attorneys McKenzie Hightower, Kaylynn Foulon, and James E. Burke IV of the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Lauren Halper for the Eastern District of Virginia are prosecuting 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. Attorneys’ Offices and the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, 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.

Any individuals who believe they or someone they know may have been victimized by Black are encouraged to contact the FBI at 202-278-2000 and ask to speak to the Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force.

Source: United States Department of Justice

Today, the Justice Department participated in a trilateral meeting with enforcers from Mexico’s Federal Economic Competition Commission (COFECE), Canada’s Competition Bureau and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Discussions were held among Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Kanter of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division, Chair Lina M. Khan of the FTC, Canadian Commissioner of Competition Matthew Boswell and President Andrea Marván Saltiel of COFECE.

The meeting, which took place in Mexico City, included discussions on competition in the technology and platform sectors and the impact of competition on labor markets, as well as discussions on new enforcement tools and bringing a whole-of-government approach to competition law.

“The competition law agencies of Canada, Mexico and the United States share the common goal to preserve and protect fair and lawful competition,” said Assistant Attorney General Kanter. “I am grateful for the opportunity to meet with our fellow enforcers and discuss opportunities to promote competition and enhance enforcement in North America.”

“This annual trilateral with our enforcement partners lets us share expertise and learning, strengthening our work to promote fair competition and protect the American public from anticompetitive and monopolistic tactics,” said Chair Khan.

The 1995 cooperation agreement between the United States and Canada, the 1999 agreement between the United States and Mexico and the 2001 agreement between Canada and Mexico laid the foundation for these meetings. The agreements commit the agencies to coordinating and cooperating with each other to ensure consistent and effective antitrust enforcement.

Tomorrow, Assistant Attorney General Kanter will deliver a keynote speech at an event hosted by COFECE commemorating the release of a special anniversary book reflecting on the development of competition policy in Mexico. The book includes essays from competition experts around the world and is being released in honor of the 10th anniversary of the agency and 30th anniversary of the passage of Mexico’s first competition law.

Source: United States Department of Justice

A Colorado man was sentenced today to 39 months in prison for a hate crime charge in connection with a fire that he set to a church in Loveland, Colorado, on Jan. 19, 2023. Darion Ray Sexton, 22, pleaded guilty to a federal hate crime charge on May 5, 2023.

“This defendant has now been held accountable for his deliberate attack on the church,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “No one should live in fear because of their religious beliefs. The Justice Department will continue to vigorously prosecute those who seek to destroy houses of worship and interfere with the fundamental right to practice religion freely.”

“Places of worship are critical for our communities, and this office stands ready to protect them,” said U.S. Attorney Cole Finegan for the District of Colorado.  “Religious freedom means being free to worship without fear. Our office will take every appropriate action to ensure that every Coloradan enjoys this essential freedom.” 

“This defendant admitted he set out to destroy this church, which was determined to be a federal hate crime,” said Special Agent in Charge Mark D. Michaelk of the FBI Denver Field Office. “FBI Denver worked with the Loveland Police Department to bring this man to justice. Anyone who attacks a house of worship will get the full attention of the FBI. In addition to seeking justice for these crimes, the FBI remains committed to providing resources for potential victims, such as the event with faith leaders held in this county the day before the crime occurred.”

“Arson is not only destructive and deadly, but also undermines the sense of safety within places of worship,” said Special Agent in Charge Brent Beavers of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). “We immediately committed all ATF resources to addressing the impact of this arson by deploying our certified fire investigator, an ATF Task Force Officer with their ATF trained accelerant detection canine and ATF Laboratory services to analyze fire debris and evidence. Early and continued collaboration with our local and federal partners ensured justice once again prevailed.”

According to court documents, Sexton pleaded guilty to intentionally setting fire to the church in the evening hours of Jan. 19, 2023. Sexton admitted that he set this fire by throwing two Molotov cocktails at the church — one at the front door and the other at the basement. Sexton further admitted that he was motivated to set this fire due to the religious character of the church and that he intended to destroy the church.  

The FBI, ATF and the Loveland Police and Fire Departments conducted the investigation.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Bryan D. Fields for the District of Colorado and Trial Attorney Maura White of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division prosecuted the case. 

Source: United States Department of Justice

The Department of Justice, Office of Information Policy (OIP) is pleased to announce that nominations are open for the 2024 Sunshine Week FOIA Awards, recognizing the contributions of FOIA professionals from around the government.  As the Attorney General recognized in his FOIA Guidelines issued in March 2022, “[t]he federal government could not process the hundreds of thousands of FOIA requests that are received every year without its dedicated FOIA professionals.”  Agency FOIA professionals are at the center of ensuring successful FOIA administration and we look forward to celebrating the work of these individuals from around the government.  For this year’s event, OIP is seeking nominations for five categories of awards:

• Exceptional Service by a FOIA Professional or Team of FOIA Professionals
• Outstanding Contributions by a New Employee
• Exceptional Advancements in IT to Improve the Agency’s FOIA Administration
• Exceptional Advancements in Proactive Disclosure of Information
• Lifetime Service Award

Nominations can be submitted by agencies or by a member of the public.  All nominations are due to OIP by Wednesday, February 14.

Awardees will be recognized during the Department’s 2024 Sunshine Week event on March 11th.

Submission Guidelines

All agency personnel are eligible for the awards listed below. These personnel can include Government Information Specialists, supervisors, FOIA attorneys, FOIA administrative specialists, or other staff at the agency that meet the award category criteria.

We invite nominations for these awards from agencies as well as members of the public. Agency submissions should be made by the agency’s principal FOIA contact or Chief FOIA Officer. 

Nominations must include:

• The full name, title, agency (or organization if applicable), and contact information for the person submitting the nomination,
• The name(s) of the individual(s) they are nominating,
• The award category that best reflects the nominee(s)’ accomplishments,
• A summary, not to exceed two single-spaced pages, that describes the nominee’s or group’s accomplishments, why the individual or group should receive the award, what they have done that sets them apart, and how their actions benefited FOIA administration, and
• A short abstract (100 words or less) that briefly outlines the nominee’s accomplishments.

Nominations must be submitted to DOJ.OIP.FOIA@usdoj.gov with the subject line “2024 Sunshine Week FOIA Award Nomination” by February 14, 2024.

Award Categories

Award for Exceptional Service by a FOIA Professional or Team of FOIA Professionals

• Recognizing exemplary performance by a FOIA professional or team of FOIA professionals in carrying out the agency’s administration of the FOIA. This award recognizes those individuals or teams whose exceptional contributions have significantly benefited FOIA administration. These benefits could include increased efficiency, greater use of technology, reduced backlogs, improved timeliness, and increased proactive disclosures.

Award for Outstanding Contributions by a New Employee

• Recognizing exceptional performance and notable contributions in carrying out the agency’s FOIA responsibilities by a new employee with fewer than three years of work in FOIA.

Exceptional Advancements in IT to Improve the Agency’s FOIA Administration

• Recognizing exceptional achievements in making greater use of technology to make information more accessible.  These efforts could include the implementation of new and advanced technologies to increase efficiencies as well as to improve proactive disclosures and the online availability of information. 

Exceptional Advancements in Proactive Disclosure of Information

• Recognizing exceptional achievements by an agency or team of professionals at the agency to proactively make more information available online.  These efforts can include both the posting of more information online and steps taken to make that information more useful to the public.

Lifetime Service Award

• Recognizing an agency FOIA professional with at least 20 years of work in FOIA administration who has demonstrated high standards of excellence and dedication in the administration of the FOIA throughout their career.

Source: United States Department of Justice

An Alabama man was sentenced yesterday to life in prison for his involvement with a website dedicated to the advertisement and distribution of images and videos depicting child sexual abuse.

According to court documents, William Michael Spearman, 58, of Madison, was the lead administrator of the website, which had been operating for many years. The website included a section devoted to the sexual abuse of infants and toddlers, a section devoted to images and videos depicting children being subjected to pain and torture, and a section devoted to avoiding detection by law enforcement, among others. As the lead administrator, Spearman managed numerous other “staff” members, directed them on how to help run the site, recommended other users for promotion, kept records of child sexual abuse material advertised and distributed over the site, presided over staff meetings, praised and scolded users, and counseled users and other managers about the functions and expectations of the website. Spearman also advertised and distributed over the website images and videos depicting the sexual abuse of children.

On June 12, 2023, Spearman pleaded guilty to engaging in a child exploitation enterprise. The following defendants have also been convicted and sentenced in the Southern District of Florida for their involvement with the same website:

Defendant	Residence	Case Status
Selwyn David Rosenstein	Boynton Beach, Florida	Pleaded guilty to conspiracy to advertise child pornography, five counts of advertisement of child pornography, and possession of child pornography. Sentenced on Dec. 12, 2022, to 28 years in prison and ordered to pay $80,500 in restitution to victims of his offense.
Gregory Malcolm Good	Silver Springs, Nevada	Pleaded guilty to conspiracy to advertise child pornography and conspiracy to distribute child pornography. Sentenced on Aug. 22, 2023, to 25 years and 10 months in prison and ordered to pay $93,500 in restitution to victims of his offense.
Robert Preston Boyles	Clarksville, Tennessee	Pleaded guilty to conspiracy to advertise child pornography and conspiracy to distribute child pornography. Sentenced on Aug. 15, 2023, to 23 years and four months in prison and ordered to pay $7,500 in restitution to victims of his offense.
Matthew Branden Garrell	Raleigh, North Carolina	Pleaded guilty to conspiracy to advertise child pornography and conspiracy to distribute child pornography. Sentenced on Aug. 1, 2023, to 20 years and 10 months in prison and ordered to pay $158,500 in restitution to victims of his offense.
Joseph Addison Martin	Tahuya, Washington	Pleaded guilty to engaging in a child exploitation enterprise. Sentencing is scheduled for April 2 in Ft. Pierce, Florida.
Joseph Robert Stewart	Milton, Washington	Pleaded guilty to conspiracy to advertise child pornography and conspiracy to distribute child pornography. Sentencing is scheduled for April 18 in Ft. Pierce, Florida.

Acting Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Markenzy Lapointe for the Southern District of Florida, Assistant Director Michael D. Nordwall of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division, and Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey B. Veltri of the FBI Miami Field Office made the announcement.

The FBI’s Child Exploitation Operational Unit and Miami Field Office, West Palm Beach Resident Agency investigated the cases.

Trial Attorneys Kyle P. Reynolds and William G. Clayman of the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS) and Assistant U.S. Attorney Gregory Schiller for the Southern District of Florida prosecuted this case.

Substantial assistance for these cases was provided by FBI Field Offices and Resident Agencies in Huntsville, Alabama; Reno, Nevada; Clarksville, Tennessee; Raleigh, North Carolina; and Madison, Wisconsin; CEOS’s High Technology Investigative Unit; and the U.S. Attorney’s Offices for the Northern District of Alabama, District of Nevada, Middle District of Tennessee, Eastern District of North Carolina, and Western District of Wisconsin.

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

We encourage anyone who suspects or has information regarding trafficking of minors, sextortion, child pornography or any other means of child exploitation to immediately contact law enforcement. You can file a report on the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC)’s website at www.cybertipline.com, call 1-800-843-5678, contact the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI (1-800-225-5324), or call 877-4-HSI TIP.

Source: United States Department of Justice

A federal jury convicted a Michigan businessman today of aggravated identity theft for placing the name and address of another man with the same name in legal documents to avoid a settlement payment of more than $6 million.

According to documents and evidence presented at trial, Hassan Kamal Fayad, of Dearborn, operated three medical practices and a transportation business. To fund business operations, Fayad sold outstanding medical and transportation invoices to a Texas-based investment firm. After Fayad failed to make appropriate payments to the Texas firm pursuant to their contracts, the Texas firm sued him in civil court for damages. Throughout the civil proceedings, Fayad caused the name and address of another Michigan resident who shared Fayad’s first and last name, but lived at a different address, to be placed on multiple legal documents, including on a settlement document which obligated Fayad to pay the Texas firm more than $6.3 million. Fayad’s use of the other Michigan resident’s name and address caused the garnishment of all funds from the other Michigan resident’s bank account.

A date for sentencing has not been set. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg of the Justice Department’s Tax Division made the announcement.

The FBI investigated the case.

Trial Attorneys Mark McDonald and Christopher P. O’Donnell of the Justice Department’s Tax Division are prosecuting the case.