Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) State Crime Alerts (b)

BOSTON – A California man was sentenced today in federal court in Boston for embezzling over $1.2 million from his employer over a 16-year period.

Darrell Pike, 57, of Hesperia, Calif., was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Judge Myong J. Joun to three months in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release, with the first nine months to be served in home confinement. Pike was also ordered to pay restitution and forfeiture of $1,232,001. In October 2022, Pike pleaded guilty to one count of mail fraud. 

Pike was the general manager of an Ontario, Calif. subsidiary of a supply and service company based in Wilmington, Mass. Between approximately 2005 and 2021, Pike prepared and submitted fraudulent invoices to his employer on behalf of a fake temporary staffing company, Consumer Information Systems (CIS), for staffing services CIS purportedly provided at his employer’s Ontario location. Pike added approving initials of company personnel to the invoices without their knowledge or consent. Through the fraudulent invoices, Pike caused the company to pay approximately $1,271,206 to CIS, which he deposited into a bank account he controlled. 

Acting United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy and Jodi Cohen, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kriss Basil of the Securities, Financial & Cyber Fraud Unit prosecuted the case.

Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) State Crime Alerts (b)

Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) State Crime Alerts (b)

Truman Sitting Eagle, age 36, and Kandace Sitting Eagle, age 33, of Arapahoe, Wyoming, were arraigned on Jan. 16. They are both charged with aggravated child abuse and assault resulting in serious bodily injury. Their trial has been set for Mar. 18 before U.S. District Court Judge Alan B. Johnson in Cheyenne.

Both defendants were detained at the request of the government and remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service. If convicted on all counts, they each face no less than 10 years up to life imprisonment, up to a $250,000 fine, and up to five years of supervised release. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

This crime is being investigated by the FBI and the case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Cameron J. Cook

An indictment merely contains allegations, and every defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

Case No. 24-CR-03

Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) State Crime Alerts (b)

      LITTLE ROCK—Jonathan D. Ross, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas, announced today that a former Bryant High School teacher has pleaded guilty to transporting a minor across state lines for the purpose of unlawful sexual activity. Heather Hare, 33, of Conway, entered this guilty plea earlier today before United States District Judge Lee P. Rudofsky.

      Judge Rudofsky will sentence Hare at a later date. Transportation of a minor to engage in unlawful sexual activity is punishable by not less than 10 years imprisonment and up to life imprisonment, and not less than five years of supervised release.

      The investigation into Hare revealed that Hare taught Family Consumer Science classes at Bryant High School and met the minor victim on his first day of his senior year. Hare began one-on-one counseling sessions with the minor victim, eventually giving him her personal phone number and primarily communicating with him through Instagram and Snapchat.

      Hare later told the minor victim that she had a dream of them having sex and gave him her home address in Conway. The minor victim and Hare had sex approximately 20 to 30 times throughout the 2021-2022 school term, including multiple times at her Conway residence, in her vehicle, and in her classroom and parking lots at Bryant High School.

      Between April 21 and April 24, 2022, Hare was the sponsor and chaperone for a field trip to Washington, D.C., as part of an extracurricular activity related to the Family Consumer Science courses Hare taught. During the field trip, which included four students, of which the minor victim was the only male student, Hare and the minor victim engaged in the unlawful sexual activity to which she pleaded guilty.

      “This former teacher took advantage of her position of trust and the vulnerability of a minor, using her role to entice and lure this minor into engaging in unlawful sexual activity,” Ross said. “Our office will continue to seek significant penalties against any educational professional who sexually abuse their students.”

      Hare was indicted on August 1, 2023, and charged with one count of interstate/foreign travel for prostitution/sexual activity by coercion and one count of transportation of a minor with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity. In exchange for her guilty plea, the remaining charge was dismissed.

      The case was investigated by the FBI and Saline County Sheriff’s Office and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Kristin Bryant.

# # #

Additional information about the office of the

United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas, is available online at

https://www.justice.gov/edar

X (formerly known as Twitter):

@EDARNEWS 

Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) State Crime Alerts (c)

SHERMAN, Texas – A Leonard, Texas man has been sentenced to federal prison for robbing multiple banks in the Eastern District of Texas, announced U.S. Attorney Damien M. Diggs. 

Kevin Long, 31, pleaded guilty to bank robbery and was sentenced to 70 months in federal prison by U.S. District Judge Sean Jordan on January 18, 2024.  Long was also ordered to pay restitution of $573,000.

According to information presented in court, Long robbed multiple banks in East Texas between 2020 and 2021.  During the robberies he passed threatening notes to bank employees, he physically restrained bank employees, and he stole over $550,000.  Those robberies include: CapTex Bank in Bonham on Jan. 31, 2020; Financial Bank in Farmersville on August 11, 2020; Bancorp South Bank in Tom Bean on Oct. 16, 2020; Commercial Bank in Farmerville on August 13, 2021; and First United Bank in Leonard on August 20, 2021.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Bonham Police Department, Farmersville Police Department, Grayson County Sheriff’s Office, Sherman Police Department, Allen Police Department, Leonard Police Department, Bells Police Department, Tom Bean Police Department, and Texas Department of Public Safety. 

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Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) State Crime Alerts (c)

SHERMAN, Texas – A Wills Point woman has been sentenced to federal prison for fraud violations in the Eastern District of Texas, announced U.S. Attorney Damien M. Diggs.

Lisa Lynn Smith, 62, pleaded guilty to wire fraud and was sentenced to 20 months in federal prison today by U.S. District Judge Amos Mazzant.  Smith was also ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $47,236.94 to her elderly victim.

According to information presented in court, Smith carried out a scheme to defraud an elderly Plano man by telling him lies about urgent personal and family expenses that she was facing.  Smith also convinced the victim that she was going to receive a lawsuit settlement for over $2.5 million, and that she would use the money to pay the victim back for the money that he was giving to her.  The victim would provide funds to Smith by various means including allowing Smith access to a credit card, which she used for various purposes such as repeatedly renting cars for her family members. In fact, Smith’s lawsuit paid nothing close to this amount and Smith was using the money for personal and family expenses that she did not disclose to the victim.  

If you or someone you know is age 60 or older and has been a victim of financial fraud, help is standing by at the National Elder Fraud Hotline: 1-833-FRAUD-11 (1-833-372-8311).  This U.S. Department of Justice hotline, managed by the Office for Victims of Crime, is staffed by experienced professionals who provide personalized support to callers by assessing the needs of the victim, and identifying relevant next steps.  Case managers will identify appropriate reporting agencies, provide information to callers to assist them in reporting, connect callers directly with appropriate agencies, and provide resources and referrals, on a case-by-case basis.  Reporting is the first step.  Reporting can help authorities identify those who commit fraud and reporting certain financial losses due to fraud as soon as possible can increase the likelihood of recovering losses.  The hotline is staffed 10am-6pm Eastern Time, Monday-Friday. English, Spanish, and other languages are available.   

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Frisco Resident Agency and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. attorneys in the Plano office.

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Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) State Crime Alerts (b)

ST. LOUIS – A manager of a Richmond Heights, Missouri hotel has been indicted and accused of using her position to steal more than $150,000 from her employer.

Angelique Patterson, 39, was indicted in U.S. District Court in St. Louis Wednesday with five counts of wire fraud. The indictment alleges that Patterson defrauded a Richmond Heights, Missouri hotel where she was employed as assistant general manager.

From March through at least October of 2023, Patterson manipulated the hotel’s reservation system and altered the records of customers who had paid using cash or credit cards, the indictment says. Patterson changed those reservations to falsely show that the customers had used the hotel’s loyalty rewards system “points” to pay for their stay. Patterson then added her own credit or debit card information into the system and had the customers’ payments “refunded” to her. 

Patterson fraudulently refunded to herself a total of about $ 153,518 during the course of her scheme, the indictment says. On Oct. 4, 2023, although not on duty, Patterson tried to use the hotel’s desk computer and a coworker’s credentials to fraudulently refund herself an additional $61,998, the indictment says.

Each wire fraud charge is punishable by up to 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, or both.

Charges set forth in an indictment are merely accusations and do not constitute proof of guilt.  Every defendant is presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty.

The FBI investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Cort VanOstran is prosecuting the case.

Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) State Crime Alerts (b)

ST. LOUIS – A registered sex offender from St. Charles, Missouri on Thursday admitted possessing child pornography and contacting a child via Snapchat.

Ronald L. Thurber, 73, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in St. Louis to possession of child pornography as a prior offender. He admitted searching for child sexual abuse material online and possessing that material in a Google account. He also had hundreds of pictures and videos on his laptop computer and cell phone. Investigators have identified the child victims in 190 of those files.

Thurber also admitted masturbating while corresponding with a 10-year-old in Washington state via Snapchat. 

Thurber was required to register as a sex offender after being convicted in a 1979 rape and sodomy case in St. Louis County Circuit Court. He was sentenced to eight years in prison. 

The investigation began after the material in his Google account triggered multiple tips to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

Thurber is scheduled to be sentenced April 3. The charge is punishable by between 10 and 20 years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, or both prison and a fine. 

The FBI and the St. Charles County Cyber Crime Task Force investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jillian Anderson is prosecuting the case.

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 Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Department of Justice Criminal Division’s 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. For information about keeping kids safe online, please visit the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children’s NetSmartz program.

Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) State Crime News

GREENVILLE, S.C. — Jeffrey Brooks, 40, of Clarence Center, New York, was sentenced to more than seven years in federal prison after pleading guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud. In addition to Brooks’ criminal conviction, last year, Brooks paid $850,000 in a civil settlement to resolve allegations that he provided kickbacks and caused false claims to be submitted in violation of the federal False Claims Act.

Evidence presented to the court showed that beginning in or around May 2019, Brooks operated at least eight durable medical equipment (DME) companies, which were located in Fort Pierce, Florida. Through these DME companies, Brooks was charged with conspiring to submit or cause to be submitted false and fraudulent claims to Medicare and CHAMPVA for braces that were not medically necessary, eligible for reimbursement, and/or obtained through the payment of kickbacks and bribes. Specifically, evidence presented showed that Brooks and his co-conspirators purchased Medicare beneficiaries’ personally identifying information (“PII”) and purported personal health information (“PHI”) from third party call centers in order to generate doctors’ orders for braces. The doctor’s orders were generated by paying illegal kickbacks and bribes to telemedicine companies to obtain a medical practitioner’s signature on the doctor’s orders, regardless of medical necessity.

During the conspiracy, Brooks also was the beneficial owner of a call center located in Greenville, South Carolina, that purchased personal identifiable information of Medicare patients. Brooks and his co-conspirators, including purported telemedicine companies, then generated signed doctors’ orders, which were used to submit false and fraudulent claims to Medicare and cause false and fraudulent claims to be submitted to CHAMPVA.

The evidence presented to the court showed that the DME companies controlled by Brooks caused Medicare to be billed over $29 million in false and fraudulent claims.

“As we put an end to Brooks’ fraudulent scheme, he faces both accountability and justice,” said Adair F. Boroughs, U.S. Attorney for the District of South Carolina. “We will continue to seek out those defrauding federal healthcare programs.”

“By facilitating kickbacks, this defendant knowingly enabled theft from Medicare, putting personal profit before legitimate patient care and ultimately costing taxpayers millions of dollars,” said Tamala E. Miles, Special Agent in Charge at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG). “HHS-OIG is committed to working with our law enforcement partners to ensure that those alleged of defrauding federal health care programs are held accountable.”

“The penalties in this case underscore the importance of maintaining the integrity of healthcare systems,” said Steve Jensen, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Columbia Field Office. “We are committed to safeguarding the interests of healthcare beneficiaries and ensuring accountability for those who exploit healthcare programs.”

“Today, this defendant was held accountable for his role in a long-term fraud scheme in which he enriched himself at the expense our nation’s veterans and that behavior will not be tolerated,” said Special Agent in Charge Kim. R. Lampkins of the Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General’s Mid-Atlantic Field Office. “We thank the U.S. Attorney’s Office and our law enforcement partners for their efforts in this joint investigation.”

The civil settlement resolves a lawsuit originally brought by Ashley Westover and Jessica Tollison, under the qui tam or whistleblower provisions of the False Claims Act.  Under those provisions, a private party can file an action on behalf of the United States and receive a portion of any recovery.  As part of the civil resolution, Westover and Tollison received approximately $144,500 of the settlement amount.

The criminal resolution of this case was the result of a coordinated effort by the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Fraud Section and the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of South Carolina, with assistance from the HHS-OIG, Special Agent Ryan Schubert, FBI, and VA-OIG. The civil resolution of this case was the result of efforts by the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of South Carolina, with assistance from the HHS-OIG, FBI, and VA-OIG.

United States District Judge Herlong sentenced Brooks to 90 months of imprisonment, to be followed by a three-year term of court-ordered supervision. There is no parole in the federal system. The Court also ordered that Brooks pay $15,221,227.60 in restitution – $15,198,432.00. to Medicare and $22,795.58 to CHAMPVA.

The criminal case was handled by Trial Attorney Catherine Wagner of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Amy Bower for the District of South Carolina.  Assistant United States Attorney Beth Warren handled the civil case for the District of South Carolina.

The lawsuit resolved by the civil settlement is captioned United States ex rel. Westover, et al., Civ. No. 6:21-cv-00417-TMC (D.S.C., filed February 9, 2021). 

The government’s pursuit of this matter illustrates the government’s emphasis on combating healthcare fraud. One of the most powerful tools in this effort is the False Claims Act. Tips and complaints from all sources about potential fraud, waste, abuse, and mismanagement can be reported to HHS at 1-800-HHS-TIPS (800-447-8477).

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Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) State Crime News

NEW ORLEANS – U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans announced that JOHN SPOSATO, age 72, a resident of Kiln, Mississippi, pleaded guilty on January 18, 2024 before United States District Judge Eldon E. Fallon to conspiracy to commit bank fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 371 and 1344.

According to court documents, SPOSATO began serving a three-year period of supervised release after his release from prison as a result of his previous conviction on about August 9, 2022, in United States v. John Sposato, on about August 9, 2022. While on supervised release, SPOSATO claimed to be President of several companies, including Pegasus Consulting and Development, LLC (“Pegasus Consulting”). These companies performed no work and generated no income. SPOSATO opened a financial account at Keesler Federal Credit Union in the name of Pegasus Consulting and on March 27, 2023, attempted to deposit a $10,000.00 check he received from a co-conspirator, knowing it to be counterfeit. The check was purportedly drawn on the financial account of an all-volunteer, non-profit, tax-exempt organization that supported a Florida public library. SPOSATO’s attempted deposit placed Keesler at risk of both civil liability and financial loss. When asked about the check, SPOSATO falsely told a United States Probation Officer that the check was compensation for consulting work he performed, both directly and through an associate named “Jack Morgan”, for the non-profit entity. In fact, SPOSATO knew he was not entitled to the check and had never performed work for the non-profit.