Department of Justice

U.S. Attorney’s Office

Northern District of Texas

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Thursday, December 17, 2020

U.S. Attorney Erin Nealy Cox to Depart Justice Department

United States Attorney Erin Nealy Cox will resign from the Department of Justice, the office announced today.

“Serving as United States Attorney has been the privilege of a lifetime. Representing our nation is a tremendous responsibility – one I have tried to undertake with integrity and with accountability to the rule of law. I am grateful to President Trump and Senators Cornyn and Cruz for giving me this opportunity to lead, and to the Attorney General for putting his trust in me,” Nealy Cox said. “Of course, I was never the key to the achievements of this great office. Through a courthouse shooting, a government shutdown, a global pandemic, and unprecedented civil unrest, the attorneys and staff of the Northern District of Texas have never wavered in their commitment to justice. We’ve seen similar determination from our federal, state, and local law enforcement partners. I am thankful for their passion and inspired by their dedication.”

Nominated by President Donald J. Trump in September 2017 and unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate two months later, U.S. Attorney Nealy Cox was sworn into office on November 17, 2017. Under her leadership, the Northern District of Texas (NDTX) has thrived, prosecuting more cases and more defendants than any other extra-large non-border district in the nation.

In addition to her duties here in the Lone Star State, Ms. Nealy Cox led on a national level, serving as Chair of the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee, a body of federal prosecutors advising the AG on policy and operational issues. Tasked with articulating Justice Department initiatives to lawmakers and to the public, she testified twice before the U.S. Senate. She was named co-chair of the Attorney General’s Task Force on Violent Anti-Government Extremism, served on DOJ’s Religious Liberty Taskforce, and was one of five U.S. Attorneys advising DOJ’s China Initiative, a group of senior officials combatting state-sponsored economic espionage.

https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndtx/pr/us-attorney-erin-nealy-cox-depart-justice-department

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Prior to joining the office, Mr. Shah served in various senior leadership positions at the U.S. Department of Justice, including as a Deputy Associate Attorney General in the office overseeing the civil and criminal work of the Antitrust, Civil, Civil Rights, Environment & Natural Resources, and Tax Divisions. He also previously served as the Deputy Assistant Attorney General directly supervising the approximately 75 trial lawyers of the Department's Natural Resources Section in investigations and trials across the country.

Before joining the Justice Department, Mr. Shah served as an attorney in the Dallas office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP, as Senior Counsel to the Attorney General of Texas, as an Assistant Solicitor General of Texas, and Chief of Staff and Chief Counsel to U.S. Senator Ted Cruz of Texas. He graduated with honors from the University of Chicago Law School and clerked for the Hon. Jerry E. Smith of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.

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SHAH KNOWS ABOUT THE TED CRUZ FISA ABUSE

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In a separate case, NextHealth’s Andrew Hillman and Semyon Narasov pleaded guilty to money laundering conspiracy. According to court documents, the pair admitted NextHealth used marketers to funnel illegal kickbacks to physicians, attempted to conceal the payments, and submitted fraudulent claims to insurers. Mr. Hillman was sentenced to 66 months in federal prison; Mr. Narasov was sentenced to 76 months.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Dallas Field Office, the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services Office of Inspector General, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General, the U.S. Food & Drug Administration Office of Criminal Investigations, the U.S. Department of Defense Office of Inspector General, DOD’s Defense Criminal Investigative Service, IRS Criminal Investigation, the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Inspector General, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the U.S. Office of Personnel Management Office of Inspector General, and HHS’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Chad Meacham and Andrew Wirmani are prosecuting the case.

U.S. Attorney Erin Nealy Cox has been recusedfrom this matter. Per direction from Department of Justice ethics officials, Northern District of Texas First Assistant U.S. Attorney Prerak Shah will act as U.S. Attorney with respect to this matter pursuant to the authority conferred by 28 U.S.C. § 515.

https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndtx/pr/nexthealth-marketer-charged-60-million-kickback-scheme