Newark-Based E.M. Photonics, Inc. (“#EMP”) and its Chief Executive Officer, Eric Kelmelis Agree to Pay $2.75 Million to Resolve Allegations of Government Contracting Fraud

from January 2009 to April 2014, EMP received funds under seven different contracts and grants awarded through the federal Small Business Innovation (“SBIR”) and Small Business Technology Transfer (“STTR”) programs.

Here, the contracts and grants at issue were awarded by a variety of federal agencies, including the Department of the Navy; Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency; Department of the Air Force; Department of Energy; and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

https://www.justice.gov/usao-de/pr/newark-based-company-and-ceo-agree-pay-275-million-resolve-allegations-government

WASHINGTON – Ashley Furst, 35, of Highlands Ranch, Colo., pled guilty today to a federal wire fraud charge stemming from an embezzlement scheme in which she stole more than $545,000 from a non-profit organization based in the District of Columbia.

Starting in 2012 and continuing through June 2018, Furst stole money from the non-profit in a variety of ways. First, she paid her own personal credit card bills from her employer’s bank account, primarily through on-line debits from the bank account to satisfy her credit card balance, for approximately $415,202.52. Second, she wrote herself unauthorized checks drawn on her employer’s bank account, typically listing on the memo line a bogus reason for the check, for approximately $83,656.40. Third, she repaid her personal loan from her employer’s funds, for approximately $56,411.43. Fourth, although Furst was responsible for transferring donations from her employer’s PayPal account, she misdirected approximately $60,949.49 to her own account or to pay for personal items. Fifth, Furst increased her salary without authorization, by approximately $29,875.03. Through these five methods, Furst embezzled approximately $646,094. However, before the victim discovered the crime, Furst returned $100,500 to her employer, leaving a total embezzlement of $545,594.

https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/pr/colorado-woman-pleads-guilty-federal-wire-fraud-charge-admits-embezzling-money-non-profit

Former Washington, D.C. Police Officer Pleads Guilty To Sex Trafficking Of Two Minor Girls

MPD Police Officer from Maryland met two ninth grade girls online and paid them for sex.

Baltimore, Maryland – Chukwuemeka Ekwonna, age 29, of Glenn Dale, Maryland, pleaded guilty today in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland to two counts of Sex Trafficking of a Minor. Between October 2016 and February 2017, Ekwonna, who at the time was a police officer with the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) in Washington, D.C., engaged in sexual conduct with two girls, who were 14 and 15 years old, in exchange for money.

https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/pr/former-washington-dc-police-officer-pleads-guilty-sex-trafficking-two-minor-girls

Man Sentenced To 17 Years In Prison For Drug Trafficking

CONCORD - United States Attorney Scott W. Murray announced today that an individual who has used multiple names, including Juan Garcia, Alejandro Villar Dume, and Alberto German Gomez, was sentenced to serve 17 years in prison for participating in a drug trafficking conspiracy.

At a sentencing hearing on January 24, 2019, U.S. District Judge Paul Barbadoro sentenced the defendant, who had previously been convicted of several violent crimes, to serve 17 years in prison. The Judge also found that the defendant had obstructed justice by claiming that he was “Juan Garcia” from Puerto Rico. Information presented at the sentencing hearing suggested that the defendant actually was from the Dominican Republic.

The defendant, who previously resided in Roxbury, Massachusetts, pleaded guilty on June 28, 2018.

https://www.justice.gov/usao-nh/pr/man-sentenced-17-years-prison-drug-trafficking

Operation Panamera Defendant Sentenced to 5 Years in Prison

PROVIDENCE, RI – A former West Warwick man who admitted to assisting the ring-leader of a drug trafficking conspiracy that trafficked dozens of kilograms of fentanyl, cocaine, marijuana, and psilocybin mushrooms, dubbed “Operation Panamera,” was sentenced today to 60 months in federal prison.

At the time of his guilty plea, Jamaal M. Dublin, 35, admitted to the Court that he coordinated with the ring-leader of the drug trafficking conspiracy, Ramon Delossantos, 26, of Cumberland, to distribute at least 500 grams of cocaine and to collect payment for significant quantities of cocaine distributed by members of the drug trafficking conspiracy. In total, 23 individuals were arrested and charged in the fall of 2017 with participating in the drug trafficking conspiracy.

https://www.justice.gov/usao-ri/pr/operation-panamera-defendant-sentenced-5-years-prison

>>4962221

BUFFALO, N.Y. - U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy, Jr. announced today that a federal grand jury has returned an indictment charging James Timpanaro, 54, of Buffalo, NY, with causing a pipe bomb hoax and contempt of court order. The charges carry a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine

On November 2, 2018, the defendant made an initial appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge H. Kenneth Schroeder who ordered Timpanaro to complete an inpatient psychiatric and alcohol evaluation at the Buffalo VA Medical Center. Between January 26 and January 27, 2019, the defendant failed to comply with Judge Schroeder’s order to abide by all rules and directives of the inpatient treatment program, when he left the facility. Timpanaro was quickly apprehended by the U.S. Marshal Fugitive Task Force.

https://www.justice.gov/usao-wdny/pr/buffalo-man-indicted-charges-he-committed-bomb-hoax-and-contempt-court

Brooklyn Couple Arrested for Immigration Fraud Scheme

Defendants Allegedly Paid U.S. Citizens to Enter Into Sham Marriages With Foreign Nationals

A criminal complaint was unsealed today in federal court in Brooklyn charging William Jacobsen and his wife Marta Medvedeva with conspiring, and aiding and abetting others, to enter into sham marriages with foreign nationals for the purpose of obtaining lawful permanent residency in the United States. The defendants were also charged with evading United States immigration laws by making materially false statements in immigration applications, affidavits and other documents. The defendants’ initial appearances were held this afternoon before United States Magistrate Judge Vera M. Scanlon.

As alleged in the complaint, between approximately November 2016 and January 2019, Jacobsen and Medvedeva identified and recruited U.S. citizens who were willing to enter into sham marriages with foreign nationals. The foreign nationals paid the defendants approximately $30,000 for their services, and a portion of the fee was then passed on to the U.S. citizen spouses for their participation in the fraud. The defendants also coached the couples on how to successfully pass immigration interviews and provided misleading or false documentation needed during various steps in the immigration process.

https://www.justice.gov/usao-edny/pr/brooklyn-couple-arrested-immigration-fraud-scheme

>>4962221

PHILADELPHIA – First Assistant United States Attorney Jennifer Arbittier Williams today announced that U-Haul Company of Pennsylvania and Miguel Rivera, the general manager of U-Haul’s Hunting Park location, pled guilty today to two felony counts of violating hazardous materials regulations.

In July 2014, a propane cylinder attached to a food truck exploded in Philadelphia, killing two people and injuring others. A subsequent investigation revealed that U-Haul Company of Pennsylvania had willfully and recklessly allowed untrained workers to handle propane, a hazardous material, in violation of its statutory obligations. Miguel Rivera aided and abetted the company's violations. As the manager, Rivera was fully trained and certified to handle propane, yet he requested or required the untrained employees to fill propane cylinders for customers, knowing that they had not completed (or even started) training. Over a three-week period seen in surveillance footage, untrained workers filled propane cylinders more than 60 times, in violation of the law and U-Haul Company of Pennsylvania's own policy.

https://www.justice.gov/usao-edpa/pr/u-haul-and-employee-plead-guilty-felony-violations-hazardous-materials-regulations

Additional Charges Filed in Tree of Life Synagogue Shooting Robert Bowers Charged with 63 Counts Including Hate Crimes Resulting in Death

Specifically, the Superseding Indictment charges:

Eleven counts of obstruction of free exercise of religious beliefs resulting in death;

Eleven counts of hate crimes resulting in death;

Two counts of obstruction of free exercise of religious beliefs involving an attempt to kill and use of a dangerous weapon and resulting in bodily injury;

Two counts of hate crimes involving an attempt to kill;

Eight counts of obstruction of free exercise of religious beliefs involving an attempt to kill and use of a dangerous weapon, and resulting in bodily injury to public safety officers;

Four counts of obstruction of free exercise of religious beliefs involving use of a dangerous weapon and resulting in bodily injury to public safety officers;

Twenty-five counts of discharge of a firearm during these crimes of violence.

The victims include 11 worshippers at the Tree of Life Synagogue who were killed, 2 congregants who were critically injured by Bowers and 12 congregants who escaped unharmed. Additionally, the victims include 5 responding police officers who were injured while attempting to rescue surviving victims and apprehend Bowers.

https://www.justice.gov/usao-wdpa/pr/additional-charges-filed-tree-life-synagogue-shooting-0

St. Thomas, USVI – United States Attorney Gretchen C.F. Shappert for the District of the Virgin Islands announced today that David Wikel, president of Florida-based Therma-Seal Roof Systems, LLC, was charged with providing kickbacks in connection with the $1.7 million dollar federal government subcontract to retrofit the roof of the Ron de Lugo Federal Building in St. Thomas, VI.

According to the Information filed in the case, in May through October 2014 Wikel paid over $200,000 in kickbacks to a senior project manager for the prime contractor on the Ron de Lugo Project, and that person ultimately funneled $85,000 back to Wikel. The Informtion also alleges that Wikel falsely inflated the costs billed under the subcontract in order to cover the aforementioned kickbacks

This case is being investigated by the General Services Administration – Office of the Inspector General, the Department of Veterans Affairs-Office of the Inspector General, the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

https://www.justice.gov/usao-vi/pr/florida-man-charged-procurement-fraud-related-federal-courthouse-st-thomas

>>4962221

NORFOLK, Va. – FF Acquisition, Inc. (Farm Fresh), headquartered in Virginia Beach, has agreed to pay $1 million to settle civil penalty claims stemming from alleged record-keeping violations by its pharmacies.

“The abuse of prescription drugs is one of the most alarming and critical issues we face today,” said G. Zachary Terwilliger, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. “To combat this problem, it is crucial that those who dispense controlled substances comply with record-keeping requirements. These requirements help to prevent the illegal diversion of prescription drugs, and holding registrants accountable serves a vital role in our office’s effort to combat every manner of the opioid crises affecting Virginia.”

The United States alleges that between Sept. 9, 2014 and Sept. 21, 2016, Farm Fresh pharmacies violated the Controlled Substances Act by failing to record dates and quantities of controlled substances shipped and received, by failing to record the DEA numbers of suppliers, and failing to timely notify the DEA of theft losses. These failures occurred despite several of the pharmacies having received Letters of Admonition from DEA for failing to properly complete and maintain the required records.

https://www.justice.gov/usao-edva/pr/farm-fresh-agrees-1-million-settlement-resolve-civil-claims

Dulles Metrorail Project Subcontractor and Company President Settle Civil Fraud Suit

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – Universal Concrete Products Corporation (UCP) and its President and co-owner, Donald Faust, Jr., have agreed to pay $1 million to settle civil allegations that UCP falsified test records for concrete panels for the extension of the Silver Line, also known as Phase II of the Dulles Metrorail Project.

The government’s civil lawsuit claims are based on a whistleblower suit initially filed in 2016 by a former UCP quality control employee.

https://www.justice.gov/usao-edva/pr/dulles-metrorail-project-subcontractor-and-company-president-settle-civil-fraud-suit

HONOLULU – Kathy Funtila, 46, a resident of Honolulu, Hawaii, was sentenced yesterday to 119 months in federal prison for defrauding multiple Oahu businesses of $558,633.71 over the course of 5 years.

According to information presented in court, Funtila pled guilty in August 2018 to bank fraud and identity theft offenses that occurred while she was an accounting manager for two Oahu businesses: SMAC Hawaii (SMAC) and Pacific Rim Defense, LLC (PRD).

Funtila also used another employee’s company credit card, without their permission, to book a $1,707 stay at the Waikiki Shore resort for one of her family members.

https://www.justice.gov/usao-hi/pr/honolulu-woman-sentenced-prison-bank-fraud-and-identity-theft-offenses

>>4962301

Legit

>>4962221

Bakersfield Trucker Sentenced for Shipping Drugs Sourced from Mexico

FRESNO, Calif. — Darrell Leon Jennings, 51, of Bakersfield, was sentenced today to five years in prison for conspiring to distribute and possess with intent to distribute heroin and cocaine, U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott announced.

https://www.justice.gov/usao-edca/pr/bakersfield-trucker-sentenced-shipping-drugs-sourced-mexico

Two South Texas Doctors Sentenced to Prison for Roles in Separate Multi-Million Dollar Medicare Fraud Schemes

John P. Ramirez, 65, of Houston, Texas, a physician, was sentenced to serve 25 years in prison followed by three years of supervised release by U.S. District Judge David Hittner of the Southern District of Texas. Judge Hittner also ordered the defendant to pay $26,729,041.39 in restitution. John Ramirez was convicted at trial in the Southern District of Texas along with his co-defendants Ann Shepherd and Yvette Nwoko.

According to evidence presented at trial, from in or around December 2011 to in or around August 2015, John Ramirez and his co-defendants conspired and schemed to defraud Medicare out of payments for medical services.

Anh Do, M.D., 78, of Houston, Texas was sentenced to serve 36 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release by U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen of the Southern District of Texas. Judge Hanen also ordered the defendant to pay $1,875,219.00 in restitution and to forfeit $274,213.46. Do pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud on Aug. 28, 2018.

https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/two-south-texas-doctors-sentenced-prison-roles-separate-multi-million-dollar-medicare-fraud

Former Las Vegas Valley Water District Employee Sentenced to Four Years In Prison For $6.7 Million Ink/Toner Cartridge Scheme And Tax Evasion

LAS VEGAS, Nev. – Jennifer J. McCain-Bray, aka JJ McCain

was sentenced today to 51 months in federal prison for committing mail fraud and tax evasion as part of a scheme to defraud the Las Vegas Valley Water District (LVVWD) of over $6.7 million, announced U.S. Attorney Nicholas A. Trutanich of the District of Nevada, Special Agent in Charge Aaron C. Rouse for the FBI, and Special Agent in Charge Tara Sullivan for the IRS-Criminal Investigation.

https://www.justice.gov/usao-nv/pr/former-las-vegas-valley-water-district-employee-sentenced-four-years-prison-67-million

NO TAX RETURN FOR YOU

Northern Nevada Tax Return Preparer Sentenced To Five Years In Prison For Tax Fraud Conspiracy And Theft Of Elder Client's Money

Bidegary conspired with a co-defendant to prepare and file fraudulent individual income tax returns on behalf of clients. Beginning in at least 2009 and continuing through December 2014, he advised clients that by making small “investments” into various businesses he owned, the clients could decrease their annual taxable income and increase their tax refunds. As part of the scheme, after receiving checks from clients, Bidegary would prepare false tax forms for the corresponding tax year that included large fictitious business losses in order to reduce the client’s taxable income and obtain a larger refund than what the client was entitled to receive. As a result of the false tax returns, he caused a tax loss of approximately $259,880.

In a separate criminal case filed against Bidegary, he prepared and filed an unauthorized tax return on behalf of an elderly woman in Battle Mountain, Nevada. After receiving the $12,500 tax refund, he deposited the check into a bank account which was then converted for his own personal use.

DOUCHBAG

https://www.justice.gov/usao-nv/pr/northern-nevada-tax-return-preparer-sentenced-five-years-prison-tax-fraud-conspiracy-and>>4962221

>>4962221

PEDO NATION SOUTH DAKOTA

Fort Thompson Man Sentenced for Sexual Abuse

St. Francis Woman Charged with Involuntary Manslaughter and Child Abuse

Eagle Butte Man Charged with Sexual Abuse of a Minor

Mission Man Indicted on Assault and Abusive Sexual Contact Charges

Rapid City Man Sentenced for Failure to Register

Cherry Creek Man Charged with Child Sexual Abuse, Child Abuse, and Assault with a Dangerous Weapon

Sioux Falls Man Sentenced for Tax Fraud

Cherry Creek Woman Charged with Tampering and Misprision of a Felony

Rosebud Man Sentenced for Assault With a Dangerous Weapon

Eagle Butte Man Charged with Failure to Register

Rosebud Woman Sentenced for Child Abuse

Iowa Man Sentenced for Interference with Commerce by Threats and Violence

Pierre Man Charged with Assaulting a Federal Officer

Pierre Woman Charged with Harboring a Fugitive

Allen Man Sentenced for Sexual Contact with a Minor

Wounded Knee Man Sentenced in Death of Infant

Sioux Falls Man Sentenced for Possession of a Firearm by a Prohibited Person

Black Hawk Man Sentenced for Firearm Conviction

>>4962221

NEVERLAND

Nederland Bomber Sentenced to 27 Years in Federal Prison

DENVER – David Michael Ansberry, 66 years old, of Berkley, California was sentenced to 324 months (27 years) in federal prison for attempting to detonate an improvised explosive device outside of the Nederland Police Station in Nederland, Colorado, U.S. Attorney Jason R. Dunn and FBI Denver Special Agent in Charge Dean Phillips announced. United States District Court Judge Christine Arguello entered the sentence against Ansberry on January 25, 2019. Ansberry was remanded into the custody of the United States Marshals.

Ansberry pled guilty without a plea agreement on July 18, 2017, to use and attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction. According to facts relied upon during sentencing, including a statement of facts filed with the Court, before dawn on October 11, 2016, Ansberry placed a radio-controlled explosive device that was concealed in a backpack at the foot of a police parking sign at the Nederland Police Station. Ansberry, who had rented a room at an Inn across the street, attempted to detonate the bomb by calling an attached telephone multiple times. A Nederland citizen testified that he was on a balcony directly above the bomb when Ansberry tried to detonate it. However, the bomb failed to detonate. The backpack was then recovered by a police officer who, without realizing its contents, brought the bomb into the station. When the officer realized that the backpack contained a bomb, he evacuated the station and plaza in which it was located.

The Boulder County Regional Bomb Squad, Nederland Police Department, Nederland Fire Department, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and medical and hazardous materials teams responded to the incident. Using two robots, law enforcement officers removed the bomb from the police station and tested its contents. Those tests revealed the high explosive, hexamethylene triperoxide diamine (HMTD), as well as other chemicals and hardened objects inside the backpack. Using the robots and an inert aluminum slug, bomb squad members detonated the HMTD in place due to its instability and explosiveness.

Ansberry was evacuated from the Inn by the Nederland Fire Department before the HMTD was detonated. He was arrested on October 16, 2016, at O’Hare Airport in Chicago, Illinois after the investigation quickly identified him as the bomber. FBI Agents found “STP” stickers in his luggage that matched an STP sticker found at the scene of the bombing. That sticker represented the logo of a counterculture group called, “Serenity, Tranquility, and Peace,” that resided near Nederland in the 1960’s and 1970’s and of which Ansberry had been a member. The STP sticker found at the scene of the bombing had hand-written on it, “RIP Deputy Dawg Murdered by Marshal 7/17/71.” This was a reference to an STP member named Guy Howard Gaughner who had been murdered in Nederland in 1971. A diary recovered from Ansberry contained entries referring to the death of Gaughner and saying, “Poor Deputy. REVENGE is called for.”

https://www.justice.gov/usao-co/pr/nederland-bomber-sentenced-27-years-federal-prison

https://twitter.com/WarrensburgPD/status/1090071726950699013

>>4962221

EMP AND FF stood out the most in this group of cases

>>4962387

>>4962388

>>4962391

>>4962331

TYB night kids

>>4962423

The VA in virgina Farm Fresh = FF = opioids

>>4962432

Similar on the East Coast is National Grid Gas/Electric, we lost heat for over a week. Still no reason why. No one is buying their was air in the lines for entire islands.

>>4962353

shit I aint scared they turned whole state into the Ladd School decades ago.

>>4962467

No doubt, here we were waiting for houses to go sky high like they did in Mass a few months ago.

>>4962484

They are targeting the infrastructure gas, electric and oil here are all years out of date. Politicians have been running their campaigns on state funds for years, when they almost get caught they switch to another utility. Trump knew and thats why they hate him. The unions here however, secretly love him. They love that OSHA is being hawked

>>4962494

bingo