Last Updated Friday, October 08, 2021, at 2:04 PM
Every Friday, The Criminal Lawyer Group publishes a digest of the latest federal prosecutions nationally. Our goal is to keep the public informed as to recent events in federal courts around the country.
Unless otherwise disclosed, none of the defendants mentioned in these summaries are clients of our firm.
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FRIDAY, October 08, 2021
I. St. Paul Man Indicted for Shipping Heroin into Minnesota Prison
On October 4, 2021, the Acting U.S. Attorney for the District of Minnesota, W. Anders Folk, announced that a St. Paul man was indicted by a federal grand jury for attempted distribution and possession with intent to distribute heroin, and for illegally possessing firearms as a felon.
According to the indictment and supporting court documents, on April 12, 2021, Walter Davis, a/k/a “Disney,” 39, attempted to distribute a substance containing heroin by depositing it into the United States mail, addressed to one or more recipients at a Minnesota state prison. On April 16, 2021, Davis also possessed a Smith & Wesson .38 Special revolver, a Rossi .357 Magnum revolver, and over 100 grams of heroin.
Davis has multiple prior felony convictions in Ramsey and Hennepin Counties and therefore is prohibited from possessing firearms or ammunition at any time. As a result, Davis is charged with one count of attempted distribution of a controlled substance, one count of possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance, and two counts of possessing a firearm as a felon.
II. Missouri Woman Indicted for Tampering with Hospitals’ Fentanyl
On October 4, 2021, the Acting U.S. Attorney for the District of Minnesota, W. Anders Folk, announced that a St. Paul man was indicted by a federal grand jury for attempted distribution and possession with intent to distribute heroin, and for illegally possessing firearms as a felon.
According to the indictment and supporting court documents, on April 12, 2021, Walter Davis, a/k/a “Disney,” 39, attempted to distribute a substance containing heroin by depositing it into the United States mail, addressed to one or more recipients at a Minnesota state prison. On April 16, 2021, Davis also possessed a Smith & Wesson .38 Special revolver, a Rossi .357 Magnum revolver, and over 100 grams of heroin.
Davis has multiple prior felony convictions in Ramsey and Hennepin Counties and therefore is prohibited from possessing firearms or ammunition at any time. As a result, Davis is charged with one count of attempted distribution of a controlled substance, one count of possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance, and two counts of possessing a firearm as a felon.
III. Former Boston Police Officer Charged in Overtime Fraud Scheme
A former officer with the Boston Police Department has been charged in connection with an ongoing investigation of overtime fraud at the Boston Police Department’s (BPD) evidence warehouse. Thomas Nee, 64, of Quincy, also agreed to plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit theft concerning programs receiving federal funds and one count of embezzlement from an agency receiving federal funds. A plea hearing has not yet been scheduled.
According to charging documents, from at least January 2015 through February 2019, Nee submitted false and fraudulent overtime slips for overtime hours that he did not work at the evidence warehouse. The “purge” overtime was a 4 – 8 p.m. weekday shift intended to dispose of old, unneeded evidence. “Kiosk” overtime involved driving to each police district in Boston one Saturday a month to collect old prescription drugs to be burned.
For the “purge” shift, Nee claimed to have worked from 4 – 8 p.m., but he and, allegedly, other members of the unit, routinely left at 6 p.m., or earlier. For the “kiosk” shift, Nee submitted overtime slips claiming to have worked eight-and-one-half hours, when in fact he and, allegedly, other members of the unit, only worked three-to-four hours of those shifts. As a result, between January 2015 and August 2017, Nee personally collected approximately $16,642 for overtime hours he did not work.
IV. Grand Jury indicts former Creve Coeur pharmacy owner in kickback scheme
On October 4, 2021, it was announced that a federal grand jury had returned an indictment charging Michael McCormac with one count of health care fraud and three counts of violations of the Anti-Kickback Statute. The indictment was returned last week, but it was suppressed until Oct. 4. The indictment charges Michael McCormac, the former owner of GoLiveWell Pharmacy in Creve Coeur, Missouri with one count of health care fraud and three counts of violations of the Anti-Kickback Statute.
The indictment of McCormac alleges that he paid kickbacks to marketing companies for referrals of prescriptions for topical creams, oral medications, and antibiotic and antifungal drugs referred to as “foot bath” drugs, which were filled by GoLiveWell and reimbursed by federal health insurance.
McCormac is accused of paying the kickbacks to marketing companies as various percentages, or “margins,” which are net profits on each prescription. The indictment also alleges that McCormac was aware that patients often did not have a valid doctor/patient relationship with the providers who signed the prescriptions and that the prescriptions were not medically necessary.
GoLiveWell primarily functioned as a mail-order pharmacy, which filled prescriptions for federal health insurance beneficiaries throughout the United States between on or about March 17, 2017, and November 30, 2019.
V. Oklahoma Man Charged with Money Laundering Conspiracy
On October 5, 2021, The Office of the U.S. Attorney for the District of Vermont announced that Romain Green, 32, of Oklahoma City, had been arraigned earlier in the day on an indictment charging him with conspiracy to commit money laundering. The indictment alleges that Green and others conspired to engage in financial transactions involving wire fraud proceeds and that the financial transactions were designed to conceal the nature, location, source, and ownership of the criminal proceeds.
The Grand Jury in Vermont originally returned its indictment charging Green on March 25, 2021. Green was arrested on September 23 in Minnesota, where he was detained over the weekend before being released on September 27. According to the indictment, Green and others distributed and received information regarding various bank accounts, including how to utilize those accounts for purposes of receiving crime proceeds.
VI. Former Boston Police Officer Charged in Overtime Fraud Scheme
A former officer with the Boston Police Department has been charged in connection with an ongoing investigation of overtime fraud at the Boston Police Department’s (BPD) evidence warehouse. Thomas Nee, 64, of Quincy, also agreed to plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit theft concerning programs receiving federal funds and one count of embezzlement from an agency receiving federal funds. A plea hearing has not yet been scheduled.
According to charging documents, from at least January 2015 through February 2019, Nee submitted false and fraudulent overtime slips for overtime hours that he did not work at the evidence warehouse. The “purge” overtime was a 4 – 8 p.m. weekday shift intended to dispose of old, unneeded evidence. “Kiosk” overtime involved driving to each police district in Boston one Saturday a month to collect old prescription drugs to be burned.
For the “purge” shift, Nee claimed to have worked from 4 – 8 p.m., but he and, allegedly, other members of the unit, routinely left at 6 p.m., or earlier. For the “kiosk” shift, Nee submitted overtime slips claiming to have worked eight-and-one-half hours, when in fact he and, allegedly, other members of the unit, only worked three-to-four hours of those shifts. As a result, between January 2015 and August 2017, Nee personally collected approximately $16,642 for overtime hours he did not work.
VII. Grand Jury indicts former Creve Coeur pharmacy owner in kickback scheme
On October 4, 2021, it was announced that a federal grand jury had returned an indictment charging Michael McCormac with one count of health care fraud and three counts of violations of the Anti-Kickback Statute. The indictment was returned last week, but it was suppressed until Oct. 4. The indictment charges Michael McCormac, the former owner of GoLiveWell Pharmacy in Creve Coeur, Missouri with one count of health care fraud and three counts of violations of the Anti-Kickback Statute.
The indictment of McCormac alleges that he paid kickbacks to marketing companies for referrals of prescriptions for topical creams, oral medications, and antibiotic and antifungal drugs referred to as “foot bath” drugs, which were filled by GoLiveWell and reimbursed by federal health insurance.
McCormac is accused of paying the kickbacks to marketing companies as various percentages, or “margins,” which are net profits on each prescription. The indictment also alleges that McCormac was aware that patients often did not have a valid doctor/patient relationship with the providers who signed the prescriptions and that the prescriptions were not medically necessary.
GoLiveWell primarily functioned as a mail-order pharmacy, which filled prescriptions for federal health insurance beneficiaries throughout the United States between on or about March 17, 2017, and November 30, 2019.
VIII. Oklahoma Man Charged with Money Laundering Conspiracy
On October 5, 2021, The Office of the U.S. Attorney for the District of Vermont announced that Romain Green, 32, of Oklahoma City, had been arraigned earlier in the day on an indictment charging him with conspiracy to commit money laundering.
The indictment alleges that Green and others conspired to engage in financial transactions involving wire fraud proceeds and that the financial transactions were designed to conceal the nature, location, source, and ownership of the criminal proceeds.
The Grand Jury in Vermont originally returned its indictment charging Green on March 25, 2021. Green was arrested on September 23 in Minnesota, where he was detained over the weekend before being released on September 27. According to the indictment, Green and others distributed and received information regarding various bank accounts, including how to utilize those accounts for purposes of receiving crime proceeds.
IX. Former Director of Maryland Environmental Service Faces Charges for Fraudulently Obtaining Money From Employer
On October 5, 2021, a federal grand jury returned an indictment, and officials also filed a state criminal information, charging Roy C. McGrath, 52, of Naples, Florida, for allegedly fraudulently obtaining funds from Maryland Environmental Service corporation. The criminal information also alleges that McGrath illegally recorded private conversations with senior Maryland state officials.
McGrath is expected to have an initial appearance in U.S. District Court in Baltimore and a state court appearance in Anne Arundel County Circuit Court, but no dates have been set for those hearings. The federal and state charges were announced by the Acting U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland, Jonathan F. Lenzner, along with Maryland State Prosecutor Charlton Howard III, and FBI Special Agent in Charge Thomas J. Sobocinski.
According to the six-count federal indictment filed in U.S. District Court Oct. 5, and the 27-count criminal information filed in the Circuit Court for Anne Arundel County, on December 27, 2016, McGrath was appointed by the Governor of Maryland to serve as Executive Director of Maryland Environmental Service (MES), a corporation owned by the State of Maryland to provide environmental services such as water and wastewater management, solid waste management, composting, recycling, dredged material management and other services to state and local government agencies, federal government entities, and private clients.
MES, which was headquartered in Millersville, Maryland, generated its operating funds from fees charged to governmental and private clients for its services, as well as from federal grants and funding from federal agencies, including the Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Department of the Interior, and the U.S. Department of Transportation.
MES functioned as an independent state corporation which did not pay its employees according to the state government pay scale but did require its employees to comply with state travel regulations, annual leave policies, and policies regarding compensatory leave, and time and attendance reporting. McGrath resigned from MES as of May 31, 2020, to become the Governor’s Chief of Staff effective June 1, 2020.
X. Arrest Made in Armed Robbery of Vermont Pharmacy
On October 6, 2021, the Acting U.S. Attorney for the District of Vermont, Jonathan A. Ophardt. announced that Johny Bixby, 35, of Addison, Vermont, was charged by criminal complaint in United States District Court in Burlington, Vermont, with one count of obstruction of commerce by robbery and one count of using a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence.
Bixby, who is currently detained, will make his initial appearance to answer the complaint in federal court on October 7, 2021. At that hearing, U.S. Magistrate Judge Kevin J. Doyle will also hear the government’s motion for pretrial detention.
According to the indictment and supporting court records, on October 4, 2021, Bixby allegedly entered the Kinney Drugs in South Burlington, Vermont. He went to the pharmacy section of the store and, while pointing a handgun at the two employees, demanded that they give him hydromorphone tablets. After receiving the tablets, Bixby put them in his pocket and fled the store.
The following day, after members of the public identified Bixby as the robber in response to the South Burlington Police Department’s request for assistance, Bixby was arrested in Hinesburg, Vermont. When he was arrested, Bixby was in possession of a handgun. When questioned by law enforcement, Bixby admitted to robbing the Kinney Drugs and using a gun to do so.
XI. Alaska Man Arrested on Federal Charges for Threatening U.S. Senators
A Delta Junction, Alaska, man, Jay Allen Johnson, 65, was arrested October 4, 2021 in Fairbanks on criminal charges related to his alleged threats against U.S. Senators. The charging documents were filed on October 1, 2021 and have now been unsealed.
Johnson is charged with threatening United States officials with intent to intimidate the officials while engaged in the performance of official duties; making interstate threats; and interstate threat to damage property by means of fire or an explosive. Johnson appeared at an arraignment and detention hearing Oct. 6 before U.S. Magistrate Judge Scott Oravec of the U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska. If he is convicted in a court of law, Johnson faces up to ten years in prison.
According to the affidavit filed in support of the criminal complaint, left a voicemail message on September 2, 2021, at the Washington D.C. office of a U.S. Senator containing several threats, including a threat to “burn” the Senator’s properties. The investigation revealed that the call originated in Delta Junction from a cellular telephone number linked to Johnson.
On September 29, Johnson left another voicemail threatening to hire an assassin to kill the U.S. Senator. Johnson also left threatening voicemail messages for a second U.S. Senator between April 2021 and September 2021.
XII. Woman Indicted for Conspiracy to Commit Arson for Burning of St. Louis 7-Eleven in 2020
On October 6, 2021, Nautica Turner, 26, of St. Louis, made her initial appearance before the Honorable Shirley P. Mensah in federal court in relation to the charge of conspiracy to commit arson. The indictment alleges that Turner, on June 1, 2020, conspired with others to maliciously damage and destroy the 7-Eleven building located in St. Louis. at 201 North 17th Street, a building used in interstate commerce.
The indictment alleges that the conspirators participated in the destruction and looting of the 7-Eleven building, and that Turner poured an ignitable liquid on the 7-Eleven building, ignited a box and threw the box in the building, and that Turner committed other acts. If Turner is convicted in a court of law, she faces up to five years in prison and/or a fine of up to $250,000.
XIII. New Jersey Man Charged with Manufacturing an Explosive Device and Possessing Multiple Bombs
On October 7, 2021, the Acting U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey, Rachael A. Honig, announced that a Cumberland County, New Jersey, man, Thomas Petronglo, 63, of Vineland, New Jersey, made his initial appearance that day on charges related to his explosive devices and the materials used to manufacture them.
Petronglo is charged by indictment with one count each of unlawful possession of a destructive device, unlawful making of a destructive device, and unlawful storage of explosive materials. He appeared by videoconference later today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Jessica S. Allen.
According to documents filed in this case, on March 12, 2021, Petronglo was found in possession of one destructive device, a 5 ¾-inch diameter metal can, containing a quantity of an explosive mixture of potassium perchlorate and aluminum, with a fuse sticking out of the device. Petronglo also possessed multiple intact improvised explosive devices and explosive materials.
