Defendants Ordered to Pay Nearly $2.7 Million in Restitution CollectivelyOKLAHOMA CITY – JIMMIE MATHEWS, 41, NATHAN MATHEWS, 42, and AMBER DELGER, 55, all of the Lawton area, have been sentenced for their roles in a conspiracy to commit health care fraud, announced U.S. Attorney Robert J. Troester.The defendants were each charged in May 2024, with Delger being charged by Information with conspiring to commit health care fraud, and both Jimmie and Nathan charged by a 16-count federal grand jury Indictment with conspiring to commit health care fraud and fifteen counts of health care fraud. Beginning in 2016, Nathan owned Emerald Lane Therapy Services (Emerald Lane) in Lawton, a massage therapy provider. Delger was a subsequent co-owner of the company. Nathan and Jimmie also owned a separate massage therapy provider, Stars & Stripes Therapy (Stars & Stripes), which opened its doors in Lawton in January 2020. Both businesses purportedly treated TRICARE beneficiaries, submitted claims to the Defense Health Agency (DHA), and received payments from DHA for those services.According to public record, beginning in January 2018, the defendants conspired together to submit false and fraudulent claims to TRICARE for services that were never rendered. Court documents allege that after TRICARE beneficiaries visited either of the businesses, the defendants would schedule multiple appointments for the beneficiaries many months in advance. If the beneficiary couldn’t make the appointments, or stopped coming altogether, the defendants would nonetheless continue to bill TRICARE as if the beneficiaries had received care. Additionally, Emerald Lane billed TRICARE using the National Provider Identity (NPI) number of an occupational therapist long after the therapist had stopped working for the business. In total, Emerald Lane and Stars & Stripes billed more than $7 million to TRICARE and received nearly $3 million in reimbursement.In October 2024, Jimmie and Nathan pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit health care fraud. Previously, on June 17, 2024, Delger pleaded guilty to the same.“Through their fraudulent conduct, these defendants exploited programs intended to provide critical benefits to our nation’s military, veterans, and their families” said U.S. Attorney Robert J. Troester. “Through vigorous investigation and prosecution, we will continue to protect taxpayer funded institutions and ensure that TRICARE dollars are protected and properly allocated to help those who serve.”“The Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS) is committed to ensuring TRICARE, the U.S. Military healthcare program, is not subjected to fraudulent schemes that expose beneficiaries to harm and waste valuable tax dollars,” said Acting Special Agent in Charge Chad Gosch of the Department of Defense Office of Inspector General, DCIS Southwest Field Office. “These sentencings demonstrate our tireless pursuit to investigate individuals that seek to enrich themselves at the expense of this valuable program.” Last week, U.S. District Judge Jodi W. Dishman sentenced both Nathan and Jimmie. Nathan was sentenced to serve 87 months in federal prison, followed by two years of supervised release, and ordered to pay $1,410,255.66 in restitution. Jimmie was sentenced to serve 42 months in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release, and ordered to pay $632,026.43 in restitution. Delger was previously sentenced on January 31, 2025, to serve 26 months in federal prison, followed by two years of supervised release, and ordered to pay $653,269.00. In announcing the sentences, Judge Dishman described the fraud scheme as egregious and far reaching in its scope, duration, and impact. Judge Dishman further noted that the public needs to know that health care fraud is not acceptable, will not be tolerated, and will result in prosecution and punishment.This case is the result of an investigation by the Defense Criminal Investigative Service of the United States Department of Defense. Assistant U.S. Attorney D.H. Dilbeck prosecuted the case.Reference is made to public filings for additional information.
OKLAHOMA CITY – Today, the Department of Justice announced that the City of Oklahoma City received $500,000 from the Department of Justice’s Office of Justice Programs and its component, the Office for Victims of Crime, to provide safe, stable housing and appropriate services to victims of human trafficking.
"Human trafficking is a barbaric criminal enterprise that subjects its victims to unspeakable cruelty and deprives them of the most basic of human needs, none more essential than a safe place to live," said Attorney General William P. Barr. "Throughout this Administration, the Department of Justice has fought aggressively to bring human traffickers to justice and to deliver critical aid to trafficking survivors. These new resources, announced today, expand on our efforts to offer those who have suffered the shelter and support they need to begin a new and better life."
"Human trafficking is one of the most abhorrent crimes ever contemplated by mankind," said U.S. Attorney Downing. "The funds provided by the Department to the City of Oklahoma City will serve as a force multiplier to assist human trafficking efforts in the Western District of Oklahoma, and it will hopefully provide some comfort and solace to its victims."
The grant, awarded to the City of Oklahoma City, will provide six to 24 months of transitional or short-term housing assistance for trafficking victims, including rental, utilities or related expenses, such as security deposits and relocation costs. The grant will also provide funding for support needed to help victims locate permanent housing, secure employment, as well as occupational training and counseling. The City of Oklahoma City is among 73 organizations receiving more than $35 million in OVC grants to support housing services for human trafficking survivors.
"Human traffickers dangle the threat of homelessness over those they have entrapped, playing a ruthless game of psychological manipulation that victims are never in a position to win," said OJP Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Katherine T. Sullivan. "These grants will empower survivors on their path to independence and a life of self-sufficiency and hope."
Human trafficking offenses are among the most difficult crimes to identify, and the scope of human trafficking victimization may be much greater than the limited data reflect. A new report issued by the National Institute of Justice, another component of the Office of Justice Programs, found that the number of human trafficking cases captured in police reports may represent only a fraction of all such cases. Expanding housing and other services to trafficking victims remains a top Justice Department priority.
The Office for Victims of Crime, for example, hosted listening sessions and roundtable discussions with stakeholders in the field in 2018 and launched the Human Trafficking Capacity Building Center. From July 2018 through June 2019, 118 OVC human trafficking grantees reported serving 8,375 total clients, including confirmed trafficking victims and individuals showing strong indicators of trafficking victimization.
For a complete list of individual award amounts and jurisdictions that will receive funding, visit: https://www.ojp.gov/sites/g/files/xyckuh241/files/media/document/htvictimsfactheet.pdf. For the national Department of Justice press release, visit: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/department-justice-awards-over-35-million-provide-housing-victims-human-trafficking.
The Office of Justice Programs, directed by Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Katharine T. Sullivan, provides federal leadership, grants, training, technical assistance and other resources to improve the nation’s capacity to prevent and reduce crime, assist victims and enhance the rule of law by strengthening the criminal and juvenile justice systems. More information about OJP and its components can be found at www.ojp.gov.
The year 2020 marks the 150th anniversary of the Department of Justice. Learn more about the history of our agency at www.Justice.gov/Celebrating150Years. To download a photo of U.S. Attorney Downing, click here.
Two former East St. Louis, Illinois, Police Department (ESLPD) officers, Vincent Anderson, 61, and Jason Boyd, 51, pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court to civil rights offenses related to Boyd’s use of unreasonable force against two juvenile detainees.
According to court documents, on Oct. 3, 2019, two juveniles, who had been detained by the ESLPD, were sleeping in separate, locked holding cells in the East St. Louis jail. At that time, ESLPD Officer Jason Boyd banged on the glass of the juveniles’ holding cells, but the juveniles did not wake up. Boyd took pepper spray out of his holster in view of the other officers — including an ESLPD supervisor, Captain Vincent Anderson, stepped into one of the locked holding cells and pepper sprayed one of the sleeping juveniles. The other officers — including Anderson — watched Boyd spray the juvenile and did nothing to stop him despite their duty to intervene in an unreasonable use of force.
Boyd and one of the other officers agreed that the second juvenile should also be sprayed. They walked to the holding cells, where Anderson and another officer had remained. Boyd then pepper sprayed the second sleeping juvenile. Again, none of the other officers acted to stop Boyd. Further, none of the officers acted to obtain care for the juveniles, despite the officers’ duty to obtain necessary medical care for detainees.
Boyd pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor civil rights violations for his use of unreasonable force against the juveniles and Anderson pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor civil rights violations for his failure to intervene in Boyd’s use of unreasonable force.
Sentencing hearings are scheduled for July 23. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, U.S. Attorney Rachelle Aud Crowe for the Southern District of Illinois and Special Agent in Charge David G. Nanz of the FBI Springfield Field Office made the announcement.
The FBI Springfield Field Office is investigating the case.
Trial Attorney Erin Monju of the Civil Rights Division’s Criminal Section is prosecuting the case with support from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Illinois.
OKLAHOMA CITY – OKLAHOMA HEART HOSPITAL, LLC, AND OKLAHOMA HEART HOSPITAL SOUTH, LLC, have agreed to pay $2,800,000 to settle civil claims stemming from allegations that they submitted false claims to Medicaid, announced First Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert J. Troester.
Oklahoma Heart Hospital, LLC, and Oklahoma Heart Hospital South, LLC (collectively "OHH") are limited liability companies organized in the State of Oklahoma. They own and operate the Oklahoma Heart Hospital and Oklahoma Heart Hospital South, which are located in Oklahoma City.
The United States and the State of Oklahoma allege that from January 1, 2010, through December 31, 2016, OHH caused false claims to be submitted to Medicaid for certain nonemergency prescheduled cardiovascular stent procedures under Diagnosis Related Group Codes 247 and 249. The claims were false because OHH billed the procedures as inpatient services to increase its revenue when the procedures should have been billed and reimbursed as outpatient services.
This $2.8 million settlement resolves part of the allegations filed in a lawsuit by a whistleblower who formerly worked for OHH. The lawsuit was filed in federal district court in Oklahoma City under the qui tam, or whistleblower, provisions of the False Claims Act, which permit private individuals to sue on behalf of the United States for false claims and to share in the recovery. The Act also allows the government to intervene in the lawsuit. In this case, the government intervened in the allegations resolved by this settlement, which will provide funds to both the federal government and to the State of Oklahoma. The other allegations raised in the lawsuit will be dismissed as part of the settlement.
In reaching this settlement, OHH did not admit liability, and the government did not make any concessions regarding the legitimacy of the claims. The agreement allows the parties to avoid the delay, expense, inconvenience, and uncertainty involved in litigating the case.
This case was investigated by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General and Offices of Investigations and Audit Services; FBI Oklahoma City; and the Oklahoma Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Scott Maule and Ronald R. Gallegos and by Assistant Oklahoma Attorney General Niki S. Batt.
Two individuals were charged with submitting fraudulent claims for corticosteroid injections and other services that were not performed and unlawfully distributing hydrocodone, announced U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Leigha Simonton.
Drs. Desi Barroga, 51, and Deno Barroga, 51, were indicted on November 14th on one count each of conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud, five counts each of healthcare fraud, and one count each of unlawful distribution of a controlled substance. The defendants were arrested November 16th, and made their initial appearances Friday morning.
According to court documents, the defendants operated a pain management clinic in Dallas where patients received prescriptions for high doses of hydrocodone, oxycodone, and morphine. Patients submitted to a short office visit each month and would receive their prescriptions. As part of those monthly visits, the defendants would submit fraudulent claims to the patients’ insurance companies representing that the patients received dozens of corticosteroid injections, when in fact, the patients received few injections or none. The doctors would place a needle on the patient’s body without actually piercing the skin to mimic an injection. If patients actually received any injections they would generally receive only a small amount. In many instances the defendants falsely represented that they provided over eighty injections to the patient on a single date of service. Fake medical records were also created to falsely reflect that injections were performed.
The doctors billed health care benefit programs over $50 million and were paid approximately $12 million for these fraudulent services.
An indictment is merely an allegation of criminal conduct, not evidence. Both defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
If convicted, they face up to up to ten years in federal prison for each count of health care fraud and conspiracy to commit health care fraud. They face up to twenty years for the unlawful distribution of a controlled substance counts. They will also be required to forfeit any proceeds or property traceable to the commission of the offenses of which they’re convicted.
The U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General, U.S Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration, U.S Office of Personnel Management, Office of the Inspector General, Drug Enforcement Administration Dallas Field Division Diversion Group, Texas Department of Insurance – Fraud Unit – Austin and Ft. Worth Field Office conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Renee Hunter is prosecuting the case.
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma – Interstate Helicopters, Inc. ("Interstate"), an Oklahoma corporation based in Bethany, Oklahoma, paid $155,000 to the United States to settle civil penalty claims arising from allegations that Interstate conducted unauthorized charter operations involving fixed-wing aircraft, announced United States Attorney Robert J. Troester.
Interstate is the holder of an air carrier certificate which authorizes Interstate to conduct flights in helicopters, but not fixed-wing aircraft. The United States alleges that from December 8, 2016, through April 17, 2017, Interstate conducted eleven fixed-wing charter operations ("Charter Flights") in violation of 49 U.S.C. § 40101, et seq. ("Act"), and the regulations promulgated under the Act. More specifically, the United States contends Interstate conducted the Charter Flights in violation of its operations specifications, and when none of the pilots had, within the previous 12 months, passed required knowledge, competency and flights tests, and had not completed required training. The United States also alleges that the Charter Flights were conducted in a careless or reckless manner which endangered the life or property of another. To resolve these allegations, Interstate agreed to pay $155,000 to the United States.
In reaching this settlement, Interstate did not admit liability, and the government did not make any concessions about the legitimacy of the claims. The agreement allows the parties to avoid the delay, expense, inconvenience, and uncertainty involved in litigating the case.
This case was investigated by the U.S. Department of Transportation, Office of Inspector General and the Federal Aviation Administration. It was referred for prosecution by the Enforcement Division of the Federal Aviation Administration. Assistant U.S. Attorney Ronald R. Gallegos prosecuted the case.
Every year, on the 19th of April, people gather here at this beautiful memorial to remember those who were killed, those who survived, and those who were changed forever, to commemorate the strength of the community that came together in the face of such great loss, and to celebrate the resilience that makes Oklahoma City a model for communities everywhere.
And every year on this day, wherever I am, I reflect on the loss so many of you endured – the loss you continue to endure.
In the words of the late Nobel Peace Prize winner Elie Wiesel, at the dedication of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington:
"'For the dead and the living, we must bear witness.’ For not only are we responsible for the memories of the dead, we are also responsible for what we are doing with those memories."
We bear witness so that younger generations – those who do not know firsthand about the bombing of the Murrah Federal Building – can understand and learn of the tragedy. We tell and retell the story, to instill in them the commitment to prevent tragedies like this from occurring again.
I am deeply humbled to bear witness with you today.
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26 years ago, I was sitting in my office at the Department of Justice in Washington, when an “Urgent Report” from the Oklahoma City U.S. Attorney’s Office came through. It was soon followed by a second "Urgent Report," and then a third.
There had been an explosion at the Murrah building.
Those were the days when our only source of 24/7 news was CNN. My colleagues and I gathered in front of a TV in my office and caught our first glimpse of the destruction.
As information poured in, we gathered again at FBI headquarters to monitor events as a myriad of law enforcement agencies went to work.
An axle that landed some 200 yards away from the site provided a VIN number. The VIN number was traced to a truck manufactured by Ford, purchased by Ryder in Florida, and last rented at a shop in Junction City, Kansas.
A sketch artist drew a picture of the renter, and the FBI made the rounds in Junction City, looking for anyone who had seen him. Lea McGowan, the proprietor of the Dreamland Motel, recognized him, and an all-points-bulletin went out for Timothy McVeigh.
Meanwhile, 48 hours after the bombing, I was on the FBI plane traveling to Oklahoma. In those days, the plane could not make it to Oklahoma in one jump. We had to refuel in Indiana.
When I stepped outside, an agent handed me a cell phone. You would not recognize it today – in those days, a cell phone was the size (and weight) of a brick.
It was Attorney General Janet Reno calling. McVeigh had been found in the Noble County jail.
Charlie Hanger, then a sharp-eyed Oklahoma state trooper – who until last year was the Noble County Sheriff – had stopped him 90 minutes after the bombing for a missing license plate.
Charlie noticed that McVeigh was concealing a gun, arrested him for unlawful possession, and brought him to the jail. He was about to be released when the FBI arrived.
When I landed, we drove immediately to Tinker Air Force Base. McVeigh’s first presentment to a magistrate was held there because the federal courthouse had been damaged along with the Murrah building. I argued that McVeigh should be detained, and the magistrate agreed.
We then drove to the bomb site. First, we had to pass through a ring of Humvees. The National Guard had encircled a radius of more than 16 blocks that had been damaged by the bomb. Shattered glass and crumbled bricks were everywhere.
It was night, but you would not have known it. Bright lights lit the site up as if it were midday. The front of the Murrah Building was gone. The parking lot across the street still held cars that had been flattened by the blast.
An army of first responders was crawling all over the wreckage. They had rushed to the scene from across Oklahoma and across the country. They included rescue workers from my own Maryland community, who had arrived even before I did.
They were sifting through the rubble for survivors and the dead. And everyone was crying.
At the time, we did not know exactly how many people had died. But we did know that the children’s center, which had been at the front of the building, was gone.
Then and there, we made a vow. We promised that we would find the perpetrators, that we would bring them to justice, and that we would do so in a way that honored the Constitution.
A command post was set up in a Southwestern Bell dispatch building, the windows of which had been blown out by the blast. Oklahoma law enforcement officers and federal agents from across the country, worked hand-in-hand to follow the evidence and put the case together.
Governor Frank Keating made clear there would be none of the typical inter-agency rivalries that weaken investigations. “Let’s just find the people who did this,” he told me.
And as we continued that task, we never forgot the victims, in whose memories we worked.
We met with many of you who are here today, family members and survivors. We went to the memorial service together. I carried the program for that service in my briefcase, everywhere I went.
Weeks later, we stood with some of you on the rooftop of a nearby building as we watched the remains of the Murrah building being taken down.
We tried to treat you as we would have wanted our own families to be treated.
And in return, you and all of Oklahoma City treated us like family. You took care of us – the first responders, investigators, and prosecutors who had converged on the city from across the country.
The Salvation Army kept a food line going to feed us day and night. I don’t remember what I ate, but I know I was never hungry. Nearby tables were piled high with donations of everything from toothpaste to deodorant, from sweatshirts to rain jackets.
A barbershop relocated to the convention center and offered free haircuts. When I look at photographs from those days, I realize I did not visit the barber often enough.
One resident noticed our increasingly disheveled look and even set up a laundry service at the command center.
I cannot express the depth of my gratitude for your thinking of our comfort in the midst of your pain. Nor the depth of my admiration for the care Oklahomans extended to those who were hurting, neighbors and strangers alike.
This came to be known as "the Oklahoma Standard" – a spirit of community service, generosity, and kindness that we had never seen before. The Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum keeps the Oklahoma Standard going to this day.
As Mr. Kennedy noted, once a week the museum hosts "Better Conversations," to bring together people from different backgrounds, different politics and different ideologies, to discuss issues about which they disagree.
It may not change minds, but it fosters understanding. And understanding is key to living peacefully, side-by-side, looking for common ground instead of allowing our differences to polarize us.
****
It is now 26 years since the bombing. And it is as surprising to me as it is to you that I am now the Attorney General of the United States.
Although many years have passed, the terror perpetrated by people like Timothy McVeigh is still with us. Just last month, the FBI warned of the ongoing and heightened threat posed by domestic violent extremists.
Those of us who were in Oklahoma City in April 1995 do not need any warning. The hatred expressed by domestic violent extremists is the opposite of the Oklahoma Standard.
And this memorial is a monument to a community that will not allow hate and division to win.
The Department of Justice is pouring its resources into stopping domestic violent extremists before they can attack, prosecuting those who do, and battling the spread of the kind of hate that leads to tragedies like the one we mark here today.
We must all stand together against them – for the safety of our communities, and for the good of our country.
As Kari Watkins, the executive director of the memorial and museum, often says: "On this sacred ground, we [must] work to find common ground."