ABINGDON, Va. – Regan Dube, who along with her husband Michael Dube formerly owned and operated American Toxicology Labs, was sentenced this week in U.S. District Court in Abingdon, Virginia to three years of probation, four months of home detention, and 400 hours of community service. Acting United States Attorney Daniel P. Bubar and Virginia Attorney General Mark G. Herring made the announcement today.

The Dubes, of Johnson City Tenn., previously pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Abingdon. Regan Dube pleaded guilty to one felony count of health care fraud in the Western District of Virginia.  Michael Dube pleaded guilty to two felony counts of health care fraud (one filed in the Western District of Virginia and one filed in the Eastern District of Kentucky). Michael Dube is scheduled to be sentenced February 11, 2021.

“Regan and Michael Dube repeatedly defrauded the health care system for their own greed,” United States Attorney Bubar said today. “I am grateful to our state and federal partners for quickly working together to investigate this case and for their continued efforts to remove fraud from the health care system.”

“Individuals who take advantage of the health care system to line their own pockets should be held accountable and this sentencing sends a message that this will not be tolerated in Virginia,” said Attorney General Herring. “I want to thank my Medicaid Fraud Control Unit for all of their hard work on this and I also want to thank our local, state, and federal partners for their continued collaboration on important cases like this one.”

According to court documents, in March 2011, Michael Dube pleaded guilty in the Eastern District of Tennessee to one count of intentionally omitting information from reports as required under the Controlled Substances Act. As a result of his conviction, the Department of Health and Human Services [HHS] informed Dube in a letter dated June 29, 2012, that he was excluded from participating in any federal health care program.

Nonetheless, in May 2013, Michael and Regan Dube established American Toxicology Labs [ATL] in Johnson City, Tennessee, with Regan Dube serving as the company’s registered agent, and using the couple’s home address as the principal office and mailing address. ATL then applied to participate in Medicare and Medicaid. On the applications, Regan Dube was listed as the owner of ATL, and Michael Dube’s name and participation in ATL was omitted.

ATL conducted urine screens for various entities who represented themselves to be opioid treatment facilities. Between May 1, 2014, and January 31, 2020, Medicare, Virginia Medicaid, Kentucky Medicaid and TennCare made payments to ATL that totaled approximately $8.5 million. During this time, Michael Dube made employment decisions, negotiated business arrangements with providers, and otherwise participated in the management of ATL.

In addition, Michael Dube also received kickback payments from third parties for referring individuals to those third parties for services for which payment was made (in whole or in part) by federal health care programs. These payments were deposited in Michael and Regan Dube’s personal checking account in a total amount of $441,646.

As a result of their guilty pleas, Regan and Michael Dube will pay a total of $9,015,046, plus interest, to be divided between special assessments, fines, restitution, and forfeiture. They will have to repay all of the money they received from Medicare and Medicaid programs.

The investigation of the case was conducted by the Food and Drug Administration Office of Criminal Investigations, Virginia Medicaid Fraud Control Unit of the Office of the Attorney General, the Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Virginia State Police, and Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigations, and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. The prosecution of the case was conducted by Special Assistant United States Attorney and Assistant Attorney General Janine Myatt, and Assistant United States Attorneys Krista Frith, Randy Ramseyer, and Whit Pierce of the United States Attorneys’ Offices for the Western District of Virginia. The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Kentucky and the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Tennessee provided valuable assistance.

Charlottesville, Va. – United States Attorney Christopher R. Kavanaugh announced today the availability of over $320,000 in grant funding for Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) initiatives. This funding opportunity will assist in implementing comprehensive, collaborative, and community-based approaches to reducing violent crime in the Western District of Virginia using a wide range of effective violent crime reduction strategies.

The grant money, distributed in partnership with the Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS) and the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), will allow eligible organizations to support a broad range of activities to reduce gun and gang violence. Programs should address deterrence efforts aimed at potential offenders, the implementation of evidence-based programs and proven enforcement strategies to prevent and reduce gun and gang crimes, and/or the prosecution of significant firearm, controlled substance, and violent crime offenses.

“These funding opportunities will be used by local organizations who are doing important work at the grassroots level to reduce violence in our neighborhoods,” United States Attorney Christopher R. Kavanaugh said today. “Project Safe Neighborhoods continues to be the major source of funding for many of these organizations and we look forward to sharing more information about those partnerships in the future.”

In May 2021, Attorney General Merrick B. Garland announced a new effort to reduce violent crime, including the gun violence that is often at its core. Integral to that effort was the reinvigoration of PSN, a two-decade old evidence-based and community-oriented program focused on reducing violent crime. The updated PSN approach, outlined in the Department’s Comprehensive Strategy for Reducing Violent Crime issued by Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco, is guided by four key principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results of our efforts.

The fundamental goal is to reduce violent crime, not simply to increase the number of arrests or prosecutions.

Guided by these principles, in October 2021, the United States Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Virginia (WDVA) implemented a strategic PSN plan. PSN is the collaboration of community organizations as well as federal, state, and local law-enforcement agencies to build evidence-based and intelligence-led approaches to identifying the most violent gangs and offenders in each affected community and deploying their combined resources not only to prevent violent crimes but also, through offender intervention and rehabilitation efforts, to help break the cycle of violence by addressing its underlying causes. United States Attorney Kavanaugh has assigned specific federal prosecutors to those areas in our District to help implement this strategy and coordinate with law enforcement as well as engaging with community partners.

The Grants Program is just one component of the multi-faceted efforts the U.S. Attorney’s Office has implemented in Danville, Roanoke City/County region, and Lynchburg. This funding opportunity is open to state and local law enforcement agencies, governmental entities, educational institutions, and 501(c)(3) non-profit organizations who are located in, or have the ability to serve, those areas. Applicants are expected to use the funds to support the WDVA’s PSN pillars, which include community engagement, prevention and intervention, focused and strategic enforcement, and accountability.

To select and administer its PSN grant funds, the United States Attorney’s Office will select community members to serve as members of an independent Grants Committee.  The Committee will be composed of individuals from the Danville, Lynchburg, and Roanoke areas with experience in community outreach, law enforcement, or who are otherwise qualified to fairly review and assess applications that will help achieve our PSN goals. None of the Committee’s members will be current federal employees, and no member will be eligible to apply for or receive PSN funding. 

The U.S. Attorney’s Office encourages those eligible organizations to apply for grant assistance by visiting the Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services website at https://www.dcjs.virginia.gov/grants/programs/2023-project-safe-neighborhoods-grant-program-western. The website also has information related to the guidelines and application procedures. Completed applications should be submitted by 5:00 p.m. on April 26, 2023.

PSN programs are led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices in collaboration with local public safety agencies, community stakeholders and other agencies and organizations that work to reduce violent crime.

For additional funding opportunities and awards that will further assist our efforts to reduce violent crime across our district, please visit The Office of Justice Programs website https://www.ojp.gov/funding/explore/current-funding-opportunities. The Office of Justice Programs provides federal leadership, grants, training, technical assistance and other resources to improve the nation’s capacity to prevent and reduce crime, advance racial equity in the administration of justice, assist victims, and enhance the rule of law.

Roanoke, VIRGINIA – United States Attorney for the Western District of Virginia Rick A. Mountcastle, Assistant United States Attorney and Professional Responsibility Officer Michael Moore from the Eastern District of Virginia, and a delegation from the Virginia Association of Commonwealth’s Attorneys, consisting of Greensville County/City of Emporia Commonwealth’s Attorney Patricia T. Watson, Virginia Beach Commonwealth’s Attorney Colin Stolle, Arlington County/City of Falls Church Commonwealth’s Attorney Theophani K. Stamos, and Suffolk City Commonwealth’s Attorney C. Phillips Ferguson appeared before the ethics committee of the Virginia State Bar this morning to deliver remarks in opposition of the proposed VSB Legal Ethics Opinion 1888 [VSB LEO 1888].

 

U.S. Attorney Mountcastle’s remarks as prepared for delivery:

 

Good morning ladies and gentlemen. My name is Rick Mountcastle and I’m the United States Attorney for the Western District of Virginia.  I’m here with my colleague from the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia Assistant United States Attorney and Professional Responsibility Officer Mike Moore.  It’s my privilege to address you this morning on behalf of the United States Department of Justice and the two United States Attorney’s Office’s in Virginia about proposed Legal Ethics Opinion 1888.

 

After a careful review of the hypothetical facts, the analysis, and the proposed Opinion, as well as the applicable legal authorities, we respectfully request that you withdraw the proposed Opinion for the reasons set forth in our November 2, 2017 letter, as well as the many other reasons articulated by the Virginia Association of Commonwealth’s Attorneys and others.  I don’t want to repeat our written comments and I’m certain the Bar will give those comments careful consideration. 

 

I do want to emphasize a couple of points this morning.  First, the Department of Justice and the United States Attorney’s Offices take very seriously the requirement that our prosecutors comply with their discovery and disclosure obligations.  We expend considerable resources to ensure compliance with the Department’s mandate that we make broad disclosures of potentially exculpatory and impeaching material as required by the statutes, rules, and case law.  Further, we agree that prosecutors must not willfully and intentionally attempt to conceal exculpatory and impeaching evidence by hiding it within voluminous materials.

 

The proposed Opinion, however, does not provide clear guidance about this requirement but, instead, creates confusion.  As discussed in our written comments, the underlying hypothetical facts are so oversimplified that the proposed Opinion will apply to virtually none of the cases actually handled by federal and state prosecutors on a daily basis.  Every case will be different because every one of them will have more factual context than the facts set forth in the proposed Opinion.  We’ve listed some of the important factual context at page two of our letter and I’d like to add another very important factor to that list:  the tone of voice and inflexion of the defendant and the victim during the phone call.  As described in our letter, the factual context of each case is critical to a determination of whether a piece of evidence like the nine-word phone call “tends to negate guilt” as opposed to being inculpatory or merely ambiguous; it’s critical to a determination of whether the prosecutor “knows” that it “tends to negate guilt” when an equally fair reading based on all of the facts is that it’s inculpatory or ambiguous, and only defense counsel knows what material falls within the defense theory of the case; and it’s critical to a determination of whether producing it as a part of 200 hours of calls constitutes knowing and intentional concealment when the law only requires disclosure and the defendant knows about it or it’s readily identifiable from an index.

 

The substantial disparity between the hypothetical facts underlying the proposed Opinion, and the facts of the cases we actually prosecute will inevitably create the type of confusion described in our comments and in the comments of the Commonwealth’s Attorneys.  In our view, the proposed Opinion provides no meaningful guidance to the prosecutor because every case he or she prosecutes will be significantly different from the bare bones facts of the hypothetical.  At the same time, it’s likely that defense counsel, in zealously representing their clients, will argue that the proposed Opinion should apply to cases that have no factual similarity. As a result, the proposed Opinion, while providing no meaningful guidance, will simply cause collateral litigation distracting the courts and litigants from administering justice in criminal cases.

 

 For these reasons and the other reasons stated in our letter, we respectfully request that the proposed Opinion be withdrawn.  Thank you for this morning’s opportunity to provide additional comment.

 

End of Prepared Remarks

 

In addition to the remarks delivered this morning, the United States Attorneys and the Virginia Association of Commonwealth’s Attorneys previously sent the ethics committee letters objecting to VSB LEO 1888.

 

lettertovsb.pdf

vacaletter.pdf

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – A Gordonsville, Virginia man, who committed a series of armed robberies of commercial business in the City of Charlottesville, Albemarle County, and Stafford County in the Summer of 2020, was sentenced today to 30 years in federal prison.

Dominique Dejone Thurston, 23, pleaded guilty in October 2021 to seven counts of Hobbs Act robbery and two counts of brandishing and possessing a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence.

“Throughout the summer of 2020, Thurston terrorized local businesses and endangered the lives of numerous store clerks during his armed robbery spree.  In many cases, his brutality was remarkable.  He pistol-whipped store employees who were not even resisting his demands.  This case shows how just one person can undermine how safe a community feels, and how important it is that federal, state, and local resources come together when the effects of violence are felt.  His violent spree ended as a direct result of the collaborative efforts of our law enforcement partners,” United States Attorney Christopher R. Kavanaugh said today.

 

“Today’s announcement sends a true message that acts of violence like those involved in this investigation will not be tolerated.  We are extremely thankful that none of the hardworking people who were victimized by this individual were killed.  We hope this sentencing will help calm fears and restore our community to some sense of normalcy.  I am proud that our agents and partnering agencies worked around the clock to bring justice to those responsible.  ATF is always honored to stand side by side with the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the Albemarle County Police Department, the City of Charlottesville Police Department, and the Stafford County Police Department as we collectively disrupt violent offenders,” ATF Special Agent in Charge Charlie J. Patterson said. “The ATF Washington Field Division will continue to collaborate with our partners to ensure citizens are protected against those individuals who have no regard for others or property within our communities.”

“Cases such as this one demonstrates the Albemarle County Police Department’s continued commitment to working with our federal, state, and local law enforcement partners, and is a prime example of how investigators have success when law enforcement agencies cooperate and share information. Due to the diligence and cooperation between our department, Charlottesville Police Department’s Criminal Investigations Division, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms,  Stafford County Sheriff’s Office, District 9 Probation and Parole and the US Attorney’s Office, our community is that much safer,” said Colonel Sean Reeves, Chief of Albemarle County Police.

According to court documents, Thurston committed a series of armed Hobbs Act robberies at commercial businesses in Albemarle County and the City of Charlottesville. These robberies included the Oak Hill Market in Albemarle County, the 7-Eleven on Ivy Road in the City of Charlottesville, a BP gas station convenience store in the City of Charlottesville, the 7-Eleven on Greenbrier Drive in Albemarle County, a Kangaroo Gas station in Albemarle County, a 7 Day Junior Store in the City of Charlottesville, and the 7-Eleven on Boulderview Road in Albemarle County.

During each robbery, Thurston entered the store, placed an item on the checkout counter, and then brandished his gun at the clerks while demanding all the cash in their registers. In several of the robberies, Thurston pistol-whipped clerks even though none of them were resisting his demands.

The investigation of the case was conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, the Albemarle County Police Department, the City of Charlottesville Police Department, the City of Charlottesville Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office, and the Stafford County Sheriff’s Office.  

Assistant United States Attorney Ronald M. Huber and Special Assistant United States Attorney Nina-Alice Antony with the Charlottesville Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office prosecuted the case for the United States.

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – A Winchester, Virginia man, who lied when he purchased a firearm that was later used by a close relative in a Washington, D.C. homicide, was sentenced recently to 24 months in federal prison.

Gerald Kendrick Oxner, 25, pled guilty in September 2022 to a one-count Information charging him with making a false statement during the purchase of a firearm.

According to court documents, when Oxner purchased a Smith and Wesson 9-millimeter handgun in January 2021, he failed to disclose that he was purchasing the weapon for someone else and also provided a false home address on the required forms.  Investigators obtained security camera footage and receipts from the store in Front Royal, Virginia, which show Oxner buying the firearm and using his relative’s debit card to make the purchase.

Law enforcement later recovered the firearm in Maryland, but its serial number had been obliterated.  Through forensic analysis, the serial number was restored, and the firearm was subsequently linked to evidence recovered from the scene of a January 2021 shooting in Southeast Washington D.C. where one person was killed and three others were injured.  Oxner’s relative was arrested and charged with first-degree murder in connection with the shooting.

Oxner further admitted that he made multiple other straw purchases in Virginia.  However, when law enforcement executed a search warrant at his residence, none of the firearms or related ammunition that he purchased were found in his possession or in the residence.  Later, another one of the firearms he bought was found during the execution of an unrelated search warrant in Washington, D.C.

United States Attorney Christopher R. Kavanaugh and Michael Weddel, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Washington Division of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, made the announcement.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives investigated the case.

Assistant United States Attorney Melanie Smith,  Special Assistant United States Attorney Jessica Joyce, and Deputy United States Attorney Katie B. Medearis prosecuted the case.

Danville, VIRGINIA – The former owner and chief executive officer of an armored vehicle company with offices in Danville and Canada, was found guilty yesterday evening in the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia in Danville of all federal charges levied against him, Acting United States Attorney Rick A. Mountcastle announced.

 

William R. Whyte, 72, of Ontario, Canada, was found guilty yesterday following a two-week jury trial on three counts of major fraud against the United States, three counts of wire fraud and three counts of false claims.

 

“Today’s jury verdict was the result of the outstanding teamwork among the United States Attorney’s Office, the Department of Justice’s Fraud Section, the Defense Criminal Investigative Service, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.  It represents another step in the battle against fraud on the Department of Defense.  The defendant put his personal financial interests ahead of the safety of our brave men and women in uniform who risked their lives serving in Iraq,” Acting United States Attorney Mountcastle said. “I commend the outstanding work of AUSA Carlton, Trial Attorney Cottingham, the Defense Criminal Investigative Service, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.”

 

“The Defense Criminal Investigative Service remains vigilant to detect and disrupt the contamination of the military supply chain with defective parts and equipment. The fraud perpetrated in this matter could have resulted in the death or injury of American service members, impacting military operations in Iraq.  Along with our investigative partners, DCIS continues to aggressively pursue those who place our warfighters at risk,” said Special Agent in Charge Robert E. Craig, Jr, DCIS Mid-Atlantic Field Office

 

“Stealing from taxpayers by defrauding the government is bad enough.  Doing it in a way that imperils our warfighters and delivers to them equipment which is faulty or insufficient - that's a special kind of despicable,” Adam S. Lee, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Richmond Division said today.  “Whyte exposed our heroes and knew his Armet Armored Vehicles weren't up to the task of protecting them.  I hope this case sends a message to those who contract with the government to provide essential equipment to our troops in support of their critical mission; the FBI will be on your trail if you betray them this way and steal from the taxpayers who fund them.  I want to thank our partners at DCIS, the Department of Justice, and the United States Attorney's Office for the Western District of Virginia for today's outcome in this case.”

 

According to evidence presented at trial by AUSA Heather L. Carlton and Trial Attorney Caitlin Cottingham, Whyte was the owner and chief executive officer of Armet Armed Vehicles, Inc. Armet entered into a $4.8 million contract in April 2006 to provide the Department of Defense with 24 armored vehicles for use in Iraq.  In June 2006, Armet entered into a second contract, valued at $1.6 million, to deliver an additional eight armored vehicles. These vehicles were to be used as security vehicles to Iraqi “Tier 1” dignitaries, who were part of the then-newly elected government to replace Saddam Hussein and who regularly traveled by motorcade through a “hostile and dangerous environment.”

 

Both contracts included specific requirements for the armoring of the vehicles, including that each vehicle be reinforced to a standard at which an armor-piercing bullet could not penetrate the passenger compartment and ceiling. In addition, the contracts required the undercarriage of each armored truck have mine plating protection that could withstand explosions underneath the vehicles. Finally, the contracts required the armored vehicles to have run-flat tires, so they could continue to operate should their tires be shot out or otherwise damaged.

 

Despite the requirement in the contract that the first 24 armored gun trucks be delivered by July 31, 2006, Whyte and Armet failed to ship a single vehicle by that deadline. Armet ultimately supplied six armored vehicles after the contract deadline and was paid $ 2,019,454, including an approximately $824,000 progress payment requested by Whyte.  The prosecutors also presented evidence that Whyte intentionally misrepresented other issues to United States military officers about the contracts and vehicles.

 

None of the armored trucks delivered by Armet and Whyte met the ballistic and blast protection requirements of the contracts, despite the defendant’s claims that the vehicles met the standards. Whyte knew that each of the six armored trucks failed to meet the required standards and that they were intentionally under armored.

 

The investigation of the case was conducted by the Defense Criminal Investigative Service, the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, the Department of Justice’s Fraud Section, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Heather L. Carlton and Department of Justice Fraud Section Trial Attorney Caitlin Cottingham.  

CHARLOTTESVILLE, VIRGINIA – An associate of a violent extremist group the “Rise Above Movement” [RAM] pleaded guilty today to federal conspiracy-to-riot charges after admitting to traveling across the country to commit acts of violence at the torch-lit march on the University of Virginia grounds on August 11, 2017 and the Unite the Right Rally on August 12, 2017.  United States Attorney Thomas T. Cullen, Special Agent in Charges Adam S. Lee of the FBI’s Richmond Division, and Virginia State Police Colonel Gary T. Settle made the announcement.

 

Cole Evan White, 24, of Clayton, Calif., pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in the Western District of Virginia to one count of conspiracy to violate the federal riots statute. At sentencing, White faces a maximum statutory penalty of five years in prison and a fine of $250,000. White, Benjamin Daley, Thomas Gillen, and Michael Miselis were indicted by a federal grand jury in October 2018 and charged with one count of conspiracy to violate the federal riots statute and one count of traveling in interstate commerce with the intent to incite a riot. Federal charges remain pending against Daley, Gillen, and Miselis.

 

“As Mr. White has acknowledged as part of his guilty plea, he and members of the Rise Above Movement (RAM) traveled to the ‘Unite the Right’ Rally in Charlottesville in order to engage in riotous conduct,” U.S. Attorney Cullen stated today.  “Although the First Amendment protects the rights of individuals and groups to assemble and protest peacefully, it does not give license to commit, attempt, or threaten acts of violence or otherwise engage in criminal activity.  We are grateful for the hard work and dedication of the FBI and the Virginia State Police in bringing these defendants to justice.”

 

“Mr. White's guilty plea today should signal to our Virginia communities that the FBI and our law enforcement partners are committed to keeping them safe and ensuring the events of 2017 in Charlottesville never happen again.  The FBI is committed to protecting every American's exercise of their First Amendment rights - irrespective of their message.  This case is not about the nature of Mr. White's speech or expression; this case is about traveling from out of state to riot here in the Commonwealth,” SAC Lee said today. “I want to thank U.S. Attorney Thomas Cullen and his team in the Western District of Virginia for their professionalism and expertise and I want to thank the outstanding men and women of the Virginia State Police who worked with us to piece together this investigation.”

 

“The arrests, and subsequent plea by Cole White, demonstrate the continuing commitment of the Virginia State Police and our federal partners to investigate and pursue those who committed acts of violence in the City of Charlottesville during the weekend of August 11-13, 2017,” said Colonel Gary T. Settle, Virginia State Police Superintendent. “These investigations are very time and resource intensive, but are necessary to make certain individuals like this are held accountable for their criminal actions.”

 

According to evidence presented during today’s guilty plea by United States Attorney Cullen and Assistant United States Attorney Christopher Kavanaugh, White was associated with the Rise Above Movement, [RAM], an openly extremist group whose members engaged in physical training and mixed martial arts street-fighting techniques. RAM frequently posted photographs and videos of themselves engaged in these activities, as well as of their attendance at various political rallies and events in California and Virginia.

 

White admitted today that, on or about April 15, 2017, he attended a political rally in Martin Luther King Jr. Civic Park in Berkeley, Calif. At that event, White met and befriended Benjamin Daley, who was with a group of individuals identified as members of RAM. Throughout the day there were many violent clashes between some rally attendees and those protesting the rally. White, alongside RAM members, followed a group of protestors who were leaving the area. White chased one protestor and attacked him, punching him several times in the head. Immediately afterward, White stood over top of another individual who was on the ground and punched him in the head approximately four to five times.  White admitted that none of these acts was in self-defense.

 

After fighting together in Berkeley, White, Daley, and other members of RAM stayed in contact through phone calls. In one call in the summer of 2017, Daley asked White if he was going to attend the Unite the Right Rally in Charlottesville. Daley offered to pay for White’s flight and his stay in Charlottesville and encouraged him to attend the event. Daley told White: “It’s going to be like Berkeley again…It’s going to be the event of the year.”

 

On or about August 9, 2017, White used his credit card to purchase a round-trip ticket from Delta Airlines for commercial flights from San Francisco International Airport to Charlottesville-Albemarle Airport, departing on August 11, 2017 and returning on August 13, 2017. White admitted that at the time of his travel he expected to engage in violent confrontations with protestors or other individuals at the upcoming events in Charlottesville.

 

Upon arriving in Charlottesville on August 11, 2017, White took a cab from the airport and met RAM members and several hundred other white supremacists gathered on the grounds of the University of Virginia for a torch-lit march on the evening prior to the Unite the Right rally. Throughout the march, participants chanted, “Blood and Soil!” and “Jews will not Replace Us.” The march culminated at the statute of Thomas Jefferson, where the hundreds of white supremacists surrounded a small group of counter protesters. Violence erupted among the crowd, with some individuals punching, kicking, spraying chemical irritants, swinging torches, and otherwise assaulting others, all resulting in a riot.  Among that riot, White admitted today to swinging his torch and striking several individuals and that none of these acts of violence was taken in self-defense.

 

The following morning, White, and members of RAM, attended the Unite the Right rally in Emancipation Park in Charlottesville, Va. White, Daley, and other RAM members were part of a larger group attempting to gain entry into the park following a declaration of “unlawful assembly” by law enforcement.

 

As they made their way through a group of protestors, White, Daley, and other RAM members, collectively punched, pushed, kicked, choked, head-butted, and otherwise assaulted several individuals resulting in a riot. White admitted to personally committing multiple acts of violence.  For example, after having already made his way through a group, White turned around and observed a protestor blocking the sidewalk by holding onto a street sign. White walked back, grabbed the individual by the shoulders, and punched him until he released the sign.  White then head-butted a male who he perceived was in his way. Finally, White head-butted a female protestor who was present on the sidewalk, resulting in a laceration to her face.

 

The investigation of the case was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Virginia State Police. United States Attorney Cullen and Assistant United States Attorney Kavanaugh are prosecuting the case for the United States.

ABINGDON, Va. – The former president and director of Secor Inc., a federal halfway house that contracted with the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) to house inmates, was sentenced last week to 15 months in federal prison for making false statements and wire fraud. Secor, Inc. was sentenced to one year of probation.   

Matthew Castle, 35, of Lebanon, Virginia, and Secor, Inc., through its counsel, pled guilty in November 2023 to one count of making materially false statements in a matter within the jurisdiction of the executive, legislative, or judicial branch of the United States, and one count of wire fraud.

Secor will serve a term of probation of one to five years. Additionally, Castle and Secor paid $208,105 in restitution, forfeited $40,000, and paid an additional $30,000 in fines.

“This sentence serves as another example to those doing business with the United States – if you commit fraud, you will be held accountable,” United States Attorney Christopher R. Kavanaugh said today.  “As one of the first cases investigated internally by the United States Attorney’s Office and our financial fraud investigator, this marks the beginning of a new era for corporate criminal enforcement in the Western District of Virginia.”

According to court documents, Secor was a residential reentry center, commonly referred to as a “halfway house,” for inmates from the BOP who were nearing the end of their federal prison sentences.

In 2018, Secor entered into a contract with the BOP that allowed some of the offenders under the care of Secor to be assigned to “home confinement,” meaning those offenders resided at an approved residence not owned by Secor.  BOP paid Secor one type of daily rate for offenders who resided at Secor’s facilities and a different monetary daily rate for those on home confinement.

Under the terms of the contract, Secor was required to outfit home confinement offenders with GPS monitoring equipment so the offenders’ whereabouts could be determined at all times.  In addition, Secor personnel were required to personally visit each offender’s residence on at least a monthly basis to ensure the offender was living at the offender’s assigned residence, in a safe environment, and in accordance with applicable rules.

In fact, Secor did not outfit many of the home confinement offenders with GPS monitoring and did not conduct home visits as required. Nonetheless, Castle routinely completed documentation certifying that he had conducted such visits, and in an effort to make it appear that such visits had occurred when they had not, he would make notations such as “things were going well,” and the offender “had no questions or concerns to address at the time.”

Each month, Castle submitted fraudulent invoices to BOP for payment, and BOP issued payments based on their representations that Castle and Secor were providing home confinement services in accordance with the contract.  

The case was investigated by the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s new Financial Fraud Investigator with assistance from the Russell County Sheriff’s Office and the Bureau of Prisons.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Whit Pierce and Randy Ramseyer prosecuted the case.

CHARLOTESVILLE, Va. – A Winchester, Virginia man, who lied when he purchased a firearm that was later used by a close relative in a Southeast D.C. homicide, pleaded guilty today in federal court.

Gerald Kendrick Oxner, 25, waived his right to be indicted and pleaded guilty today to a one-count Information charging him with making a false statement during the purchase of a firearm.

According to court documents, Oxner lied when he purchased a Smith and Wesson 9-millimeter handgun in January 2021 by not disclosing that he was purchasing the weapon for someone other than himself as well as providing a false home address on the required forms.  Investigators obtained security camera footage and receipts from the store in Front Royal, Virginia, which show Oxner buying the firearm and using his close relative’s debit card to make the purchase.

Law enforcement later recovered the firearm in Maryland, but its serial number had been obliterated.  Through forensic analysis, the serial number was restored, and the firearm was linked to evidence recovered from the scene of a January 25, 2021 shooting in Southeast Washington D.C. where one person was killed and three others were injured.  Oxner’s relative was arrested and charged with first-degree murder in connection with the shooting.

Oxner further admitted that he made multiple other straw purchases in Virginia, however, when law enforcement executed a search warrant at his residence, none of the firearms or related ammunition that he purchased were found in his possession or in the residence.  Subsequently, another one of the firearms he bought was found during the execution of an unrelated search warrant in Washington, D.C.

United States Attorney Christopher R. Kavanaugh and Charlie J. Patterson, Special Agent in Charge of the Washington Division of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, made the announcement.

Oxner faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives investigated the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Melanie Smith and Katie B. Medearis are prosecuting the case.

Harrisonburg, VIRGINIA – The former officer manager of a Winchester-based company that provides safety services to construction companies, pleaded guilty yesterday in U.S. District Court in Harrisonburg for stealing more than $200,000 during her employment. United States Attorney Thomas T. Cullen and Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring made the announcement.

Amy Jo Hansen, 44, of Inwood, West Virginia, waived her right to be indicted and pleaded guilty yesterday to one count of wire fraud. At sentencing, Hansen faces up to twenty years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

“Unfortunately, theft by trusted employees is more common than most people realize,” U.S. Attorney Cullen stated today.  “Where these type of embezzlement schemes involve the use of the mail, the internet, or other forms of electronic communication, they become federal crimes, and we will prosecute them.”

“So called ‘white collar’ crime is still crime and we will make sure that people who break the law like this are held accountable,” said Attorney General Herring.

According to court documents, Hansen was employed by Firstline Safety Management from 2001 until her termination in November 2018. During her tenure, Hansen worked as the office manager for more than 10 years. Her duties in that capacity included, but were not limited to, managing the office, ordering supplies, downloading credit card statements, coding purchasing for bookkeeping purposes, and sending invoices to another employee responsible for payroll and accounting.

At relevant times, Firstline utilized three access devices for the purchase of supplies and other work products. Hansen made numerous unauthorized, personal purchases on these devices. Initially, she submitted the credit card statements containing the unauthorized purchases to the company with the unauthorized purchases either miscoded to make them appear authorized or not coded at all.

Beginning in approximately January 2016, Hansen began altering credit card billing statements containing unauthorized purchases, using the edit function on Adobe software to modify the statements to falsely inflate charges from a vendor or create a nonexistent vendor charge, in order to cover up Hansen’s personal charges. The fraudulent charges increased throughout 2016, and by 2017 regularly involved unauthorized purchases of thousands of dollars a month.

The investigation of the case was conducted by the Office of the Virginia Attorney General.  Assistant United States Attorney Ronald M. Huber is prosecuting the case for the United States.

ABINGDON, Va. – The former president and director of Secor, Inc., a federal halfway house that contracted with the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) to house inmates, pled guilty today to making false statements and committing wire fraud.  The corporation, through its attorney, also pled guilty to those charges.  The former president and director will serve at least one year in federal prison under the plea agreement.

Matthew Castle, 35, of Lebanon, Virginia, and Secor, Inc., each pled guilty today in federal court to one count of making materially false statements in a matter within the jurisdiction of the executive, legislative, or judicial branch of the United States and one count of wire fraud.

Under the plea agreements, Castle will serve between 12 and 21 months in prison, and Secor will serve a term of probation of one to five years.  Additionally, Castle and Secor will pay $208,105 in restitution, forfeit $40,000, and pay an additional $30,000 in fines. 

“This company and its former president and director were paid to house offenders for the Bureau of Prisons and instead of taking on that responsibility, they chose to defraud the American taxpayers and the Bureau of Prisons,” United States Attorney Christopher R. Kavanaugh said today. “This case was investigated internally using a U.S. Attorney’s Office financial fraud investigator and it represents a new beginning for the Western District of Virginia, one where financial crimes are investigated and prosecuted entirely within our Office.”

According to court documents, Secor was a residential reentry center, commonly referred to as a halfway house, for inmates from the BOP who were nearing the end of their federal prison sentences.

In 2018, Secor entered into a contract with the BOP that allowed some of the offenders under the care of Secor to be assigned to “home confinement,” meaning those offenders resided at an approved residence not owned by Secor.  BOP paid Secor a per diem rate for offenders who resided at Secor’s facilities and a different per diem rate for those on home-confinement.

Under the terms of the contract, Secor was required to outfit home-confinement offenders with GPS monitoring equipment so the offenders’ whereabouts could be determined at all times.  In addition, Secor personnel were required to personally visit each offender’s residence on at least a monthly basis to ensure the offender was living at the offender’s assigned residence, in a safe environment, and in accordance with applicable rules.

In fact, Castle and Secor failed to meet these requirements.  For example, Secor did not outfit many of the home-confinement offenders with GPS monitoring and failed to conduct home visits as required.  Nonetheless, Castle routinely completed documentation certifying that he had conducted such visits and noted no issues.  In addition to signing these phony documents himself, Castle often wrote false observations like “things were going well,” and the offender “had no questions or concerns to address at the time.” 

Each month, Castle submitted invoices to BOP for payments pursuant to the contract between Secor and the BOP.  BOP then issued payments to Secor based on Castle and Secor’s representations that Castle and Secor were providing home-confinement services in accordance with the contract.   

The case was investigated by the U.S. Attorney’s Office with the assistance of the Russell County Sheriff’s Office and the Bureau of Prisons.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Whit Pierce and Randy Ramseyer are prosecuting the case.

Lynchburg, VIRGINIA – A Lynchburg-based tax preparer, who along with two of his employees were preparing false tax returns in order to claim fictitious Earned Income Tax Credits, was sentenced today in the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia in Lynchburg, Acting United States Attorney Rick A. Mountcastle announced.

 

Jackie G. Woodson Jr., of Lynchburg, previously pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit false claims. Today in District Court, Woodson was sentenced to 18 months in federal prison. Terry R. Rose was previously sentenced to 18 month in federal prison for her role in the conspiracy and Stella Hester-Jenkins was sentenced to 3 years’ probation.

 

According to evidence presented to the court during previous hearings by Assistant United States Attorneys C. Patrick Hogeboom III and Charlene R. Day, Woodson owned a Colbert/Ball Tax Service franchise in Lynchburg, Va., Rose and Hester-Jenkins were employed by Woodson as tax preparers.

 

Following an investigating by the Internal Revenue Service, it was determined that Woodson, Rose and Hester-Jenkins, were preparing and filing tax returns, which reported fictitious Schedule C income, which resulted in increased Earned Income Tax Credits and refunds. The conspirators often took these actions by claiming Schedule C income through babysitting or childcare income where none actually existed or by greatly exaggerating the amount of income being earned through these activities.

 

The Internal Revenue Service conducted the investigation of the case. Assistant United States Attorney C. Patrick Hogeboom III and Charlene R. Day prosecuted the case for the United States.

ABINGDON, Va. – Michael Dube, who formerly owned and operated American Toxicology Labs, was sentenced was today in U.S. District Court in Abingdon, Virginia to 36 months in federal prison. Acting United States Attorney Daniel P. Bubar and Virginia Attorney General Mark G. Herring made the announcement today.

Dube, 59, of Johnson City Tenn., previously pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Abingdon to two felony counts of health care fraud (one filed in the Western District of Virginia and one filed in the Eastern District of Kentucky).

“Michael Dube took advantage of health care funds, aimed at helping the most vulnerable, for his own greed,” Acting U.S. Attorney Bubar said today. “Today’s significant sentence demonstrates that health care fraud will not be tolerated, and is the product of close partnership between federal, state, and local law enforcement, whose collaboration brought the Dubes to justice.”

“Addressing the opioid crisis is an issue of great concern for our nation and remains a top public health priority for the FDA. It is crucial that treatment providers act with honesty and integrity in combatting the crisis,” said Special Agent in Charge Mark S. McCormack, FDA Office of Criminal Investigations, Metro Washington Field Office. “In cooperation with our federal and state law enforcement partners, we will continue to investigate and bring to justice those who defraud federal programs.”

According to court documents, in March 2011, Michael Dube pleaded guilty in the Eastern District of Tennessee to one count of intentionally omitting information from reports as required under the Controlled Substances Act. As a result of his conviction, the Department of Health and Human Services [HHS] informed Dube in a letter dated June 29, 2012, that he was excluded from participating in any federal health care program.

Nonetheless, in May 2013, Michael and his wife, Regan Dube, established American Toxicology Labs [ATL] in Johnson City, Tennessee, with Regan Dube serving as the company’s registered agent, and using the couple’s home address as the principal office and mailing address. ATL then applied to participate in Medicare and Medicaid. On the applications, Regan Dube was listed as the owner of ATL, and Michael Dube’s name and participation in ATL was omitted.

ATL conducted urine screens for various entities who represented themselves to be opioid treatment facilities. Between May 1, 2014, and January 31, 2020, Medicare, Virginia Medicaid, Kentucky Medicaid and TennCare made payments to ATL that totaled approximately $8.5 million. During this time, Michael Dube made employment decisions, negotiated business arrangements with providers, and otherwise participated in the management of ATL.

In addition, Michael Dube also received kickback payments from third parties for referring individuals to those third parties for services for which payment was made (in whole or in part) by federal health care programs. These payments were deposited in Michael and Regan Dube’s personal checking account in a total amount of $441,646. Regan Dube was previously convicted and sentenced in connection with the scheme. 

As a result of their convictions, Regan and Michael Dube will pay a total of $9,015,046, plus interest, divided between special assessments, fines, restitution, and forfeiture. They will have to repay all of the money they received from Medicare and Medicaid programs.

The investigation of the case was conducted by the Food and Drug Administration Office of Criminal Investigations, Virginia Medicaid Fraud Control Unit of the Office of the Attorney General, the Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Virginia State Police, and Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigations, and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. The prosecution of the case was conducted by the United States Attorneys’ Offices for the Western District of Virginia (Special Assistant United States Attorney and Assistant Attorney General Janine Myatt and Assistant United States Attorneys Whit Pierce, Krista Frith and Randy Ramseyer) and the Eastern District of Kentucky (Assistant United States Attorneys Andrew Smith and Gregory Rosenberg). The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Tennessee provided valuable assistance.

ROANOKE, Va. – A former American Electric Power (AEP) employee pleaded guilty yesterday to wire fraud and filing false tax returns.

According to court documents, Gregory Thomas Holland, 63, of Roanoke, was employed at AEP from 1982 until January 2018, where he worked for many years in the credit department. Specifically, Holland was responsible for managing AEP’s interests during customer bankruptcies, filing claims, and reducing debts.

Holland admitted yesterday that in 2001 he opened a personal checking account using AEP’s name and address unbeknownst to anyone else at the company. Beginning in May 2002, Holland began depositing checks into this account, written on behalf of AEP customers, and made payable to AEP. Between May 2002 and January 2018, Holland admitted to depositing more than 300 checks into this account. All the money he deposited into this account belonged to AEP. Nonetheless, Holland used the money from the account for personal expenses such as dues at the Roanoke Country Club, car payments, and clothing purchase, among other things.

Holland did not report any of this additional income on his Form 1040 Individual Income Tax Returns for tax years 2011 through 2017.

In all, it is estimated Holland stole $1.6 million dollars from AEP. The court will determine the exact amount of loss at Holland’s sentencing hearing.

Acting United States Attorney Daniel P. Bubar made the announcement today.

Holland pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud and one count of willfully filing a false tax return.  He is scheduled to be sentenced on September 10, 2021 and faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

The United States Secret Service, Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigations, and Virginia State Police are investigating the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Baudinet is prosecuting the case.

Harrisonburg, VIRGINIA – The former officer manager of a Winchester-based company that provides safety services to construction companies, pleaded guilty yesterday in U.S. District Court in Harrisonburg for stealing more than $200,000 during her employment. United States Attorney Thomas T. Cullen and Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring made the announcement.

Amy Jo Hansen, 44, of Inwood, West Virginia, waived her right to be indicted and pleaded guilty yesterday to one count of wire fraud. At sentencing, Hansen faces up to twenty years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

“Unfortunately, theft by trusted employees is more common than most people realize,” U.S. Attorney Cullen stated today.  “Where these type of embezzlement schemes involve the use of the mail, the internet, or other forms of electronic communication, they become federal crimes, and we will prosecute them.”

“So called ‘white collar’ crime is still crime and we will make sure that people who break the law like this are held accountable,” said Attorney General Herring.

According to court documents, Hansen was employed by Firstline Safety Management from 2001 until her termination in November 2018. During her tenure, Hansen worked as the office manager for more than 10 years. Her duties in that capacity included, but were not limited to, managing the office, ordering supplies, downloading credit card statements, coding purchasing for bookkeeping purposes, and sending invoices to another employee responsible for payroll and accounting.

At relevant times, Firstline utilized three access devices for the purchase of supplies and other work products. Hansen made numerous unauthorized, personal purchases on these devices. Initially, she submitted the credit card statements containing the unauthorized purchases to the company with the unauthorized purchases either miscoded to make them appear authorized or not coded at all.

Beginning in approximately January 2016, Hansen began altering credit card billing statements containing unauthorized purchases, using the edit function on Adobe software to modify the statements to falsely inflate charges from a vendor or create a nonexistent vendor charge, in order to cover up Hansen’s personal charges. The fraudulent charges increased throughout 2016, and by 2017 regularly involved unauthorized purchases of thousands of dollars a month.

The investigation of the case was conducted by the Office of the Virginia Attorney General.  Assistant United States Attorney Ronald M. Huber is prosecuting the case for the United States.

ROANOKE, Va. – United States Attorney Thomas T. Cullen announced today his office’s plan to make available $178,759 in grant funds to help improve offender intervention and rehabilitation efforts in three areas of the Western District of Virginia. The grant money is part of the Department of Justice’s Project Safe Neighborhoods [PSN] a nationwide program designed to create and foster safer neighborhoods through a sustained reduction in violent crime by, among other means, addressing criminal gangs and the illegal use of firearms.  More information regarding the U.S. Attorney’s Office PSN program, the available grant funds, and the grant-application process can be found at www.vachiefs.org/psn-wdva.

“Community-focused prevention, outreach, and rehabilitation efforts play an important role in reducing violent crime and gang-related activity,” U.S. Attorney Cullen stated today. “I am excited that my friend and former U.S. Attorney Tim Heaphy has agreed to oversee our grant-selection process and am confident that he will deploy these resources wisely.” 

The PSN Grant Program is eligible to nonprofits, community organizations and services providers, faith-based groups, and units of local or state governments that operate or have the ability to serve one of the three PSN target enforcement areas for the Western District of Virginia- the City of Danville, the City of Lynchburg, and the Roanoke County/Roanoke City region.

In recent years, violent crime has risen in Roanoke, Danville, and Lynchburg.  For example, in 2016 the homicide rate in Danville spiked from an average of four murders per year to 16 total.  Per capita, this homicide rate exceeded that of major Virginia urban areas like Richmond and Hampton Roads.  Intelligence and evidence attributes this violence to increased street gang activity, which is consistent with statewide crime trends. 

In response, the United States Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Virginia implemented PSN.  Called Project Community Justice, the backbone of PSN is the collaboration of community organizations as well as federal, state, and local law-enforcement agencies to build evidence-based and intelligence-led approaches to identifying the most violent gangs and offenders in each community and deploying their combined resources not only to prevent violent crimes but also, through offender intervention and rehabilitation efforts, to help break the cycle of violence by addressing its underlying causes.  The Grants Program is just one component of multiple concerted efforts the U.S. Attorney’s Office has implemented in Danville, Roanoke, and Lynchburg.

The United States Attorney’s Office recognizes that local government leaders, social service providers, neighborhood leaders, and members of the faith community are an essential part of a successful PSN program, especially those focused on at-risk youth and gang intervention efforts, and hopes that the available grant funds will enable local entities and nonprofits to further their missions of crime prevention and offender intervention and rehabilitation.

Under the program, $178,759 is available to eligible entities in the Western District of Virginia. Those funds will be divided between Danville, Roanoke, and Lynchburg. 

In order to administer its PSN grant funds, the United States Attorney’s Office has selected community members to serve as members of an independent Grants Committee.  The Committee is chaired by Timothy J. Heaphy, a former United States Attorney for the Western District of Virginia and the current General Counsel for the University of Virginia, and is composed of community-outreach experts, grant experts, community leaders, and former law-enforcement personnel.  None of the members are current federal employees, and no member will be eligible to apply for or receive PSN funding.  This Grants Committee has selected the Virginia Association of Chiefs of Police and Foundation, Inc. (VACP) to serve as its Fiscal Agent for these funds. 

Complete applications should be submitted to suzanne@vachiefs.org by 5:00 p.m., on July 17, 2020.