Florida Criminal Defense Blog | Brunvand, Wise & Farinella Law Group

Detroit Podiatrist Sentenced To Over Two Years In Prison For $1 Million In Alleged Medicare Fraud

On Behalf of Brunvand, Wise & Farinella Law Group | Sep 19, 2018 | Government Fraud

An alleged scheme to defraud Medicare of $1 million earned a Detroit podiatrist over two years in federal prison last week.U.S. District Judge Judith E. Levy of the Eastern District of Michigan sentenced Lawrence Young, D.P.M. to 28 months in federal custody after his guilty plea earlier this year on a single count of health care fraud.Federal investigators say Young submitted false claims to Medicare between early 2010 and the spring of last year for the application of a specific surgical dressing that he knew was never utilized. Young allegedly billed Medicare the dressing, which is...

Double-Murder Suspect In Ruskin Slaying Apprehended In Kentucky

On Behalf of Brunvand, Wise & Farinella Law Group | Sep 18, 2018 | Criminal Charges

A man Hillsborough County authorities suspect of perpetrating the murder of a Ruskin man and his pregnant wife was arrested in Kentucky last week.McKinsie Alexander Lyons was apprehended by Kentucky police on Wednesday in a rural portion of the commonwealth after Hillsborough County Sheriff's deputies obtained a warrant for his arrest in February.Per Hillsborough County authorities, Lyons is responsible for the January 24th home invasion in Ruskin that ended in the slaying of Alexis Martinez, 24, and Juanita Solorzano, 33, and the resulting death of Solorzano's five-month-old fetus....

Kenyan Man Designated By OFAC For Alleged ISIS Funding Efforts

On Behalf of Brunvand, Wise & Farinella Law Group | Sep 14, 2018 | OFAC

The United States government placed sanctions upon a Kenyan national it alleges as having built a sophisticated funding network in East Africa for the benefit of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).The U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced last Friday the designation of Waleed Ahmed Zein as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) for allegedly "assisting in, sponsoring, or providing financial, material, or technological support for, or financial or other services to or in support of, ISIS."According to the Treasury Department, Zein...

Houston Psychiatrist Sentenced To 150 Months In Federal Prison For Medicare Fraud

On Behalf of Brunvand, Wise & Farinella Law Group | Sep 13, 2018 | Government Fraud

A federal judge sentenced a Houston psychiatrist to over a dozen years in prison last week after being convicted of defrauding Medicare of over $155 million.According to federal prosecutors, Riyaz Mazcuri submitted a series of false claims via Riverside General Hospital, where he was an attending psychiatrist, for six years beginning in 2006. They say he submitted claims for partial hospitalization program (PHP) services, which is an intensive outpatient treatment reserved for patients with severe mental illness.Per investigators, Mazcuri also assigned such treatment to patients with mental...

Tampa Woman Faces Charges After Allegedly Defrauding Eight Seniors Out Of $200,000

On Behalf of Brunvand, Wise & Farinella Law Group | Sep 12, 2018 | Criminal Charges

A Tampa woman is facing charges of fraud over allegations by investigators that she defrauded several elderly individuals out of hundreds of thousands of dollars.The Florida Department of Law Enforcement says Azalea Lashawn Brown fraudulently obtained the personal information and credit card account numbers of at least eight elderly Floridians between the ages of 65 and 92. Per investigators, Brown obtained the victims' personal information and used it to open credit card accounts in their name, allowing her to buy merchandise and gift cards in various locations throughout...

Tampa Woman Charged With Murder In Machete Slaying Of Septuagenarian Man

On Behalf of Brunvand, Wise & Farinella Law Group | Sep 11, 2018 | Criminal Charges

Tampa police say a University Square man met his end at the hands of a woman with a machete last week, but they are unsure of a motive for the killing.The body of Eddie Quezada was discovered in his home in the course of a welfare check by police on September 2 lying in a pool of blood and covered with bloody slashes. A subsequent survey of the premises revealed broken furniture and glass bottles, and blood covering the walls. They say the murder weapon was also found within - a 26" machete.The investigation quickly turned up a suspect in Sarah Kynay Martinez, a neighbor of the decedent. Per...

South Florida Pharmacist Convicted Of Defrauding Medicare, TRICARE, And Medicaid Of $5 Million In False Claims

On Behalf of Brunvand, Wise & Farinella Law Group | Sep 10, 2018 | Government Fraud

A pharmacist in south Florida was convicted by a jury last week of federal charges of health care fraud after investigators say he operated a compounding pharmacy scheme worth almost $5 million.Stephen Chalker of Wellington was found guilty after a four-day trial in the chambers of U.S. District Judge Donald M. Middlebrooks of the Southern District of Florida of one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and two substantive counts of health care fraud last week. Prosecutors say he defrauded Medicare, TRICARE, and Medicaid by submitting false claims for medically unnecessary...

February Car Accident Leads To Vehicular Manslaughter Charges For Thonotosassa Man

On Behalf of Brunvand, Wise & Farinella Law Group | Sep 6, 2018 | Criminal Charges

A fatal car accident in February yielded vehicular homicide charges for a Thonotosassa man last week after a tip to police led to his arrest.The Florida Highway Patrol says Leroy Roscoe Middelton III was driving a borrowed Nissan Sentra northbound on U.S. 301 south of Harney Road just before noon on February 25 when he struck the rear of a Ford F-150 driven by Manuel Patino-Villa. Per witnesses on the scene, Middelton's vehicle was traveling well above the posted speed limits when it struck Patino-Villa's truck.Investigators say the force of the impact sent the truck over the concrete median...

Alleged Drug Deal Gone Bad Yields Felony Murder Charge For Bayonet Point Man

On Behalf of Brunvand, Wise & Farinella Law Group | Sep 4, 2018 | Criminal Charges

Pasco County authorities say a drug deal gone bad led to the fatal shooting of another man, the critical injury of a woman, and wounds to a Bayonet Point man.Per Pasco County deputies, Ariel Felder met Anthony Douglas Blount in the parking lot of an apartment complex on the outskirts of Beach Woods Village on the evening of August 15 to conduct a sale of illegal drugs. As her Nissan Altima eased up next to Blount's Dodge Durango, police say two men, one of them named Jamarques Codling, first entered then exited the Durango and ran toward the Altima.Upon seeing the two men rushing toward her...

Southeast Asia Trio Designated By OFAC Over Allegations Of Ties To ISIS

On Behalf of Brunvand, Wise & Farinella Law Group | Sep 3, 2018 | OFAC

Three men the United States government allege to be ISIS operatives now find themselves subject to a designation by the Treasury Department.The U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced last week the designation of Mohamad Rafi Udin, Mohammed Karim Yusop Faiz, and Mohammad Reza Lahaman Kiram based upon allegations that the three have been recruiting extensively for the terrorist organization throughout Southeast Asia.According to OFAC, the three men appeared in a video purporting to show the beheading of ISIS captives. Allegedly involved in terrorist...