Source: United States Navy
PACIFIC OCEAN — In the bright, blue waters surrounding the Hawaiian Islands, Military Sealift Command (MSC) Combat Logistics Force (CLF) ships are providing the fuel, supplies, and sustainment that keep the world’s largest international maritime exercise underway.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
Marcasey Ventour, age 28, of Albany, New York, was sentenced July 17, 2026, to five years in prison for starting a fire at the Samuel S. Stratton Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Albany. First Assistant United States Attorney John A. Sarcone III and Special Agent in Charge Christopher Algieri of the Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General’s Northeast Field Office made the announcement.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
HARRISONBURG, Va. – A Springfield, Virginia man, convicted by a jury back in March of assaulting his then-girlfriend with a hatchet while camping in Shenandoah National Park, was sentenced today to 78 months in federal prison. Soufiane Bougria, 31, was convicted of two counts of felony assault in the territorial jurisdiction of the United States (Shenandoah National Park) following a jury trial in March.
Source: United States Department of Justice
The United States Attorney’s Office in Chicago continues to increase its federal caseload to tackle violent crime, national security threats, narcoterrorism, child exploitation, fraud, corruption, cybercrime, and other serious federal criminal offenses, while implementing numerous first-of-their-kind policy initiatives that have unified the District’s federal law enforcement apparatus.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
Registered sex offender Donald Heald, 43, of Columbia County, pled guilty to distributing child pornography and possession of child pornography following a previous conviction for attempted sexual abuse of a minor under the age of 13. First Assistant United States Attorney John A. Sarcone III and Craig L. Tremaroli, Special Agent in Charge of the Albany Field Office for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), made the announcement.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
A New Mexico woman pleaded guilty today to working with a non-emergency medical transport (NEMT) company to submit millions of dollars in false and fraudulent claims to New Mexico Medicaid for ineligible and non-existent trips to medical appointments.
According to court documents, Dorothea Irving, 47, of Farmington, New Mexico, worked as a driver between 2020 and 2026 for a company that provided non-emergency medical transportation. The New Mexico Medicaid program covers the cost of transportation for non-emergency medical services, such as routine doctors’ appointments, for Medicaid recipients who lack access to transportation by personal vehicle or public transportation. Instead of driving Medicaid beneficiaries who lacked transportation to their medical appointments, Irving and the company engaged in a multi-year scheme to submit fraudulent claims for purported transportation provided to Irving and her children. Together with the company, its owner, and other employees and drivers, Irving submitted false trip records claiming that she or her children were the Medicaid beneficiaries without transportation, claiming trips that had not occurred, and claiming to have been an attendant for her children on their own trips. Irving and other drivers also signed trip forms falsely representing to have driven each other to appointments to disguise the fact that they were driving themselves. In many instances, the fraudulent trips involved Irving, another driver, or minor children purportedly traveling to Alcoholics Anonymous meetings across New Mexico at great distances.
The NEMT company used the false trip records to submit millions of dollars in fraudulent claims to New Mexico Medicaid, including false claims that each passenger in the vehicle had taken a separate trip. For the trips taken by Irving and her children as the supposed Medicaid recipient without transportation, the company submitted fraudulent claims of approximately $3,957,788 and received approximately $4,142,942 from Medicaid. Irving herself received approximately $980,901 from the company over four years of the scheme.
Irving pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit health care fraud. A sentencing date has not been set and she faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
Assistant Attorney General Colin M. McDonald of the Justice Department’s National Fraud Enforcement Division; Special Agent in Charge Justin A. Garris of the FBI Albuquerque Field Office; Special Agent in Charge Jason E. Meadows of the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG); Acting Special Agent in Charge Scott Brown of the IRS Criminal Investigation’s Phoenix Field Office (IRS-CI); and Director Jessica Randall of the New Mexico Medicaid Fraud Control Bureau made the announcement.
FBI, HHS-OIG, IRS-CI, and the New Mexico Medicaid Fraud Control Bureau are investigating the case.
Trial Attorney Lauren Randell of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Katherine Lewis for the District of New Mexico are prosecuting the case.
On April 7, the Department of Justice announced the creation of the National Fraud Enforcement Division (“Fraud Division”). The Fraud Division is laser-focused on investigating and prosecuting those who commit fraud against the American people. The Department’s work to combat fraud supports President Trump’s Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, a whole-of-government effort chaired by Vice President J.D. Vance to eliminate fraud, waste, and abuse within Federal benefit programs.
The Department of Justice’s Health Care Fraud Strike Force Program, currently comprised of nine strike forces operating in federal districts across the country, has charged more than 6,200 defendants who collectively billed federal health care programs and private insurers more than $45 billion since 2007. In addition, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, working in conjunction with the Office of the Inspector General for the Department of Health and Human Services, are taking steps to hold providers accountable for their involvement in health care fraud schemes. More information can be found at www.justice.gov/criminal-fraud/health-care-fraud-unit.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
Ernest McMikle, age 39 of Gloversville, New York, was sentenced on June 24, 2026, by United States District Judge Mae A. D’Agostino to 120 months in Federal Prison to be followed by a term of five years of supervised release. The announcement was made by First Assistant United States Attorney John A. Sarcone III, Special Agent in Charge Craig L. Tremaroli of the Federal Bureau of Investigation Albany, New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision Office of Special Investigations (OSI), Gloversville Police Department, and Johnstown Police Department.
Source: United States Department of Justice
NeoGenomics Laboratories Inc. (NeoGenomics), located in Florida, has agreed to pay $9,813,260 to resolve allegations that it violated the False Claims Act by providing below fair market value consulting services to certain health care providers that referred beneficiaries to NeoGenomics for laboratory testing services and by paying variable referral-based compensation to independent consultants to identify health care providers that could refer patients to NeoGenomics. In connection with the settlement, the United States acknowledged that NeoGenomics took significant steps entitling it to credit for cooperating with the government’s investigation.
“Federal law prohibits paying remuneration to induce referrals of federal health care services, including by offering services at below fair market value,” said Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “We encourage companies to self-disclose improper remuneration and cooperate with our investigations in order to mitigate the consequences of prior conduct.”
“Providing services below fair market value to drive referrals — as alleged here — undermines independent medical judgment,” said Acting Deputy Inspector General for Investigations Miranda L. Bennett of HHS‑OIG. “The Self‑Disclosure Protocol remains an important tool for bringing potential violations to light and ensuring they are addressed appropriately.”
The United States alleged that, as part of NeoGenomics’ Laboratory Clinical Initiative (LCI) program, NeoGenomics provided laboratory consulting services to 28 health care providers seeking to establish in-house flow cytometry and Fluorescence In-Situ Hybridization (FISH) laboratory diagnostic capabilities. The United States contended that NeoGenomics provided certain services for less than fair market value to induce the referral of clinical laboratory tests to NeoGenomics in violation of the Anti-Kickback Statute (AKS) and that the financial relationship and resulting submission of claims violated the Stark Law. The United States further alleged that NeoGenomics entered into agreements with independent consultants that involved payments to those consultants in exchange for identifying potential health care provider customers for NeoGenomics’ laboratory services. The United States contends that the payments to the independent consultants to identify potential customers varied in part on the volume or value of referrals to NeoGenomics from those customers.
NeoGenomics self-disclosed this conduct to the United States. In addition, NeoGenomics cooperated with the government’s investigation and took remedial measures, including ending the consulting agreements at issue, terminating responsible employees, and providing the United States with a thorough self-disclosure and other supplemental information to assist the United States in its investigation.
The resolution obtained in this matter was the result of a coordinated effort between the Justice Department’s Civil Division, Commercial Litigation Branch, Fraud Section, and the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General.
The investigation and resolution of this matter illustrates the government’s emphasis on combating healthcare fraud. One of the most powerful tools in this effort is the False Claims Act. Tips and complaints from all sources about potential fraud, waste, abuse, and mismanagement, can be reported to the Department of Health and Human Services at 800-HHS-TIPS (800-447-8477).
This year the Administration launched the Task Force to Eliminate Fraud and the National Fraud Enforcement Division to enhance the Administration’s war on fraud, waste, and abuse in federal programs. When unscrupulous actors exploit these programs for their own financial gain, they defraud the government, harm the people these programs are designed to aid and protect, and undermine American businesses that play by the rules. The Civil Division’s FCA enforcement plays a critical role in combatting such fraudulent schemes, recovering billions of dollars for the American taxpayers, and holding wrongdoers accountable. FCA matters will continue to be on the forefront of the battle against fraud, and the Civil Division’s FCA work will support and advance the mission of the Task Force to Eliminate Fraud and the National Fraud Enforcement Division.
The matter was handled by Senior Trial Counsel Sarah Arni of the Justice Department’s Civil Division.
The claims resolved by the settlement are allegations only and there has been no determination of liability.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
David McMurray, age 43, of Utica, New York, pled guilty July 8th, 2026 to accessing with intent to view child pornography and also admitted to violating several conditions of his federal supervised release.First Assistant United States Attorney John A. Sarcone III, Craig L. Tremaroli, Special Agent in Charge of the Albany Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and New York State Police Superintendent Steven G. James made the announcement.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
BOSTON – A Dominican national who unlawfully resided in Dorchester, Mass. pleaded guilty on July 16, 2026 in federal court in Boston to illegally reentering the United States after having been deported on three separate occasions. The defendant has previously been convicted of drug trafficking, aggravated identity theft and wire fraud dating as far back as 1997.