Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
Memphis, TN – Shaneika Seymore, 41, of Memphis, has been sentenced to federal prison for her part in a real estate fraud scheme. Seymore previously pleaded guilty on April 16, 2025 to one count of mail fraud, one count of bank fraud, and one count of making a materially false statement. United States Attorney D. Michael Dunavant announced the sentence today.According to information presented in Court, Seymore notarized multiple fraudulent quitclaim deeds which purported to transfer ownership from the true homeowners to Seymore and her…
VICENZA, Italy – Five soldiers, who are more accustomed to military exercises, are now displaying their artistic abilities in a new exhibit at the Java Café and 5:01 Bistro on Caserma Ederle. The event marks the return of the “Artist of the Month” program, and it is the first time the work of Soldiers from the Better Opportunities for Single Soldiers (BOSS) program is being showcased in such a public venue.
“Typically, this event would be to highlight one artist,” said Michelle Sterkowicz, U.S. Army Garrison Italy Program Manager for Morale, Welfare and Recreation Ederle Art Center.
According to her, this time, though, the event was special, “because it is coming back after a pause and the location is the biggest difference, as previous ‘Artist of the Month; exhibits were within the Art Center.”
Sterkowicz envisions that from now on there will be space for a variety of mediums and will give the Java Café and 5:01 Bistro an opportunity to host local artists and have rotating displays.
“Just like you see in bars and cafes in Centro, [downtown Vicenza] we too will have local artists on display within USAG Italy,” she continued.
VICENZA, Italy – A member of the Vicenza Military Community attends the opening night Feb. 4, 2026, of the “Artist of the Month” at the Java Café and 5:01 Bistro on Caserma Ederle. Five Soldiers from the Better Opportunities for Single Soldiers (BOSS) program have the opportunity to display their artistic abilities in a new exhibit that marks the return of the “Artist of the Month” program, The event is part of collaboration between the BOSS program and the Ederle Art Center. (Photo Credit: Laura Kreider)VIEW ORIGINAL
The collaboration between the BOSS program and the Ederle Art Center created a supportive outlet for Soldiers and the VMC to display their art to the local community, explained Cathy Towers, USAG Italy MWR Special Events & BOSS advisor.
“This initiative provides a non-verbal medium for self-expression and encourages the development of new skills and personal interests,” she said. Towers also highlighted that the Soldier community on post is incredibly talented. “We encourage all Soldiers to display their artwork and connect with the community.”
VICENZA, Italy – The collaboration between the U.S. Army Garrison Italy Morale, Welfare and Recreation Art Center on Caserma Ederle and the Better Opportunities for Single Soldiers (BOSS) brought back the “Artist of the Month” program at a new location Feb. 4, 2026. In the upcoming months, there will be space to host local artists and have rotating displays at the Java Café and 5:01 Bistro on Caserma Ederle. (Photo Credit: Laura Kreider)VIEW ORIGINAL
Participants in this first event included: Spc. Harry J. Burgos Santiago, 3rd Platoon, 108th Military Police Company; Spc. Alex Smith and Spc. Jacob Commodari, MOD, 1st Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade; Pfc. Josue Martinez, C Company MOD, 173rd Abn. Bde.; and Maj. Jon Vandeveer, U.S. Army Southern European Task Force, Africa.
All of them share an interest in photography, while exploring local areas, such as the Dolomites, Lake Garda or Vicenza.
“I got into photography as a way to slow time down, capturing details, emotions and stories that might otherwise be overlooked,” said Martinez, one of the participants. “What started as curiosity became a way of seeing the world more clearly and intentionally through my lens.”
While explaining his image “Sforza Castle” to attendants at the Feb. 4 opening night, Vandeveer, another participant, said that he has pursued photography for many years as a creative outlet, focusing on nature and architecture. His image was taken in Milan, during an Outdoor Recreation trip.
“I am drawn to capturing unique perspectives that encourage others to see familiar places in new ways,” said Vandeveer.
“Living in Vicenza has strongly influenced my work, particularly the city’s historic architecture and the moments discovered while exploring on foot.”
For those interested in participating in the upcoming “Artist of the Month” events, reach out to the Art Center at EderleArtCenter@gmail.com
The next “Artist of the Month”:
*March will be focusing on “National Crafting Month,” so anyone who has a craft to share is welcome to participate (as space allows).
*April will be focusing on “Month of the Military Child” with a youth and teen exhibit. (instead of the first Wednesday, the meet & greet for April will be on the second Wednesday due to spring break)
*June will be dedicated to the annual “Gallery at the Garrison.”
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
Yesterday, a Romanian national pleaded guilty in connection with an online intrusion into an Oregon state government office in 2021 and other cyber attacks on U.S. victims.
According to court documents, Catalin Dragomir, 45, formerly of Constanta, Romania, sold access to a computer on the network of an Oregon state government office after obtaining unauthorized access to it in June of 2021. During the sale of access to the computer, Dragomir provided the prospective buyer with samples of personal identifying information from the computer. He also sold access to the computer networks of numerous other victims in the U.S., causing losses of at least $250,000.
Dragomir was arrested in Romania in Nov. 2024 and extradited to the United States in Jan. 2025.
Dragomir pleaded guilty to one count of obtaining information from a protected computer and one count of aggravated identity theft. He is scheduled to be sentenced on May 26, 2026, and faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison for obtaining information from a protected computer, to be followed by a mandatory consecutive sentence of two years in prison for aggravated identity theft. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
The FBI Portland Field Office is investigating the case.
Trial Attorneys Benjamin A. Bleiberg and Alison M. Zitron of the Criminal Division’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section (CCIPS) and Assistant U.S. Attorney Katherine A. Rykken for the District of Oregon are prosecuting the case. The Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs worked with the Romanian Ministry of Justice, Directorate for International Law and Judicial Cooperation, and the Romanian judiciary to secure the arrest and extradition of Dragomir. The Department of Justice also thanks Darkweb IQ for its assistance with the investigation.
CCIPS investigates and prosecutes cybercrime in coordination with domestic and international law enforcement agencies, often with assistance from the private sector. Since 2020, CCIPS has secured the conviction of over 180 cybercriminals and court orders for the return of over $350 million in victim funds.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
A federal jury in Dallas convicted a Texas laboratory owner and former NFL player yesterday for his role in a $328 million cardiovascular genetic testing fraud scheme.
According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Keith J. Gray, 39, of McKinney, Texas, orchestrated a scheme to bill Medicare for medically unnecessary genetic tests designed to evaluate the risk of various cardiovascular diseases and conditions. Gray, the owner and operator of two clinical laboratories, Axis Professional Labs LLC (Axis), and Kingdom Health Laboratory LLC (Kingdom), offered and paid kickbacks to marketers in exchange for their referral of Medicare beneficiaries’ DNA samples, personally identifiable information (including Medicare numbers) and signed test orders from medical providers authorizing the medically unnecessary genetic tests. As part of the scheme, the marketers engaged other companies to solicit Medicare beneficiaries through telemarketing and to engage in “doctor chase,” i.e., to obtain the identity of beneficiaries’ primary care physicians and pressure them into approving genetic testing orders for patients who purportedly had already been “qualified” for the testing during telephone calls conducted by non-medical personnel at one of the companies retained by the marketers — not by their physicians.
In an effort to conceal the kickback payments, Gray used sham contracts and invoices that purported to charge for “marketing” hours but that in reality were reverse-engineered to match the amounts agreed to under the illegal per-sample kickback arrangement. Gray also sought to conceal the scheme by, among other things, referring to the payments as being for “software” and loans that never existed. Evidence at trial included text messages between Gray and his co-conspirator becoming giddy over the amount of money they were making from Medicare. For example, Gray’s co-conspirator stated, “$ent, you should have it any minute if you don’t already. Get it?” Gray responded, “Sorry I was filling my bathtub with ones. Yes lol.”
Axis and Kingdom billed Medicare approximately $328 million for the false, fraudulent and kickback-tainted genetic testing claims, of which Medicare paid approximately $54 million. Gray laundered some of the proceeds by purchasing expensive luxury vehicles, including a Dodge Ram truck worth more than $142,000 and a Mercedes Benz SUV worth more than $145,000.
The jury convicted Gray of conspiracy to defraud the United States and to pay and receive health care kickbacks, five counts of violating the Anti-Kickback Statute and three counts of money laundering. He is scheduled to be sentenced at a later date. Gray faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison on each count. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; Special Agent in Charge R. Joseph Rothrock of the FBI Dallas Field Office; Special Agent in Charge Jason E. Meadows of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General’s (HHS-OIG) Dallas Region; Chief William Marlowe of the Texas Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit (MFCU); and Special Agent in Charge Kris Raper of the Department of Veteran’s Affairs Office of Inspector General (VA-OIG), South Central Field Office, made the announcement.
The FBI, HHS-OIG, MFCU and VA-OIG investigated the case.
Trial Attorneys Ethan Womble and Adam Tisdall of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section are prosecuting the case.
The Fraud Section leads the Criminal Division’s efforts to combat health care fraud through the Health Care Fraud Strike Force Program. Since March 2007, this program, currently comprised of eight 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. 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
Lawsuit Seeks to Reduce Healthcare Costs in Ohio by Allowing Patients, Employers, and Health Insurers to Choose Lower Cost Healthcare Options
The Justice Department’s Antitrust Division, together with the Attorney General of Ohio, filed a civil antitrust lawsuit today challenging OhioHealth Corporation’s (OhioHealth) anticompetitive contract restrictions that force Ohio patients to pay higher prices for healthcare.
The complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, seeks to enjoin OhioHealth, the largest healthcare system in central Ohio, from enforcing its anticompetitive contractual terms and continuing to suppress healthcare competition.
“Americans deserve low-cost, high-quality healthcare – not anticompetitive hospital system contracts that make healthcare less affordable,” said Attorney General Pamela Bondi. “Under President Trump’s leadership, this Department of Justice will continue taking legal action to protect consumers and drive down healthcare costs across America.”
“Competition for healthcare is vital to all Americans,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Omeed A. Assefi of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division. “This lawsuit challenges anticompetitive contract restrictions that prevent consumers from choosing lower-cost health plans and severely limit consumers’ access to price information. These restrictions cause many Columbus residents to pay more for lower-quality healthcare. American families and consumers deserve better. I appreciate the partnership with Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost to challenge these restrictions as we work together to open this important market to the very real benefits of open competition.”
As alleged in the complaint, OhioHealth uses its market power to impose contractual restrictions that impede or completely prevent insurers from offering innovative and money-saving health-insurance plans or plan features. OhioHealth generally forces insurers to include OhioHealth in all of the networks for the commercial insurance products they offer, regardless of how OhioHealth’s prices compare to its competitors, preventing the development of budget-conscious plans in the Columbus area. Without these lower cost and innovative plan options that empower patients to save money by selecting lower-cost providers who still provide high-quality care, patients and employers are faced with fewer health plan choices and higher costs.
OhioHealth owns or manages 16 hospitals and outpatient facilities throughout the State of Ohio.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
PENSACOLA, FLORIDA – Laurie Ann Chapman, 53, of Pensacola, Florida, pleaded guilty in federal court to one count of conspiracy to distribute and possession with intent to distribute more than 40 grams of fentanyl, one count of possession with intent to distribute more than 40 grams of fentanyl, and two counts of distribution of fentanyl.
The Navy is advancing the Chief of Naval Operations’ No Sailor Lives Afloat initiative, which ensures all Sailors assigned to ships and afloat units have access to housing ashore. As of February, approximately 4,500 Sailors have transitioned from living afloat to residing ashore.
A Guatemalan national unlawfully residing in the United States pleaded guilty yesterday to charges of aggravated identity theft and false statements related to the submission of a fraudulent application to sponsor an unaccompanied alien child (UAC).
According to court documents, Felix Coc Choc, 29, of Rogers, Arkansas, submitted an application to the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) under penalty of perjury to sponsor and obtain custody of a UAC after the UAC entered the United States illegally.
As admitted in the plea agreement, after the 16-year-old Guatemalan UAC entered the United States illegally in January 2023, Coc Choc submitted an application to sponsor the UAC, falsely claiming to be the UAC’s brother, J.C.J. Coc Choc also provided to ORR J.C.J.’s Guatemalan national identification card and birth certificate in support of the sponsorship application. After initially denying that he was using another individual’s identity, Coc Choc admitted to impersonating J.C.J and then submitted a sponsorship application in his true name. ORR denied this application as a result of the fraud.
Coc Choc pleaded guilty to one count of making a false, fictitious or fraudulent statement and one count of aggravated identity theft. At sentencing, Coc Choc faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison on the false statement count, and a mandatory consecutive penalty of two years in prison on the aggravated identity theft count. The Court will schedule Coc Choc’s sentencing at a later date. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
The Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General is investigating the case. U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Legal Attaché team in Guatemala, HSI’s Center for Countering Human Trafficking in Washington, D.C. and ORR provided valuable assistance.
Joint Task Force Alpha Trial Attorneys Aaron Jennen and Nicole Lockhart and Assistant U.S. Attorney Kristen Craig for the Middle District of Louisiana are prosecuting the case, with substantial assistance from Samantha Usher of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Arkansas.
The investigation and charges are supported and prosecuted by Joint Task Force Alpha (JTFA), the Department’s lead effort in combating high-impact human smuggling and trafficking committed by cartels and Transnational Criminal Organizations (TCOs). A highly successful partnership between the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), JTFA investigates and prosecutes human smuggling and trafficking and related immigration crimes that impact public safety and border security. JTFA’s mission is to target the leaders and organizers of Cartels and TCOs involved in human smuggling and trafficking throughout the Americas. The Attorney General has elevated and expanded JTFA to target the most prolific and dangerous human smuggling and trafficking groups operating not only in Mexico and the Northern Triangle countries of Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras, but also in Canada, the Caribbean, and the maritime border, and elsewhere. Led by the Criminal Division’s Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section and supported by the Money Laundering, Narcotics and Forfeiture Section, the Office of International Affairs, and the Office of Enforcement Operations, among others, JTFA has dedicated U.S. Attorney-detailees from the Southern District of California; District of Arizona; District of New Mexico; Western and Southern Districts of Texas; Southern District of Florida; Northern District of New York; and District of Vermont. JTFA also partners with other USAOs throughout the country and supports high-priority cases in any district. All JTFA cases rely on substantial law enforcement resources from DHS, including ICE HSI and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Border Patrol and Office of Field Operations, as well as FBI and other law enforcement agencies. To date, JTFA’s work has resulted in more than 440 domestic and international arrests of leaders, organizers, and significant facilitators of alien smuggling and/or trafficking; more than 390 U.S. convictions; more than 330 significant jail sentences imposed, and forfeitures of substantial assets.
This case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and other transnational criminal organizations, and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
Today, the Department of Justice released an opinion for the Department of Housing and Urban Development which addresses the relationship between the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA) and Section 214 of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1980. The Office of Legal Counsel’s interpretation finds that in order to receive housing benefits administered under Section 214, an alien must satisfy the eligibility requirements of both PRWORA and Section 214.
Under this finding, certain categories of aliens currently deemed eligible — such as Haitian entrants and many parolees — are in fact ineligible to take advantage of these HUD benefits. Even those categories of aliens who remain eligible must now satisfy further requirements before applying for such benefits. This finding creates further safeguards to protect American taxpayer resources, specifically in government-funded housing, from abuse by non-American citizens.
“Today’s opinion will prohibit ineligible aliens from draining funds for housing programs that are meant to help AMERICAN citizens,” said Attorney General Pamela Bondi. “The current inadequate safeguards in place incentivize illegal immigration and make housing less affordable – this Department of Justice will continue working with HUD to put the American people first.”
“For far too long, the left abused the law, twisted interpretations, and helped illegals and ineligibles at the expense of taxpayers,” said HUD Secretary Scott Turner. “Meanwhile, millions of Americans languished on housing waitlists across the country. Today’s Department of Justice opinion upholds the law and reaffirms the Trump administration’s commitment to putting the American people first.”
This action comes as a follow-on to the Office’s December opinion about the meaning of “Federal means-tested public benefits” in PRWORA, which reversed a Clinton-era interpretation that had allowed ineligible aliens to receive federal welfare benefits.