Officer Jennifer Gautier Arrested for Doctor Shopping

A veteran Hammond Police Department officer was arrested on a charge of possession of a controlled dangerous substance by fraud, the department announced Tuesday in a news release.

According to the release, Officer Jennifer Payne Gautier, 35, was found by investigators to be "doctor shopping" to obtain multiple prescriptions of controlled substances.

She turned herself in to investigators Tuesday. She was charged with possession of a controlled dangerous substance by fraud.

Gautier served with the department for 13 years and will be placed on administrative leave until due process of the courts.

Former Officer Christopher Inserra Pleads Guilty to Fraud

A former police officer accused of rocking out on stage as the lead singer of a metal band called Cousin Sleaze while he claimed he couldn't work because of an arm injury pleaded guilty to fraud on Tuesday.

Christopher Inserra entered the plea in federal court in Brooklyn. He left court without speaking to reporters.

Inserra, 32, was arrested last year on charges accusing him of fraudulently collecting more than $30,000 in disability payments in the nearly two years he was out sick from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey Police Department. He returned to work in March 2012 but resigned on Monday.

According to a criminal complaint, Inserra had told the police department that while on duty at the World Trade Center in June 2010, he hurt his arm helping take an injured Port Authority employee to a medical facility. At an initial evaluation, he claimed that he suffered from a "tremendous amount of pain" around his right elbow and lower biceps, it said.

The department agreed to give him time off with full pay. He also filed claims with an insurance company that resulted in two payments totaling $30,486.

Authorities alleged that Inserra, despite collecting disability, continued to perform as the frontman of Brooklyn-based Cousin Sleaze. Photos of performances from April 2011 show him "repeatedly moving his arms in a punching motion" and "violently flailing his arm in an up-and-down motion," a criminal complaint said.

In September 2011, after Inserra told doctors he was still in intense pain, the band hit the road for a tour called "Miles of Mayhem." Video footage from performances in Athens, Ga., Cocoa Beach, Fla., and elsewhere shows Inserra fist pumping and thrashing around without any signs of discomfort, the complaint says.

Inserra faces up to 14 months in prison at sentencing on Aug. 5. He also must forfeit the $30,486.

Former Officer William Garcia Found Guilty of Credit Card Fraud

Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and George L. Piro, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Miami Field Office, announce the conviction of William Garcia, 39, a detective with the Sweetwater Police Department.

On April 21, 2014, a jury in U.S. District Court found Garcia guilty on 12 counts. Specifically, the defendant was found guilty of one count conspiring to produce, use, or traffic in one or more counterfeit access devices, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 371; one count of use of a counterfeit access device, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1029(a)(1); and ten counts of aggravated identity theft, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1028A(a)(1). Garcia faces a mandatory minimum sentence of two years’ imprisonment and a maximum sentence of 35 years in prison.

At trial, the United States presented evidence documenting Garcia’s improper friendship with a former confidential source. The confidential source, a convicted felon, provided Garcia and another former South Miami Detective Richard Munoz with counterfeit credit cards. During the trial, the source, Munoz, and others testified about Garcia’s possession and use of those cards during shopping trips to Miami-Dade County shopping malls in 2010 and early 2011. During a meeting in late December 2010, Garcia was recorded providing his own personal credit card for use in stealing account numbers and manufacturing counterfeit cards.

Additional evidence at trial showed that Garcia was caught on videotape bringing eight counterfeit credit cards to the residence of the confidential source. During that and other recorded meetings, Garcia explained that he had taken the counterfeit cards from work and that he would share them with the confidential source. During the next two weeks, Garcia was recorded discussing his use of the cards at restaurants, movies, and a mall. Garcia’s presence during the transactions was further documented through use of phone records, placing Garcia’s cell phone in the area of each transaction at the time it occurred.

After the verdict, U.S. District Court Judge Federico Moreno remanded Garcia pending sentencing on June 26, 2014, at 9:30 a.m. in Miami. Munoz, who himself pleaded guilty on March 13, 2014, to related fraud charges, is presently set for sentencing in front of Judge Moreno on May 9, 2014.

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the FBI Miami Area Corruption Task Force, the FBI Miami Cyber Task Force, and the Sweetwater Police Department. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Anthony Lacosta and Sarah Schall.

Former Officer Jeremy Rose Charged with Sexual Exploitation of Minor

Former Tremonton police officer Jeremy Rose has been charged with 15 offenses in the collection of thousands of photos of a teenage girl in various stages of undress.
 

Rose was arrested and booked into the Box Elder County Jail Thursday, said Utah Attorney General's Office spokeswoman Missy Larsen, and is scheduled for arraignment April 7 before 1st District Judge Ben Hadfield.

 

Rose, 37, is charged with nine counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, a second-degree felony, and two counts of voyeurism, a third-degree felony. He's also charged with single counts of dealing in material harmful to a minor, communications fraud, obstruction of justice, and stalking, all felonies but the stalking, a class A misdemeanor.

 

While employed by the Tremonton force, Rose convinced a then-15-year-old Tremonton girl to pose semi-nude for photos he said he would sell for her on the Internet and to private buyers, according to charging documents. That was a ruse in order to collect the photos for himself, the charges say.

 

He also allegedly hid a camera in the girl's bedroom to record video of her dressing and undressing.

 

Rose is being held in lieu of $145,000 bail. The case was handed off by the Box Elder County Attorney's Office last year to avoid any appearance of a conflict of interest since prosecutors there had worked with Rose for years.

 

Rose resigned from the Tremonton department in July after investigation began by the Attorney General's Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, which was assisted by Tremonton police.

 

The case features a 15-page probable cause affidavit, a document rarely longer than a page.

It details Rose's apparent obsession with the teen beginning in early 2012 and continuing through much of last year until his initial arrest in June. Due to the complex investigation detailed in the affidavit, the charges weren't filed until Thursday by the attorney general's office.  Rose was a 12-year veteran on the Tremonton force.

 

Rose set up fake email accounts and links to a bogus online company where he told her he was selling the photos, the affidavit says.

 

He sent emails under assumed names from the fake company encouraging her in her nude and semi-nude posing for photos with Rose, as well as those she took herself and sent to the fake Internet site, according to the affidavit.

 

They told her she could make more money by wearing less clothing, one of the emails said.

Investigators were informed last June by Rose's wife that he had confessed to her and other family members, according to the affidavit.

 

The thousands of images of the minor were found on Rose's several cell phones "as well the laptop computer he was assigned through his employment at the Tremonton Police Department," it reads.

 

The document refers to Rose paying the girl $300 for her pictures and buying her an iPhone for her picture-taking.

Former Officer Mark Fisher Arrested for Distributing Prescription Pain Narcotics

Attorney General Kathleen G. Kane today announced the arrest of a former Allegheny County police officer on charges that he participated in and directed the activities of an illegal prescription drug ring.

Evidence and testimony regarding the alleged illegal activity was presented to a statewide investigating grand jury, which recommended the criminal charges being filed today. The grand jury identified the defendant as Mark Fisher, 34, currently incarcerated in the Westmoreland County Prison. Fisher is a former police officer with the Turtle Creek Police Department.

According to the grand jury, Fisher, who developed an addiction to pain medications following an injury, recruited several individuals to assist him in distributing prescription pain narcotics throughout western Pennsylvania. After a period of time Fisher allegedly stopped using other individuals and began to pass prescriptions at various pharmacies in either his own name or the name of his wife.

The grand jury found that Fisher obtained the pills by using illegal prescriptions that were passed at several pharmacies throughout Westmoreland and Allegheny counties.

Pennsylvania has the fourteenth highest rate of drug overdoses in the country, most of which are caused by prescription drugs. Attorney General Kane reiterated her support for a prescription monitoring program in the Commonwealth because it would serve as an additional tool to enable health practitioners and law enforcement in identifying individuals involved in the illegal trade of doctor shopping and dealing in fraudulent prescriptions.

Attorney General Kane noted that this is an active and ongoing investigation and additional arrests are anticipated.

Fisher is charged with one count of acquiring a controlled substance by misrepresentation, fraud, forgery, deception or subterfuge; one count of possession with the intent to deliver; one count of criminal conspiracy; and one count of impersonating a public servant.

The case will be prosecuted in Westmoreland County by Senor Deputy Attorney General Mark Serge of the Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Section.

More Charges Filed Against Officer Dana Bond

A suspended Detroit Police officer has been charged with multiple misdemeanors in connection to an alcohol-related car crash that occurred Sunday.

Officer Dana Bond, according to the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office, is accused of driving while intoxicated when she crashed her car into another vehicle at 1:05 p.m. Sunday, injuring a 19-year-old male driver and his 16-year-old female passenger.

After striking the car, officials say, the 41-year-old allegedly attempted to flee the scene, ran into a snow bank and was arrested.

The injured victims were transported to a local hospital and were listed in stable condition, according to officials.

Wayne County Prosecutor Kym L. Worthy’s office Tuesday announced Bond is charged with High Blood Alcohol Content (180-day misdemeanor), Failure to Stop at the Scene of a Personal Injury Accident (one-year misdemeanor) and Failure to Stop at the Scene of an Accident with Property Damage (90-day Misdemeanor).

Bond was previously suspended in connection to misdemeanor charges of retail fraud on Aug. 19 and Aug. 28. Bond allegedly stole item(s), including wine, from two separate stores. She is scheduled to have jury trials on both cases 9 a.m. April 15 before Judge Ronald Giles In 36th District Court.

The Detroit Police report that the defendant was arraigned this morning on the new charges. Bond was set at $10,000.

Officer Dana Bond Arrested for Drunk Driving

The suspended Detroit police officer who was arrested this weekend suspected of driving drunk has been suspended from the department after other serious charges were brought against her last year.

Police said Officer Dana Bond was driving off-duty near Plymouth Road and Memorial Street Sunday afternoon when she turned in front of another vehicle, causing an accident. No one was seriously hurt. Police say Bond tried to leave the scene.

She has been suspended from the department indefinitely and without pay since November 2013, when police say she was charged with two counts of misdemeanor retail fraud.

The day of the accident police say her blood alcohol level was a 0.26, almost three times the legal limit.

Police say she will be arraigned on charges of drunken driving and trying to flee the scene later this week, and she awaits her next retail fraud preliminary exam later this month.

Officer Shawn Allen Charged with Fraud

A Region 8 police officer was charged with both fraud and possession after he was arrested Friday morning.

According to police, Walnut Ridge police officer Shawn Allen was charged with fraud after abusing drug prescriptions. He was also charged with possession of a controlled substance.

Allen was released on bond and has a scheduled court date.

Officer Aaron Bailey Accused of Defrauding the County of $400,800

Montgomery County sued one of its police officers Wednesday, alleging that he defrauded the county of $400,800 while running a company that provided firearms training to officers.

Central to the officer's fraud, the county alleged, was that he enticed colleagues to take training classes by offering them deeply discounted weapons upon completion of the classes -- $99 for a handgun valued at several times that, for example. As for the training, that was free to the officers who enrolled because it was paid by the county's tuition assistance program.

The lawsuit said that it amounted to the officer using tuition assistance funds to subsidize the weapons, which one official has called "the candy" to get other officers enrolled in the training classes.

The officer, Aaron Bailey, declined to comment through his attorney, Charles Rand, who said he had not seen the lawsuit and would not comment until he does. It is unclear what their defense will be, but some officials have speculated that what Bailey did was akin to department stores offering "loss leader" merchandise, which they lose money on, simply to get shoppers in the door.

The lawsuit is the latest twist in the county's troubled tuition assistance program, which top officials have acknowledged was not properly monitored. In recent years, employees have used the program to take classes ranging from "Bible Doctrines" and "Aerobics" to "The Christian Home" and "Life on the Down Low."

Within the next week, Montgomery County's inspector general, Thomas J. Dagley, is expected to release the findings of his office's investigation into the tuition assistance program.
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Detroit Officer Charged with Overtime Fraud

Another Detroit police officer has been suspended on accusations that he bilked the city of $15,000 in overtime pay, the Free Press has learned.

Police spokesman John Roach confirmed that a 23-year veteran of the department's 10th precinct is suspended with pay after an internal investigation determined the officer regularly signed in at courthouses on his off days when he had no court business, then put in for overtime pay.

"Of 73 cases he had signed in for in 2009, we found that 55 were fraud and he had no business being there," said Roach, who cited personnel issues in declining to release the officer's name for a story first reported Friday on freep.com.

The department is investigating whether the officer had been signing in fraudulently for court business before last year as well, Roach said. The department began the investigation after a commander within the precinct noticed the officer was going to court too often, given his job assignment.

The officer marks the fourth suspension in recent weeks. Last month, an Eastern District officer was suspended without pay on accusations that he regularly left his police job early to moonlight as a security guard at St. John Hospital and Medical Center in Detroit. His reported ruse also is believed to have cost the city about $15,000.

Another Eastern District officer was accused of submitting fraudulent activity logs while on vacation out of the country, meaning she got paid her normal salary for what should have been vacation days. A sergeant with the Eastern District also has been suspended for approving both of his subordinates' fraudulent logs, Roach said.

Next week, the Detroit Board of Police Commissioners is to weigh Chief Warren Evans' recommendation that the two officers and sergeant currently suspended with pay also be stripped of their pay.

Officer Ramon Reyes Jr. Pleads Guilty to Fraud

A former Irving police officer pleaded guilty to defrauding a Housing and Urban Development program that sought to revitalize slumping neighborhoods by enticing law enforcers to live there with a 50 percent discount off the list price on a home.

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Two Detroit Officer Under Investigation for Fraud

One Detroit police officer is suspended and another is under investigation in alleged time-card fraud that has cost the department more than $15,000, the Free Press has learned.

Police Chief Warren Evans confirmed the internal investigation, which he said could lead to criminal charges against at least two officers. The cases will be forwarded to the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office to determine if charges such as fraud or obtaining money under false pretenses are warranted.

The department declined to release the officers’ names, citing personnel issues, but said that both work in the department’s Eastern District. Their supervisor is also under investigation for approving their fraudulent time cards, said police spokesman John Roach.

“I’m trying to find money to hire police officers and get equipment to make our streets safer,” Evans said today. “There’s no way in the world I’m going to tolerate this.”

He said some of the officers’ colleagues alerted the administration to the alleged fraud, prompting the month-long investigation.

In one case, a male officer was moonlighting working security at St. John Hospital and Medical Center in Detroit, and his shifts overlapped by up to a couple of hours, Evans said. The officer would leave his department patrol early to go to his night hospital job, while still getting paid by the city.

Roach said the department estimates the officer bilked the city out of $15,000 over more than a year.

The other case involved a female officer who submitted fraudulent activity logs while on vacation out of the country, Evans said. The department confirmed she was not in Detroit, as her time logs stated, and was paid her normal salary for what should have been vacation days.

“I’m running a police department, but I’m running a business, too,” Evans said. “This cannot happen.”

The male officer is suspended with pay until the Detroit Board of Police Commissioners meeting today, when Evans said he plans to recommend that he be suspended without pay. Evans said he intends to follow suit with the female officer.

Reserve Officer Jason Walker Charged with Faking Degree

Police in suburban Saanich are combing their files to see whether a therapist accused of falsely claiming to hold two doctoral degrees testified in criminal cases during his 21/2 years as a reserve constable with the force.

Jason Matthew Walker, 31, was charged Dec. 31 with fraud after he reported to police in August that a client of his counselling clinic, a six-year-old child, claimed he had been abused by his father. In his sworn affidavit in the case, which was part of a custody battle, Walker indicated he held two doctoral degrees.

Reserve constables testify as witnesses in criminal cases, but those cases are unlikely to be serious, said Saanich police spokeswoman Sgt. Julie Fast. "The vast majority of calls are about noise complaints, shoplifters and incidents of that nature."

Officer Kinley Jong Charged with Filing Fraudulent Tax Return

A California Highway Patrol officer has been arrested on charges of filing fraudulent state income tax returns, the California Franchise Tax Board said Tuesday.

Kinley L. Jong, 48, was originally charged in November with one felony count of possessing an assault weapon, which was found by special agents who were executing a search warrant on his home, the FTB said.

The FTB said it received information that Jong was allegedly depositing substantial amounts of cash into his bank accounts that exceeded the amount of income reported on his 2005 to 2007 state income tax returns.

Officials said he owes more than $26,400 in unpaid taxes to the state.

Jong was booked into the Sacramento County Main Jail and was released on a $15,000 bail, according to the FTB.

He is expected in court on Wednesday.

Officer Dwayne Johnson Accused of Defrauding the Government

Prosecutors say for roughly four months Officer Dwayne Johnson worked private security at the Hess Express gas station near Route 890 when he should have been on patrol, then tried to cover himself by lying on police department time sheets.

With his attorney by his side Wednesday, Johnson answered "yes" to several questions from Schenectady County Judge Karen Drago ensuring he understood his legal rights and the 15-count indictment that accuses him of defrauding the government, two counts of offering a false instrument for filing and grand larceny. He pleaded not guilty to those felonies and the 11 misdemeanors that Drago unsealed. He left court on his own recognizance without comment, leaving his attorney Gaspar Castillo to do the talking.

The Albany lawyer said his client, who earned an all-time city pay record of $168,000 in 2008, is being punished for being a "hard working man," that the city was well aware he was moonlighting and who never worked his private security and city job simultaneously.

"He has served the city and served it well and loves being a cop," said Castillo. "When everything comes out, it will become clear he has not done anything wrong."

But Gerald Dwyer, counsel to the district attorney, said the charging document only deals with the alleged double dipping from Oct. 25, 2008 to Feb. 7 at the Brandywine Avenue business and not accusations Johnson remained inside a Woodlawn apartment earlier this year when he should have been on patrol. Outside police headquarters, Mayor Brian U. Stratton said the department is still looking into what Johnson, 50, was doing there as part of its ongoing internal probe.

He said his administration will continue to aggressively go after cops who cross the line and that in Johnson's case they would be seeking to fire him and try to recoup any monies he was paid by the city while working his private job.

"The public should know we're not tolerating this," he said, adding he was still hopeful that any police commanders who may have turned a blind eye to Johnson's alleged misdeeds should be punished.

Later Wednesday, the police department released a statement saying Johnson had been suspended 30 days without pay and that it would be seeking to fire him through disciplinary hearings.

Besides the felonies, Johnson is also charged with five each of counts of official misconduct and receiving unlawful gratuities and scheme to defraud, all misdemeanors. On the top count felony alone, he could face a maximum four-year prison term

In February, he was suspended without pay for 30 days amid an internal probe into allegations that he spent several hours on a number of Tuesdays in an apartment in the Woodlawn section during his midnight-to-8 a.m. shift.

The revelation came less than a month after city payroll records for 2008 showed that Johnson, who has been on the force since 2001, had the highest earnings for one year in the department's history.

At the time, the department's Office of Professional Standards was looking into allegations he spent time at the apartment at the corner of Queen Philomena Boulevard and Sir Benjamin Way when he should have been working.

Police said the officer's cruiser, equipped with a GPS, was parked outside the location around 4 a.m. even though he was scheduled to work until 8 a.m. Months later, the department launched a second in-house investigation into fresh allegations that Johnson was working security at Hess when he should have been on patrol.

Chief Mark Chaires has said tax-related documents reviewed by investigators showed Johnson was "simultaneously being paid by two employers."

With overtime and about $35,000 in retroactive pay, he made $168,921 last year, nearly triple his base salary.

Johnson is one of several city police officers scheduled for disciplinary hearings next year.

Officer Donald D'Amour Charged with Illegally Obtaining Prescription Drugs

An officer with the Round Rock Police Department is on administrative leave after being arrested and charged with obtaining prescription medication through fraud.

Donald D'Amour, who has been with the Round Rock police for four years, surrendered to Travis County authorities Monday night after a judge issued warrants for his arrest, according to Round Rock police spokesman Eric Poteet.

Pflugerville police charged D'Amour with obtaining a controlled substance by fraud, a third-degree felony, according to arrest warrants filed Tuesday.

Round Rock Police Chief Bryan Williams placed D'Amour, 32, on administrative leave Nov. 23 after Pflugerville police notified him that D'Amour was being investigated for fraudulently placing and picking up two prescriptions for hydrocodone, a painkiller, according to the arrest warrants.

A pharmacist at an H-E-B pharmacy notified Pflugerville police after she became suspicious of a call to fill a prescription Nov. 20, the arrest warrants said. The person asked for hydrocodone through a doctor at a pain care facility where he was not a patient, the warrants said. Pflugerville police recovered videos shot at separate H-E-B pharmacies in Pflugerville on Nov. 7 and Nov. 8 showing him picking up the narcotic with fraudulent prescriptions, the warrants said.

Former Officer Benjamin Cordova Fired for Stealing Gas

A former North Las Vegas police officer has been fired for allegedly purchasing fuel for his personal vehicle on a department credit card.

Benjamin Miles Cordova had been videotaped three times fueling his blue Chevrolet Colorado four-door pickup truck using another officer's credit card at two gas stations in Henderson and North Las Vegas, an arrest report indicated.

The administrative investigation is separate from a criminal case that's in the hands of the Clark County District Attorney's Office, police said. Details of the police administrative investigation won't be released because it's a personnel matter.

He was arrested July 22 and booked into the North Las Vegas Detention Center. At that time he was placed on paid administrative leave until the administrative investigation was completed.

Cordova was booked on three counts of credit card fraud and three counts of receiving property obtained by unlawful use of a credit card. All counts are felonies.

North Las Vegas police had launched an investigation after another officer discovered that a department credit card was missing from a patrol car and notified his superiors.

During the investigation, police also learned that Cordova's driver's license had expired on Aug. 13, 2007, but he was still driving his own vehicle and department vehicles.
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http://www.mercurynews.com/california/ci_13578634

Lt Michael Leary Arrested for Real Estate Fraud

A Sacramento County sheriff's lieutenant who served on the Elk Grove city council has been arrested on charges of real estate fraud.

Sacramento County District Attorney's spokeswoman Shelly Orio says 49-year-old Michael Leary was arrested Friday on grand theft and forgery charges.

Leary is charged with stealing a $610,000 home he co-owned with his girlfriend by altering a grant deed in January 2006, and two counts of passing the document as being legitimate. Investigators say he later evicted his girlfriend.

A sheriff's spokesman says the 27-year veteran has been placed on paid leave.

Leary lost an election to retain his Elk Grove council seat last year.

He's posted $15,000 bail and is due in court for an Oct. 9 court hearing. There was no phone or attorney listing for him.

Lt Stephen Ray Gardner Arrested for Illegally Obtaining Prescription Drugs,

Stephen Ray Gardner, until Monday a lieutenant in the Youngsville Police Department, faces six counts of prohibited acts and false representation after his arrest on Monday by officers with the Louisiana State Police investigative unit.

"I had become aware that someone in our department may have been involved with illegal prescription drugs," said Youngsville Chief of Police Earl Menard. "At that time, I contacted the State Police investigative unit."

Gardner resigned his post as lieutenant at the time of his arrest.

He was arrested in the 300 block of West Main Street in Lafayette on a warrant for obtaining controlled dangerous substances by fraudulant means and was booked at 9 p.m. on Monday at the Lafayette Parish Correctional Center.

"The investigation is still pending, so we are not releasing more information at this time," said Sgt. David Anderson of the State Police. "But we did make an arrest on Monday."

The investigation is ongoing.

Suspended Trooper Manuel Moreno Arrested Again

A suspended Texas Department of Public Safety trooper has been arrested again.

Manuel Moreno was arrested today on new charges of fraud and unauthorized use of criminal history. The charges alleged that Moreno switched a price tag on a laptop computer at an Amarillo store in February of 2009.

Moreno is also charged with unauthorized disclosure of criminal history information from an incident in May.

Moreno was first arrested in June, charged with deadly conduct and four counts of assault.

No trial dates have been set, Moreno remains suspended from the DPS.
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