News published on Federal Newswire in September 2016

News from September 2016


News Release: TUPELO, MS -Natchez Trace Parkway invites children and their families to an "October Night Hike." Join a park ranger on Saturday, Oct. 15, 2016, at 6:00 p.m.at the Natchez Trace Parkway Visitor Center. This one-hour program provides the unique opportunity to experience the sights and sounds of Parkway...


Home Health Care Agency Ordered to Pay Over $6 Million For False Claims Made to D.C. Medicaid

News Release: WASHINGTON - A federal judge has ordered Speqtrum Inc., a home health care agency, to pay the United States $6.15 million in civil damages after ruling in the government’s favor in a lawsuit alleging that the company violated the False Claims Act by repeatedly and routinely falsifying records to obtain funds from Medicaid.


News Release: WHEELING, WEST VIRGINIA - Jeremy Colby Vickerson, 28, of Canton, Michigan, was sentenced to 30 months in prison for distribution of oxycodone, United States Attorney William J. Ihlenfeld, II, announced.


Four Sentenced in Lansing Credit Union Robberies

News Release: GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN - U.S. Attorney Patrick Miles announced the sentence today for the last of four co-defendants, all from Detroit, in a pair of Lansing credit union robberies. U.S. Chief District Judge Robert J. Jonker sentenced Brennen Jackson, age 25, to 92 months in federal prison; Kiarra Pennymon, age 27, to 33 months; and Maurice Clark II, age 25, and Darnell Rowell, age 21, each to 37 months.


Environmental Impact Statement Available for Rio Grande Project Operating Agreement

News Release: Albuquerque, N.M. - The Bureau of Reclamation has released the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) for continued implementation of the Rio Grande Project’s 2008 Operating Agreement. The FEIS analyzes environmental impacts associated with continued implementation of the 2008 Operating Agreement...


Reclamation Releases Draft EA for 5-Year Refuge Water Exchange with San Luis Water District

News Release: SACRAMENTO, Calif. - The Bureau of Reclamation has released for public review a draft environmental assessment analyzing the impacts of approving a 5-year exchange of up to 6,000 acre-feet per year of groundwater for up to 3,000 af per year of refuge (or Level 2) water with the San Luis Water District.


News Release: BUFFALO, N.Y.-U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul Jr. announced today that Kevin Szura, 20, of Queens, NY, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute, and distribution of, controlled substances and money laundering conspiracy, before U.S. District Judge Richard J. Arcara. The charges carry a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $1,000,000 fine.


Job Fair Held For Returning Citizens As Part Of The Deparment Of Justice's Smart On Crime Initiative

News Release: GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN -U.S. Attorney Patrick Miles announced the holding of a job fair today in West Michigan for individuals who have recently returned to our communities after serving their terms in the custody of either the Michigan Department of Corrections or the Federal Bureau of Prisons. The...


News Release: Pablo Ramirez-Andrade, 32, of Mexico, was sentenced by Federal District Court Judge Alan B. Johnson on Sept. 28, 2016, for illegal re-entry of a previously deported alien into the United States. Ramirez-Andrade was arrested in Gillette, Wyoming. He received time served, plus ten days, was ordered...


Reclamation Monitoring Steinaker Dam Due to Riprap Slide

News Release: Provo, Utah - The Bureau of Reclamation’s Provo Area Office and the Uintah Water Conservancy District are monitoring Steinaker Dam near Vernal, Utah, following additional riprap (large rocks) displacement in an area where movement was identified two years ago on the reservoir side of the dam. Reclamation officials are closely examining the dam and note that some additional material displacement may occur while engineers work toward a permanent fix.


News Release: BOSTON - A Georgetown woman was charged in U.S. District Court in Boston with embezzling over $60,000 from her former employer.



News Release: LEXINGTON, Ky. - U.S. Attorney Kerry B. Harvey, Tim Plancon, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’(DEA) Detroit Division, and Lexington Police Chief Mark Barnard jointly announce a new initiative, aiming to implement a comprehensive approach to Kentucky’s opioid epidemic.


Former Wireless Phone Company Employees Charged with Selling Customer Information

News Release: BIRMINGHAM - Federal prosecutors today charged a Birmingham man with selling private customer information, including customer cell phone records, that he obtained from his work computer at AT&T. Prosecutors last week charged a former Verizon employee in a related case, announced U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance and FBI Special Agent in Charge Roger C. Stanton.


News Release: As winter approaches, U.S. airports, airline flight crews, dispatchers, general aviation pilots, air traffic controllers, and manufacturers will begin using new Takeoff and Landing Performance Assessment (TALPA) methods to improve safety at U.S. airports.


News Release: The United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida is committed to supporting and promoting strong relationships between law enforcement and the individuals, families and communities we serve and protect every day. Community policing - public safety efforts built on resilient bonds...


News Release: HONOLULU - Amalia Ralar, age 43, of Mililani, Hawaii, doing business as Muscle Inc., pleaded guilty in federal court on September 26 to filing a false tax return for the year 2012. At sentencing, scheduled for Jan. 12, 2017, before Senior District Judge Helen Gillmor, Ralar faces a maximum three-year prison sentence and a fine of up to $250,000.


Two Maryland MS-13 Members Convicted in Federal Racketeering Conspiracy Including Murder

News Release: Greenbelt, Maryland - A federal jury today convicted Eric Antonio Mejia-Ramos, aka “Flaco," age 22, and Miguel Angel Manjivar, aka “Masflow or “Garra," age 25, both of Hyattsville, of conspiracy to participate in a racketeering enterprise in connection with their gang activities as members of La Mara Salvatrucha, or MS-13. Manjivar was also found guilty of murder in aid of racketeering.


Catoctin Mountain Park to Remove Hazardous Trees From Park

News Release: Catoctin Mountain Park to Remove Hazardous Trees From Park.


News Release: Montgomery, Alabama - Alabama State Troopers made three recent traffic stops that resulted in the arrest of five individuals and the removal of approximately 40 kilos (88 lbs.) of cocaine off the streets, announced George L. Beck, Jr., United States Attorney for the Middle District of Alabama. The amount of seized cocaine has an estimated street value of $1.3 million.