Richard Weed, a securities lawyer,
wrote false opinion letters so that his two co-conspirators could
sell stock to the public in a "pump and dump" scheme.1 In
connection with this conduct, he was convicted of securities fraud,
wire fraud, and conspiracy to commit both. Following the jury's
guilty verdict, Weed moved for a judgment of acquittal. He argued
that the evidence w... More...   $0 (10-11-2017 - MA)

Boston, MA - Defendants in Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles Identity Theft Scheme Agree to Plead Guilty

Former RMV clerks agree to plead guilty and be sentenced to prison

Five individuals have agreed to plead guilty in federal court in Boston for their roles in a scheme to produce false identification documents through the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles (RMV).More...   $0 (10-02-2017 - MA)

This appeal concerns a challenge
to a summary judgment ruling that dismissed a lawsuit that a
Massachusetts property owner brought against three police
officers. The suit addressed the owner's arrest for actions that
he took in connection with his objection to the clearing of
vegetation on his property by the work crew for an electrical
utility, which held an easement to th... More...   $0 (09-21-2017 - MA)

The plaintiff, David Ceruolo (David) sued his
ex-wife Lyllian Ceruolo (Lyllian),2 and her mother, Martha Garcia
(Garcia) for defamation and negligent and intentional infliction
1 Lyllian Ceruolo.
2 Because these parties share the same last name, we refer
to them by their first names.
2
of emotional distress following the conclusion of a contentious
divorce. The defe... More...   $0 (09-07-2017 - MA)

This case involves an attempt
by the federal government to use the Hobbs Act to police the
activities of members of a labor union. Joseph Burhoe and John
Perry, who are union members, challenge the sufficiency of the
evidence of their convictions for, inter alia, extortion under the
Hobbs Act, as well as the jury instructions with respect to that
offense. The government att... More...   $0 (09-08-2017 - MA)

Jane E. O'Brien, a professional
investment adviser, engaged in a long-running scheme to defraud
several of her clients -- mostly elderly women who relied on her
financial advice and friendship -- out of their life savings. This
scheme was eventually uncovered, and she pled guilty -- in two
separate cases -- to securities fraud, investment adviser fraud,
wire fraud, a... More...   $0 (09-02-2017 - MA)

Boston, MA - Mylan Agrees to Pay $465 Million to Resolve False Claims Act Liability for Underpaying EpiPen Rebates

Pharmaceutical companies Mylan Inc. and Mylan Specialty L.P. have agreed to pay $465 million to resolve claims that they violated the False Claims Act by knowingly misclassifying EpiPen as a generic drug to avoid paying rebates owed primarily to Medicaid, the Justice Departme... More...   $0 (08-18-2017 - MA)

Appellee Jennifer Chalifoux ("Jennifer")
filed for divorce from her husband, appellant Joseph Chalifoux
("Joseph"), on May 5, 2010. The subsequent divorce proceedings
were highly contentious1 and spawned a torrent of additional
lawsuits in various federal and state courts. The case before us
now is the latest iteration of these lawsuits, wi... More...   $0 (07-31-2017 - MA)

In 2012, Bedini and Kapllani were charged in the United
States District Court for the District of Massachusetts with
conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute
five or more kilograms of cocaine in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 846.
Six other codefendants were also charged in that indictment for
the same crime, in consequence of their alleged participatio... More...   $0 (07-08-2017 - MA)

On April 1, 1997, Carter pled guilty in state court to
violating Maine's assault statute, Me. Stat. tit. 17-A,
§ 207(1)(A). The victim was Carter's girlfriend and the mother of
one of his children.1 Thirteen years later, Carter was indicted
for violating 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(9) by possessing a firearm that
he had inherited, kept, pawned, and redeemed after the 1997 assault... More...   $0 (07-08-2017 - MA)

As is our usual practice, we take the facts from the
district court's decision and from the suppression hearing,
presenting them in the light most compatible with the district
court's ruling. See, e.g., United States v. McGregor, 650 F.3d
813, 816 (1st Cir. 2011). Given the importance of certain facts
to our analysis, we ask the reader to bear with us as we wade
thr... More...   $0 (07-08-2017 - MA)

A person with three convictions for violent felonies or
serious drug offenses who commits a federal firearms crime is an
armed career criminal and must be sentenced to at least 15 years
in prison — so says the Armed Career Criminal Act ("ACCA," for
short). See 18 U.S.C. § 924(e). Under the governing rule, the
government must prove the existence of the prior convictions b... More...   $0 (05-25-2017 - MA)

Boston, MA - Massachusetts Insurance Broker Convicted of Filing False Tax Returns

A Dover, Massachusetts, insurance broker was convicted by a federal jury of filing false tax returns.

According to the evidence presented at trial, Anthony J. May, 62, owned and operated Clients First Financial Insurance Agency, LLC, through which May sold life insurance products as a broker, and Ad... More...   $0 (05-24-2017 - MA)

When reviewing the denial of a motion to suppress, we
take the facts as the trial court found them, consistent with
record support, see United States v. Romain, 393 F.3d 63, 66 (1st
Cir. 2004), adding uncontradicted facts where appropriate. In the
summer of 2013, DEA agents, working with state and local police
officers, were investigating a drug-trafficking ring based in ... More...   $0 (05-14-2017 - MA)

Springfield, MA - Dominican National Pleads Guilty to Trafficking Identities of Puerto Rican U.S. Citizens

A document broker pleaded guilty in federal court in Springfield in connection with his role in trafficking the identities of Puerto Rican citizens and corresponding identity documents.

Sandro Tavera Mora, aka Jose Laureano Ayala, 46, a Dominican national residing in Springf... More...   $0 (05-05-2017 - MA)

Worester, MA - Colombian National Pleads Guilty to Illegal Reentry After Deportation

Hernan Lopez Castaneda, aka Carlos Velasquez, aka Gustavo Velandia, 60, a Colombian national who was residing in Queens, N.Y., pleaded guilty to one count of illegal re-entry of a deported alien.

Lopez has illegally entered the United States on multiple occasions. He was first deported in 2006.... More...   $0 (05-08-2017 - MA)

This case centers on Ponzo's affiliation with LCN, a
crime network with a "boss," "soldiers," and "associates" -- an
affiliation that began in the late 1980s and ended in the mid
1990s, give or take. LCN operated its organized crime network through trafficking drugs, loansharking, extortion, and illegal gambling. Ponzo's LCN membership formed the basis for the
Racketeer Influ... More...   $0 (04-09-2017 - MA)

Boston, MA - Chelsea Produce Distributor Sentenced for Perjury and Obstruction of Justice

A Chelsea produce distributor was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Boston after pleading guilty to filing fraudulent documents in federal court and then committing perjury in an attempt to conceal his crime.

John S. Alphas, 57, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Leo T. Sorokin to ... More...   $5000 (03-22-2017 - MA)

Boston, MA - Dominican National Sentenced for Being an Alien in Possession of a Firearm

A Dominican national was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Boston yesterday in connection with being an alien in possession of a firearm and ammunition.



Felix Renaldo Nunez-Guerrero, 43, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton to 37 months in prison and thre... More...   $0 (03-23-2017 - MA)

A Massachusetts jury failed to
reach a unanimous verdict on a multiple count indictment charging
Martinho Rodrigues with conspiring with 29 others to distribute
assorted drugs in several Boston area neighborhoods. Rather than
face a repeat trial, Rodrigues opted to plead guilty to Count One,
conspiracy to distribute marijuana in violation of 21 U.S.C. §
846, but he preserve... More...   $0 (03-01-2017 - MA)

We summarize the basic contours of the healthcare fraud
scheme and proceedings below, reserving a fuller exposition of the
relevant facts for our analysis of the particular issues presented
by this appeal. See United States v. López-Díaz, 794 F.3d 106,
109 (1st Cir. 2015) (citing United States v. Flores–Rivera, 787
F.3d 1, 9 (1st Cir. 2015)), cert. denied, 136 S. Ct. 1229... More...   $0 (02-25-2017 - MA)

We start with Phillipos's challenges to the admission
into evidence of a signed confession, in which Phillipos admitted
to making the false statements that are at issue during two
informal interviews with federal agents in the two weeks following
the bombing. Phillipos signed that confession at the conclusion
of an interview with an agent of the Federal Bureau of
Inv... More...   $0 (02-25-2017 - MA)

Home health services are eligible for coverage under
Medicare if the individual who is the beneficiary of the services
is (1) "confined to the home" (the "homebound" requirement);
(2) "under the care of a physician who establishes the plan of
care"; (3) in need of at least one of a number of enumerated
"skilled services as certified by a physician"; (4) "under a plan
... More...   $0 (02-25-2017 - MA)

Senny Arias appeals his
convictions and sentence for possession of heroin with intent to
distribute, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1), and conspiracy
to distribute heroin, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 846. We affirm.
I.
The charges brought against Arias stem from an
investigation that began in 2012 of Jason Melchionda. Melchionda
was the suspected head of a drug-tra... More...   $0 (02-21-2017 - MA)

The charges brought against Arias stem from an
investigation that began in 2012 of Jason Melchionda. Melchionda
was the suspected head of a drug-trafficking organization
operating on Massachusetts' North Shore.1 Pursuant to a warrant,
law enforcement officers serving on a task force for the United
States Drug Enforcement Agency ("DEA") tapped the phones of
Melchiond... More...   $0 (02-18-2017 - MA)

Taylor raises many challenges to his conviction and
sentence on appeal, but the sufficiency of the evidence is not one
of them. So, we give a balanced presentation of those facts
necessary to understand the parameters of this appeal and our
disposal of it. See United States v. Burgos-Montes, 786 F.3d 92,
99 (1st Cir. 2015), cert. denied, 136 S. Ct. 599 (2015).1 The
de... More...   $0 (02-13-2017 - MA)

Keyon Taylor ("Taylor") shot
and beat a postal worker, and then hijacked his truck in a botched
robbery scheme. The ordeal finally came to an end when the worker
popped the truck's rear gate and jumped out of the moving vehicle
to try and save his own skin. Taylor was convicted of multiple
federal crimes arising from this episode, then sentenced to just
shy of thirty years ... More...   $0 (02-12-2017 - MA)

We begin with Herman's challenge to her convictions,
which is predicated entirely upon purported deficiencies in the
district court's instructions on the reasonable doubt standard.
Because Herman failed to object to the instructions below, we
review only for plain error. See United States v. Van Anh, 523
F.3d 43, 57 (1st Cir. 2008). In order to satisfy this demanding More...   $0 (02-07-2017 - MA)

Boston, MA - Medstar Ambulance to Pay $12.7 Million to Resolve False Claims Act Allegations Involving Medically Unnecessary Transport Services and Inflated Claims to Medicare

Medstar Ambulance Inc., including four subsidiary companies and its two owners, Nicholas and Gregory Melehov, have agreed to pay $12.7 million to resolve allegations that the Massachusetts-based ambulance company kno... More...   $12700000 (01-19-2017 - MA)

Defendant, a lawyer, was indicted by the Madison County Grand Jury in September of 2014 for tampering with evidence. The case against Defendant arose in conjunction with the investigation into the death of Brittany Christie, who was found dead in a motel room in Jackson, Tennessee, in early December of 2013 from an apparent
- 2 -
overdose of heroin and Klonopin. John Christie, Defendan... More...   $0 (01-01-2017 - MA)

Boston, MA - Worcester Woman Sentenced for Stealing Identities

A Worcester woman was sentenced in connection with filing false tax returns.

Lydia Torres, 45, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Timothy S. Hillman to one year and one day in prison, one year of supervised release and ordered to pay restitution of $393,093 to the Internal Revenue Service. In August 2016, To... More...   $393093 (12-29-2016 - MA)

Making their second appearance before this court are eight police officers, a police cadet, and
a provisionally hired 911 operator (collectively, the "Officers"),
who claim that they suffered adverse employment actions by the
Boston Police Department ("Department") as a result of a racially
discriminatory hair drug test. Eschewing any claim that the
De... More...   $0 (12-29-2016 - MA)

On February 4, 2014, the Peabody Police Department
responded to the report of a home invasion in Peabody,
Massachusetts. Agent Kotchian also responded to the scene. The
residents reported that the intruders had stolen a Ruger 9mm
caliber handgun and a diamond ring, and the Peabody Police
Department requested Agent Kotchian's assistance with the
investigation of the h... More...   $0 (12-04-2016 - MA)

The defendant, Quincy Butler, appeals from his convictions of murder in the second degree (G. L. c. 265, § 1),

2 and eight related offenses.1 The defendant was tried with a codefendant, William Wood, on a theory of joint venture for crimes committed in the course of a botched kidnapping and robbery attempt.2 Wood was convicted of murder in the first degree and various other ... More...   $0 (11-04-2016 - MA)

Following a jury-waived trial in the Orange Division of the District Court Department in March, 2014, the defendant, Randy A. LeBlanc, was found guilty of knowingly causing damage to another automobile in a private driveway and 2 leaving without identifying himself to the owner under G. L. c. 90, § 24 (2) (a).1 He appealed, and the Appeals Court affirmed the conviction in a memorandum a... More...   $0 (10-29-2016 - MA)

The question presented in this case is whether
it was reasonable for police to seize and inventory the contents
of a backpack found in the back seat of a vehicle operated by
the defendant, Jahliel M. Nicoleau, upon his arrest. The
vehicle was parked in front of his home where he lived with his
grandmother, who was present at the scene, and to whom the
police gave oth... More...   $0 (10-15-2016 - MA)

The issue in this case concerns the proper
application of the doctrine of collateral estoppel, as embodied
in the double jeopardy clause of the Fifth Amendment to the
United States Constitution and in Massachusetts statutes and
common law. See Ashe v. Swenson, 397 U.S. 436 (1970);
Commonwealth v. Benson, 389 Mass. 473 (1983). See also G. L.

In 2011, nearly for... More...   $0 (10-15-2016 - MA)

In August, 2013, a Middlesex County grand jury
indicted the defendant, Imran Laltaprasad, on a charge of
possession with intent to distribute heroin, subsequent offense,
G. L. c. 94C, § 32 (a), (b); and two charges of possession with
intent to distribute cocaine, subsequent offense, G. L. c. 94C,
§ 32A (c), (d). In July, 2015, a jury found the defendant
guilty of po... More...   $0 (10-15-2016 - MA)