Parent Sentenced to Prison in College Admissions Case

BOSTON – A California woman was sentenced today for agreeing to pay more than $500,000 to participate in the college admissions scheme for her two children.

Elizabeth Henriquez, 57, of Atherton, Calif., was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton to seven months in prison, two years of supervised release and ordered to pay a fine of $200,000.  She was also ordered to conduct 300 hours of community service. Henriquez must self-surrender to the Bureau of Prisons on June 30, 2020.

In October 2019, Henriquez pleaded guilty to an indictment charging her with one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and honest services mail and wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering.

Beginning in 2015, Henriquez conspired with William “Rick” Singer and others to secure her children’s admission to selective colleges and universities through bribery and fraud. In June 2015, Henriquez paid Singer to have a corrupt proctor correct her older daughter’s answers on the SAT II subject tests.  In October 2015, Henriquez again paid Singer to have a third party correct her older daughter’s answer on the SAT exam.  Henriquez also pursued exam cheating through Singer on three additional occasions in 2016 and 2017, once in Houston, Texas and twice in Los Angeles, California.

Henriquez also paid Singer $400,000 to facilitate her daughter’s admission to Georgetown University as a purported tennis recruit, even though she did not play tennis competitively.  Henriquez understood that the payment, structured as a donation to Singer’s purported charitable organization, would be passed on to the university’s tennis program in exchange for the complicit coach’s agreement to recruit her daughter based on fabricated tennis credentials.  After Henriquez’s daughter was admitted to Georgetown, Singer instead paid a portion of the $400,000 to the tennis coach for his personal use.

Case information, including the status of each defendant, charging documents and plea agreements are available here: https://www.justice.gov/usao-ma/investigations-college-admissions-and-testing-bribery-scheme.

United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling; Joseph R. Bonavolonta, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division; and Kristina O’Connell, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigations in Boston, made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Eric S. Rosen, Justin D. O’Connell, Leslie A. Wright and Kristen A. Kearney of Lelling’s Securities and Financial Fraud Unit are prosecuting the cases.

The details contained in the court documents are allegations and the remaining defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

Puyallup, Washington repeat offender charged federally with being a felon in possession of a firearm

Illegally possessed firearms in Montana and Washington—Aspiring rapper posted images on snapchat

Tacoma – A 25- year-old Puyallup resident who has long associations with a Lakewood, Washington street gang, made his initial appearance March 30, 2020 in U.S. District Court in Tacoma on two counts of being a felon in possession of firearms.  DESHAWN WEST was ordered detained at the Federal Detention Center at Sea-Tac.  WEST had been in state custody since his arrest on February 14, 2020.

According to the criminal complaint, WEST, an aspiring rapper, posted multiple pictures on Snapchat showing him holding firearms.  Some of the guns had extended magazines and one appeared to be modified for rapid fire.  On October 1, 2019, WEST was arrested near Big Sandy, Montana for failing to comply with the terms of his Washington State Department of Corrections probation.  In the vehicle with WEST was a firearm that appeared to match one WEST was holding in various Snapchat videos.  At the time WEST’s girlfriend claimed the firearm belonged to her.

On February 12, 2020, WEST again posted videos to Snapchat showing him holding firearms.  On February 14, 2020, members of the FBI’s South Sound Gang Task Force served a search warrant on WEST’s Puyallup residence.  WEST was taken into custody without incident, and in the apartment law enforcement located two firearms, extended magazines and ammunition.

WEST is prohibited from possession firearms due to felony convictions including assault and being a felon in possession of a firearm (2014) and assault (2018).

Being a felon in possession of a firearm is punishable by up to ten years in prison.

The charges contained in the criminal complaint are only allegations.  A person is presumed innocent unless and until he or she is proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

The case is being investigated by the FBI’s South Sound Gang Task Force in close coordination with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) and the Washington State Department of Corrections.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jessica Manca.

Former Medical Employees Plead Guilty to Prescription Fraud Scheme

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – Two women pleaded guilty yesterday for their respective roles in helping run a “pill mill,” which led to the fraudulent dispensing of thousands of prescription opioid pills.

According to court documents and statements made in court, Kimberly Lancaster, 41, of Haymarket, was the office manager, and Susan Alcantara, 29, of Leesburg, was a medical assistant at an addiction/pain treatment clinic and an OB/GYN practice (“The Medical Practices”), which both operated in the same location in Northern Virginia. From at least June 2018 through June 2019, both Lancaster and Alcantara assisted a physician in operating a prescription “pill mill” at which so-called “patients,” many of whom were actually cash-paying customers, could obtain medically unnecessary prescriptions.

Lancaster, despite having no medical qualifications or training, often provided medical advice to the physician regarding the dispensing of prescription medications to individuals who were not patients of the physician. Lancaster also falsified medical records on behalf of the physician to make it appear as though patients and individuals who were never patients of The Medical Practices received medical examinations when in fact they had not. The physician often paid Lancaster for her services through the issuance of opioid prescriptions. Alcantara filled fraudulent prescriptions for opioid medications in her name and the names of at least four unwitting individuals at various pharmacies in Northern Virginia. Despite being aware of Alcantara’s opioid addiction, the physician provided many of the fraudulent prescriptions to Alcantara that were written in the names of unwitting individuals that the physician had never medically examined.

Lancaster and Alcantara’s participation in the prescription fraud scheme led to the fraudulent filling and dispensing of thousands of prescription opioid pills at pharmacies in Northern Virginia. Lancaster and Alcantara’s actions also caused the Medicaid health care benefit program to pay for fraudulently dispensed prescription opioids.

Lancaster pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute and dispense controlled substances outside the usual course of professional practice and without a legitimate medical purpose, and prescription fraud. She faces a maximum penalty of 24 years in prison when sentenced on July 31.

Alcantara pleaded guilty to prescription fraud and false statements related to a health care matter. She faces a maximum penalty of 9 years in prison when sentenced on July 31.

Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after taking into account the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

G. Zachary Terwilliger, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; Kevin Vorndran, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the FBI's Washington Field Criminal Division; and Maureen Dixon, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG), made the announcement after U.S. District Judge Leonie M. Brinkema accepted the pleas. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Raj Parekh and Monika Moore are prosecuting the cases.

A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information is located on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case Nos. 1:20-cr-61 and 81.