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Bronx man sentenced in N.Y.-Maine prescription-fraud case

In a case that reached into Maine, Devine Harvin, 33, of the Bronx, New York, was sentenced on Friday by U.S. District Judge George Z. Singal to 46 months in jail and three years of supervised release for conspiracy to distribute oxycodone and conspiracy to commit health care fraud, U.S. Attorney Thomas E. Delahanty II announced. Harvin pled guilty to the charges on Dec. 5, 2012.
According to court records, Harvin was employed by a medical facility in the Bronx, N.Y. Harvin stole blank prescription rolls containing hundreds of prescriptions and sold the rolls to a co-conspirator, Delahanty said. Other members of the conspiracy then generated fraudulent prescriptions for oxycodone. Some of these prescriptions contained the names of people in Maine and purported to be written by doctors in New York. None of the Maine-based people whose names appeared on these prescriptions received any medical care from the doctors in New York whose names were unlawfully placed on the prescriptions. The prescriptions were then presented to pharmacies in Maine. If the prescription was successfully filled, the pills were then further distributed in Southern Maine.
The case was investigated by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration in Portland, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, in Newark, N.J.

Last Updated on Monday, 18 March 2013 23:50

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Police continue investigating shots fired at Lafayette Square apartments

Police retrieved bullets from the scene of a reported shooting in the sixth-floor hallway of the Lafayette Square apartments at 638 Congress St., but no arrests have been made, police said.
The report of shots fired, which resulted in police temporarily closing Congress Street Friday afternoon, involved two people who fired guns, according to Portland Police Sgt. Dean Goodale. Nobody was hurt, according to information generated so far in the ongoing investigation.
“Shots were heard Friday, several shots were fired in the hallway,” Goodale said on Monday. No suspects were in custody, he said.
“We have no actual witnesses,” Goodale added.
“We processed the scene out there and have spoken to some residents and we’re trying to establish who’s involved,” Goodale said.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the Portland Police Department at 874-8533. To “Text a Tip” mobile phone users should text the keyword “GOTCHA” plus their message to 274637 (CRIMES).
Community members may also submit tips by going to the Portland Police Department website: www.portland-police.com and clicking “Submit an Anonymous Crime Tip.”

Last Updated on Monday, 18 March 2013 23:52

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Convictions in illegal alien case with Biddeford, Westbrook, Waterville restaurants

Guillermo Fuentes, 37, of Westbrook, and Hector Fuentes, 39, of Waterville, were convicted Monday of conspiracy to harbor undocumented aliens for profit, harboring undocumented aliens for profit and aiding and abetting document fraud, according to U.S. Attorney Thomas E. Delahanty II.
The conviction followed an eight-day jury trial in U.S. District Court in Portland, Delahanty reported.
According to court documents, the brothers, arrested in 2011, were the subject of an investigation that stretched back to 2008.
In September 2011, Westbrook residents and store owners said they were surprised to see the Department of Homeland Security's Immigration & Customs Enforcement agents conducting a raid on Fajita Grill.
The investigation into Fajita Grill was prompted by a traffic stop by a Westbrook police officer, according to court documents. The department reported to federal officials that several Hispanic men could not provide identification during a traffic stop and that they appeared to work for the restaurant.
Court records reveal that the charges relate to hiring and employment practices at three Mexican restaurants in Maine between 2006 and 2011: The Fajita Grill in Westbrook, owned by Guillermo Fuentes; and the Cancun Mexican Restaurant in Waterville and the Cancun Mexican Restaurant II in Biddeford, both of which are owned by Hector Fuentes, Delahanty reported. The document fraud charges arose out of the Fuentes brothers' efforts to assist undocumented alien employees obtain false Permanent Resident Cards (known as a "green cards") and social security cards, Delahanty reported.
Numerous former employees, mostly undocumented aliens from Mexico and Guatemala, testified during the trial that the Fuentes brothers hired them to work at the restaurants and harbored them at residences in Maine, a U.S. Attorney's press release stated.  The employees worked between six and seven days per week, often from 9 a.m. until 10 p.m. or later with only one two-hour break. Kitchen staff testified that the defendants paid them, on average, between $350 and $500 per week, in cash. Waiters did not get paid but were allowed to keep their tips.
The defendants face up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine on each count and forfeiture of the gross proceeds of the violations, Delahanty reported. They will be sentenced after the completion of presentence investigation reports by the United States Probation Office.
The investigation was conducted by the U.S. Immigration Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations and the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General, Office of Labor Racketeering and Fraud Investigations.

Last Updated on Monday, 18 March 2013 23:54

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York County plow driver for jail, sheriff's office arrested by state police

A contractor tasked with plowing for the York County Sheriff's Department and with plowing the county's jail property was arrested late last month for carrying improper plates and operating an unregistered vehicle, Maine State Police reported.
Shawn Fowler, 45, of Sanford, who owns SR Fowler Inc. trucking company, was operating as a motor carrier under contract for snow removal for the York County Sheriff's Department and plowing the jail property when he was arrested on Feb. 27, according to Sgt. Robert Nichols with the Maine State Police.
Nichols said he witnessed the company plow truck pushing snow into the entry road into the jail and talked to him about his plate.
"The problem is the company itself had been suspended from motor carrier operation," Nichols said.
An audit by regulators of motor carriers resulted in the company's suspension, and the state suspended the plates, he explained.
Gregory Zinser, county manager in York County, did not respond to a call for comment.
Nichols said he saw no public safety reason to allow continued plowing (on Feb. 27, 2.9 inches of snow fell in Portland, according to the National Weather Service. Three days earlier, on Feb. 24, 10.7 inches fell in a midweek storm.)
"It was pretty well plowed out, and he actually called a buddy to come help him out," Nichols said.
Nichols said Fowler had attached plates from a passenger car to his plow truck because his original plates had been suspended and had been seized a few months earlier. Nichols said he pulled plates off two trucks but later returned them.
"Within a few days of me summonsing him and arresting him he fixed whatever he had to fix with the registrations. So I gave him back his plates," Nichols said. "He can drive the truck as a personal vehicle, as long as he doesn't operate as a motor carrier."

Last Updated on Monday, 18 March 2013 23:56

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