2016 Annual Report United States Department of Justice United States Attorney’S Office Central District of California
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2016 Annual Report United States Department of Justice United States Attorney’s Office Central District of California TABLE OF CONTENTS Letter from U.S. Attorney Eileen M. Decker ____________________________________________________________________ 3 Introduction ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ 5 Overview of Cases ________________________________________________________________________________________________ 6 Assaults on Federal Officers ___________________________________________________________________________________ 6 Appeals __________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 7 Bank and Mortgage Fraud ____________________________________________________________________________________ 10 Civil Recovery _________________________________________________________________________________________________ 15 Civil Rights _____________________________________________________________________________________________________ 16 Community Safety _____________________________________________________________________________________________ 19 Credit Fraud ___________________________________________________________________________________________________ 21 Crimes and Fraud against the Government _________________________________________________________________ 22 Cyber Crimes __________________________________________________________________________________________________ 26 Defending the United States __________________________________________________________________________________ 29 Embezzlement _________________________________________________________________________________________________ 33 Environmental Crimes ________________________________________________________________________________________ 36 Gang Crime ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ 39 Healthcare Fraud ______________________________________________________________________________________________ 43 Human Trafficking and Crimes against Children ___________________________________________________________ 48 Identity Theft __________________________________________________________________________________________________ 54 Intellectual Property Crimes _________________________________________________________________________________ 56 Investment Fraud _____________________________________________________________________________________________ 57 Narcotics Offenses (non‐gang related) ______________________________________________________________________ 61 Prescription Drug Abuse _____________________________________________________________________________________ 64 Public Corruption _____________________________________________________________________________________________ 66 Real Estate Fraud______________________________________________________________________________________________ 69 Tax Fraud ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ 70 Terrorism ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ 73 Weapon Offenses ______________________________________________________________________________________________ 75 2016 Attorney General’s Award Recipients ___________________________________________________________________ 78 CASA Program ___________________________________________________________________________________________________ 79 Page 1 Victim Witness Assistance Program ___________________________________________________________________________ 80 Community Engagement Program ____________________________________________________________________________ 81 Law Enforcment Partners _____________________________________________________________________________________ 90 USAO Leadership ________________________________________________________________________________________________ 92 Acknowledgements _____________________________________________________________________________________________ 93 Page 2 LETTER FROM U.S. ATTORNEY EILEEN M. DECKER Fifty years ago, in 1966, the United States Congress created the Central District of California by dividing what was then the Southern District into two distinct and separate districts, thereby creating the newly formed Central District of California (CDCA). Shortly thereafter, the Department of Justice created the U.S. Attorney’s Office (USAO) for the CDCA. Since its creation, the USAO has marked its existence with landmark cases and legal arguments aimed at protecting the public from criminal schemes and defending the United States when sued. Throughout this time, the CDCA has benefited from employing gifted and talented Assistant United States Attorneys who have served our office with honesty and integrity, and have represented the highest ideals that the Justice Department was established to promote. Our 50th year was historic. Attorneys in our four litigative divisions continued to advocate in landmark cases, whether it be in areas of criminal law, national security, tax or civil matters. Every case served the highest ideals established by our Department: advancing the cause of justice in every single case regardless of the outcome. Our primary mission is to represent the United States in court, and in so doing protect and defend the community we represent. This 2016 Annual Report is an effort to summarize some of the many cases we worked on this year. While this report cannot possibly cover all of our significant cases, we hope this report effectively summarizes the great variety of cases handled by our office in 2016, and illustrates the tremendous skills and experience our AUSAs bring to bear on each and every case. While our office has a great legacy of historic cases, never before in our 50 year history has the office worked on such a depth and breath of cases as those reflected in this 2016 Annual Report. While our attorneys have the great privilege of standing in court and representing the United States of America, we all recognize that we cannot succeed in our efforts without the support of others. First, we cannot succeed without the investigative skills of the law enforcement partners with whom we have the privilege to work every day. Many of these law enforcement agencies are listed in the agency acknowlegement section of this report. Furthermore, we cannot be successful without the great paralegals, legal assistants, and office administrators Page 3 who work tirelessly every day to make our work easier. As with all successful endeavors, it takes a strong team to succeed at this mission, and we are all grateful for the USAO team. In addition to the cases we worked on, to improve our own skills and those of our partners, in 2016 we organized our first symposium for private and public sector representatives on cyber security, our first training for first responders on handling mass casualty events (using our experiences in San Bernardino as a case study), and our first all day training program for all CDCA AUSAs from all four litigative divisions. We also engaged with the community at an unprecendented level. Throughout the year, representatives of the USAO attended, spoke at, or participated in over 200 events throughout our district. AUSAs also serve on the boards or committees associated with over 40 different organizations throughout our district, and teach about 20 different law school classes each year. Next year promises to be even more successful for our office. In the past 12 months, we have been able to hire 76 new AUSAs. As these new AUSAs complete their background checks and join our office, we will become fully staffed for the first time in many years. We look forward to seeing what all of these new AUSAs will accomplish for our district and for the Department of Justice in the years to come. EILEEN M. DECKER United States Attorney Central District of California Page 4 INTRODUCTION This Annual Report highlights the organization, work, and achievements of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California (also known as the “Office”) for calendar year 2016. During this period, the Office was led by United States Attorney Eileen M. Decker. Our Office The Central District of California (CDCA) is a sprawling area based in Los Angeles that encompasses seven counties. The Office employs over 280 attorneys who serve the nearly 20 million residents who live within the district’s 40,000 square miles. By population served, the Office is the largest United States Attorney’s Office in the United States. By number of attorneys, it is the largest United States Attorney’s Office outside of the District of Columbia. In terms of significant practice areas, the Office prosecutes the entire range of federal criminal offenses, defends the United States in civil actions, represents government interests in tax and bankruptcy matters, and works on national security matters arising in the district. Our Community The CDCA is made up of the seven counties of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, and Ventura. With a population of nearly 20 million, it is by far the most populous federal judicial district, with almost twice the population of the next‐largest district. The district extends from the Pacific Ocean on the West to the Nevada and Arizona borders on the East, covering over 40,000 square miles. The district includes 35 cities with more