The former police lieutenant-turned-lawyer admitted that he defrauded his fellow officer by embezzling $ 900,000 in compensation for working on the smoldering remains of the World Trade Center after the 9/11 attacks. Gustavo Vila, 62, pleaded guilty to defrauding the US government on Thursday in federal court in White Plains. Vila represented retired colleague John Ferreira in a compensation suit from 2012 to 2019, despite his legal license revoked in…

An impostor nurse who lied about education and work experience was sentenced to 65 months in prison. Sonya Emery fraudulently received from employers more than $ 2.2 million and evaded taxes in the amount of more than $ 697 thousand. The defendant lived in four different states and used several pseudonyms, including «Sonya Lee Robinson». The woman told employers that she has several master's and doctoral degrees from Emory and…

A New Hampshire woman is accused of posing as a prosecutor and falsifying documents in an attempt to prove she was cleared of charges. An indictment, obtained by The New Hampshire Union Leader, alleges that 33-year-old Lisa Landon presented false documents to court officials in three cases last year, claiming that drug possession and stalking charges were dropped. Landon used the government's electronic filing system to create forgeries, according to…

U.S. Marshals in Ohio found 45 missing children in the largest trafficking rescue operation in state history. Operation Autumn Hope was coordinated by the Ohio Organized Crime Commission and Attorney General Dave Yost. Investigators focused on rescuing trafficking victims, missing children, and arresting sex offenders. According to prosecutors, 109 victims of human trafficking, including 45 minors, were saved during the operation. In total, more than 70 cases of missing and…

A Virginia woman who pretended to be a psychologist and «cured» more than 100 patients was sentenced to 11 years in prison. According to the Fredricksburg Free Lance-Star, 44-year-old Sharonda Avery practiced for three years at Pediatric Partners for Attention and Learning in Stafford, where she worked under the guidance of a licensed physician. Over the years, Avery has been making false diagnoses, prescribing prescriptions for her patients — in…

Social workers can now deny services to people with disabilities and LGBTQ + clients in Texas. The State Social Work Council voted unanimously to remove the nondiscrimination clause from the code of conduct. This means that social workers have the right to refuse clients because of their sexual orientation, gender identity or disability. Will Francis, director of NASW Texas, describes the move as «disturbing, even if it was unintentional.» “They…

A man from east Los Angeles was sentenced to two years in prison after helping an off-duty sheriff's deputy conduct a fake raid and steal more than half a ton of marijuana from a downtown warehouse, according to court documents received Wednesday. Daniel Aguilera, 32, was among six defendants accused of conspiring with former Los Angeles County Sheriff's Deputy Mark Antrim to rob a legal cannabis warehouse in October 2018….

A legislator and respected doctor from Long Island, New York, was arrested after allegedly offering a woman drugs in exchange for sexual favors. According to law enforcement officials, Dr. William Spencer was arrested in the parking lot behind the Goodwill store in Elwood on Tuesday afternoon. The man was in a car belonging to Suffolk County at the time of his arrest. Officials said Spencer was waiting in the parking…

According to a court statement, lawyers were unable to contact the parents of 545 children who were separated from their families at the US border between 2017 and 2018. During this period, hundreds of parents were deported without their children. To date, the Justice Department and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) continue their efforts to reunite families separated by the Trump administration following the introduction of a zero-tolerance policy….

Federal authorities have exposed an alleged fraudulent scheme through which rapper Nuke Bizzle raised more than $ 1 million after he released a song about getting rich through unemployment benefits. The California hip-hop artist is accused of illegally receiving benefits under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, according to NBC Los Angeles. According to the affidavit, the rapper — whose real name is Fontrell Antonio Baines — used…