Law Enforcement

SALINAS – Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. announced that more than 200 agents from his Gang Suppression Enforcement Program and other law enforcement agencies today arrested 37 members of two vicious gangs responsible for a rampage of violence -- including more than three dozen murders and 200 shootings -- that terrorized the citizens of Salinas and nearby areas.

Today’s mass arrests was the culmination of an eight-month operation, code-named “Operation Knockout,” aimed at apprehending members of the Norteños and Sureños gangs that turned Salinas into a hub of murder, robbery and drug dealing.

The operation targeted the most dangerous gang leaders in the Salinas area. In addition to the arrests made today, agents seized 40 pounds of cocaine, 14 pounds of marijuana, nine ounces of methamphetamine, $34,000 in cash, and 12 guns. An additional 57 arrests were made before today’s sweep.

“Operation Knockout was designed to restore safety to the streets of Salinas,” said Brown. “Citizens in John Steinbeck’s hometown deserve better than having to endure a violent crime rate that’s three times the national average. We owed it to the people of Salinas to arrest these out-of-control gang members and ensure a heightened sense of personal security throughout the city.”

Some 44 state and federal search warrants were served throughout Salinas, San Jose and other areas of Monterey County. Today’s arrests dealt a major blow to the Norteños and Sureños, two of Monterey County’s largest gangs, who are major distributors of powder cocaine, rock cocaine, and crystal methamphetamine throughout the county and are linked to dozens of homicides and shootings.

Brown also announced today that he has formed a task force to maintain today’s crackdown against drugs and major crimes. The Monterey County Narcotic and Violence Task Force will be overseen by the California Department of Justice and will include the California Highway Patrol, Marina Police Department, Monterey County Sheriff’s Office, Monterey Police Department, Salinas Police Department and Seaside Police Department.

In 2008 and 2009, there were 55 homicides in the city of Salinas. Based on the city’s population of 148,000, its violent crime rate was more than three times the national average. Only two of the 55 homicides were unrelated to gang violence. During this same reporting period, there were more than 200 reported shootings related to gang violence.

To combat the violence permeating the city, Brown deployed his Gang Suppression agents to work with the Salinas Police Department in a proactive approach to the gang problem. Special Agents identified the key gang leaders and created a complex investigative plan intended to make a significant impact on violent crime in the city. During the investigation, agents determined that much of the violence stemmed from a struggle between the Norteños and Sureños street gangs within Salinas over turf dominance, and more significantly, over control of illicit drug trafficking. The gangs ruled through intimidation and violence.

“Today’s operation has been a masterpiece of cooperation between federal, state and local law enforcement agencies,” said Salinas Police Chief Louis Fetherolf. “Today is day-one of Judgment Day!”

Today’s arrests come in addition to 57 prior arrests during the eight-month operation. Over the course of the investigation, agents identified a large cocaine and methamphetamine distribution group that was controlled by Norteños gang members operating in Salinas. The illegal drugs were supplied by Mexican drug-trafficking organizations.

More than 200 state, local and federal law enforcement personnel participated in today’s operation. The Attorney General’s Gang Suppression Enforcement Program is part of the Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement.

Other law enforcement agencies that assisted with today’s operation included the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation; California Highway Patrol; Federal Bureau of Investigation; Monterey County District Attorney’s Office; Monterey County Sheriff’s Department; Salinas Police Department; United States Attorney’s Office, Northern District of California; and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

SAN DIEGO – Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. announced today that members of his office are working with law enforcement officials from Baja California as part of sweeping changes the Mexican government is making to its legal system.

“We will help our southern neighbor become more transparent and open,” Brown said.

Starting today, 80 prosecutors and agents from the Mexican state of Baja California will attend two days of classes at the Law Enforcement Coordination Center in El Centro (Imperial County). Agents with the California Attorney General’s Office, joined by officials from the Imperial County District Attorney’s Office, as well as from the Imperial County Sheriff’s Department, will teach sessions on topics such as case preparation and the handling of evidence.

The centuries-old Mexican legal system, which stems from the Napoleonic era, involves closed hearings, written inquisitions and a presumption of guilt. In 2008, the Mexican government approved a constitutional amendment to replace much of its system to make it more like the legal system of the United States. The transformation, which will alter both how evidence is collected and how trials are conducted, is expected to be complete by 2016.

Rommel Moreno, the Attorney General of Baja California, asked Attorney General Brown for assistance as Baja California joins 30 other Mexican states to change its system. The U.S. federal government, along with law enforcement agencies around the country, is also assisting Mexico with the transition.

“After these changes are complete, Mexico’s legal system will be more transparent and open, which will improve the strength of the country’s democracy,” said Brown. “We will help our southern neighbor in this transition.”

This week’s training of Baja California officials is being coordinated by the Attorney General’s foreign prosecution and law enforcement unit, a part of the Division of Law Enforcement’s Bureau of Investigation and Intelligence. The unit works with Mexican officials in apprehending suspects in the United States who are wanted for crimes in Mexico, as well as enlisting the help of Mexican officials in solving crimes in California.

In December 2009, the unit assisted Mexican officials in apprehending and extraditing Sandra Cruz Villa, who was living in Lake County and was suspected of a triple murder. She awaits trial in Mexico. For more information about the unit, please see http://ag.ca.gov/cbi/foreign.php.

SAN DIEGO—Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. today announced the arrests of a doctor and two employees operating a “complex, multi-level scheme” that bilked more than $200,000 from low-income patients and government agencies by overcharging and prescribed pain medication to individuals who had no medical need for it.

Beginning in 2007, the three individuals arrested Wednesday perpetrated their scheme to defraud state and federal health insurance programs and patients in the San Diego area.

“These individuals operated a complex, multi-level fraud scheme,” Brown said. “Today’s arrests are a result of the cooperative efforts of state and federal law enforcement to take this dirty doctor off the streets.”

The individuals arrested today include Dr. Mohammed Tarek Kady, 55, Mario Ramirez Zarco, 31, and Ana Audelo, 23, all three from Chula Vista.

All three individuals were charged with violating California Penal Code sections 182(a)(1), 182(a)(4), 487(a), and 550(b)(3) for conspiring to cheat and defraud, to commit grand theft, and commit insurance fraud.

In addition, Kady was also charged with:
• One count of violating California Welfare and Institutions Code section 14107(b)(4)(A) for Medi-Cal fraud
• Five counts of violating California Penal Code section 487(a) for grand theft
• Three counts of violating California Penal Code section 550(a)(6) for insurance fraud
• Seven counts of violating California Health and Safety Code section 11153(a) for illegal prescribing
• One count of violating California Labor Code 3700.5(a) for failing to obtain worker’s compensation for employees
• Special Allegations of theft, including theft in excess of $100,000.

The arrests are the result of a cooperative effort between Brown’s office, the San Diego District Attorney’s Insurance Fraud Task Force, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), San Diego Health Care Fraud Squad and San Diego Organized Crime Squad, the California Department of Industrial Relations, and the federal Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Tactical Diversion Squad.

In February 2009, an Anthem Blue Cross investigator reported Kady’s pediatric office in Chula Vista was unlawfully charging fees to patients enrolled in state and federal health insurance plans.

Two of Kady’s employees, Mario Zarco and Ana Audelo, unlawfully charged patients $50 to $500 for assistance in enrollment in state and federal health insurance coverage. Kady himself unlawfully charged patients an additional $200 to $300 fee to examine their newborn children in the hospital.

Investigators estimate that Kady unlawfully charged more than $60,000 for services to individuals and families enrolled in state and federal health insurance coverage.

Brown’s investigation also showed Kady frequently traveled out of the country for several weeks at a time but continued to charge for his services at his Chula Vista office. Reimbursement claims indicate Kady charged more than $160,000 for services when, in reality, he was out of the country.

In addition to overcharging for services and charging for services never performed, Kady prescribed pain medication to individuals without any justifiable medical purpose, enabling patients apparently “doctor shopping” for drugs. Kady wrote prescriptions for opiates, including the narcotic, Vicodin, and codeine cough syrups to drug addicts abusing the drugs and illegally selling them. On seven DEA sting operations, most recently last month, Kady prescribed narcotics without medical justification.

Kady’s patients were instructed to fill their pain medication prescription at one San Diego pharmacy. An employee at the pharmacy became suspicious after dozens of individuals attempted to fill prescriptions, written by Kady, at the pharmacy each Friday. The investigation revealed Kady and the pharmacy owner had a quid pro quo arrangement in which the pharmacy would kick back some $3 per prescription.

According to the Medical Board of California, Mohammed Tarek Kady was licensed as a physician in December 1997. He is a family practitioner with board certification in Pediatrics, and maintained two clinics, one in Chula Vista and one in San Diego.

If convicted of all charges, Kady faces as much as 20 years in prison. Zarco and Audelo face up to 6 years in prison if convicted of all charges.

“The Drug Enforcement Administration is committed to keeping the San Diego community safe from doctors who enable the abuse of prescription drugs”, says Special Agent in Charge Ralph W. Partridge. “The suspension of Doctor Kady’s controlled substance privilege is an important step toward ensuring accountability of those who supply controlled substances illegally”.

A copy of the complaint filed in San Diego Superior Court is attached. Photos of the defendants are also attached.

SANTA ANA — In a clear “warning shot” to unscrupulous loan-modification consultants, Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. today announced that two women have each been sentenced to one year in jail and ordered to repay dozens of homeowners who were charged thousands of dollars in up-front fees for non-existent foreclosure-relief services.

Marianne Curtis, 69, of Costa Mesa and Mary Alice Yraceburu, 46, of Riverdale, who operated Fresno and Orange County-based Foreclosure Freedom, pleaded guilty last month to 71 criminal counts, including grand theft, conspiracy and unlawful foreclosure consulting. Both will serve one year in Orange County jail and an additional four years of probation.

“Curtis and Yraceburu shamelessly exploited homeowners desperate to avoid foreclosure, charging up to $1,800 in up-front fees for loan modifications that were never delivered,” Brown said. “Today’s jail sentences send a warning shot to loan-modification consultants: If you swindle homeowners, you face serious time behind bars.”

Brown’s office initiated its investigation into Curtis and Yraceburu in early 2008 after receiving a complaint from the Tulare County District Attorney. Charges were filed in Orange County Superior Court on March 19, 2009, against the defendants, and both pleaded guilty on March 24, 2010.

Brown’s investigation located victims in many California towns and cities: Antelope, Avenal, Bakersfield, Crows Landing, Elk Grove, Fairfield, Fresno, Galt, Hanford, Hayward, Hollister, Kingsburg, Mendota, Modesto, Petaluma, Placerville, Richmond, Ridgecrest, Rio Linda, Sacramento, Salinas, San Leandro, Simi Valley, Stockton, Taft, Vacaville, Vallejo and Ventura.

In addition to today’s jail sentences, Curtis and Yraceburu were ordered to repay 36 victims a total of $32,040. If eligible victims not named in the complaint come forward, the court can order additional repayment throughout the defendants’ probation term. As a condition of today’s sentence, both defendants are also prohibited from any future work in the telemarketing and real estate industries.

Brown’s investigation found that from April 2007 until February 2008, the two women paid for access to foreclosure listings so they could directly solicit hundreds of homeowners underwater on their mortgages with mailers promising relief.

When homeowners called the number on the mailer, they were told their mortgages could be renegotiated to a lower monthly payment. Victims, however, were required to pay up to $1,800 in up-front fees and were instructed not to contact their lenders.

Victims were assured the company had “private lenders and specialists exclusive to their company who are very experienced in the options and methods used to renegotiate home loans,” yet neither of the women who operated the company had real estate licenses, legal training or any experience in the home mortgage market.

Investigators found no evidence they had negotiated any successful loan modifications, and most of the victims were either forced into bankruptcy or lost their homes to foreclosure. Bank account records revealed the defendants took over $120,000 from unsuspecting homeowners.

Both Curtis and Yraceburu pleaded guilty to all 71 criminal counts including:
• 34 counts of unlawful foreclosure consulting
• 29 counts of grand theft
• 7 counts of attempted grand theft
• 1 count of conspiracy

By law, all individuals and businesses offering mortgage-foreclosure consulting or loan-modification and foreclosure-assistance services must register with Brown’s office and post a $100,000 bond. It is also illegal for loan-modification consultants to charge up-front fees for their services.

Non-profit housing counselors certified by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development provide free help to homeowners. To find a counselor in your area, call 1-800-569-4287.

If you are a homeowner who has been scammed, contact Brown’s office at 1-800-952-5225 or file a complaint online at: www.ag.ca.gov/consumers/general.php.

Brown has sought court orders to shut down more than 30 fraudulent foreclosure-relief companies and has brought criminal charges and obtained lengthy prison sentences for dozens of other deceptive loan-modification consultants. Last month, Brown secured a court judgment that shut down two Orange County-based foreclosure-assistance companies, secured $1 million in restitution for victims and prohibited three individuals from ever working in the real estate industry again.

For more information on Brown’s action against loan-modification fraud visit: http://ag.ca.gov/loanmod.

A copy of the amended complaint, filed in Orange County Superior Court, is attached.

SAN FRANCISCO—Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. said six individuals arraigned today on identity theft charges “wreaked financial and emotional havoc” on victims by making tens of thousands of dollars in fraudulent charges in their names. The defendants face multiple felony counts of identity theft, conspiracy, possession of stolen property, and grand theft.

The identity theft ring was able to steal 20 identities and over $170,000 worth of cash, expensive clothing, jewelry and accessories. They bought flat screen TVs, a Gucci watch and $31,000 worth of merchandise from Neiman-Marcus. Members of the ring raised cash by returning items bought using fake identities.

“This criminal identity theft ring wreaked financial and emotional havoc on the victims, who will now endure hours of work fixing their credit and rebuilding their lives,” Brown said. “It’s important to keep these fraud rings from ripping off other victims.”

The six defendants face charges of violating California Penal Code section 182 for conspiring to commit identity theft, section 484 for theft, section 530.5 for identity theft, and section 496 for possession of stolen property. Possible sentences for each defendant range from a minimum of four years to a maximum of 27 years and four months.

The individuals facing charges today include:
• Matthew Medlin, 31, of Campbell.
• Jessica Campos, 30, of Santa Clara, also faces charges of violating California Penal Code section 502(c) for using dental office clients’ personal information.
• Chev Chan, 31, of San Jose, also faces charges of violating California Penal Code section 496 for receiving stolen property.
• Quang Le, 32, of Santa Clara. Le also faces charges of violating California Penal Code section 487 for grand theft.
• Daniel Lee Lesly, 31, of Los Altos. Lesly also faces charges of violating California Penal Code section 487 for grand theft.
• Nick Phuong Luu, 29, of Vallejo. Luu also faces charges of violating California Penal Code section 487 for grand theft, and section 496 for receiving stolen property.

In late 2009, Brown’s office was notified by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service that several individuals reported their social security numbers had been illegally used to apply for credit cards. The credit card information was sent to a San Jose residence later discovered to be the home of Chev Chan.

The subsequent investigation revealed that between June and December of 2009, the defendants, along with other unnamed suspects, engaged in an identity theft spree throughout the Bay Area. The ring’s leaders, Nick Luu and Chev Chan, used several San Jose, Santa Clara, Sunnyvale, and Campbell addresses to divert the victims’ mail. Luu and Chan also had victims’ mail sent through false change-of-address forms and opened five Post Office boxes in San Jose.

Most of the victims’ identities were stolen from clients at a San Jose law office and Santa Clara dental office where two of the defendants worked.

During a search of Nick Luu’s residence, Brown’s office found 10 dental claim forms that contained patients’ names, addresses, dates of birth and social security numbers. The forms were given to Luu by Jessica Campos, an employee of the Santa Clara dental office, to use to manufacture fake identities. Campos was told by leaders in the ring to obtain current employers and addresses of Asian males who were about the same ages as the conspirators. As a result of Campos’ involvement, three dental office patients had their personal information used to make fraudulent purchases.

Chev Chan, used stolen identities to open Discover, Bank of America, and Chase credit cards while he worked at the San Jose law office. Chan used his work computer to change account addresses and open fraudulent credit card accounts under two victims’ names. Chan also used his employment address to receive mail and open two Post Office boxes under the victims’ names.

One of the defendants, Quang Le, was seen on video surveillance at Zales Jewelers in Eastridge Mall making a fraudulent purchase of $4,400. Le also racked up over $31,000 in fraudulent charges at Neiman-Marcus.

The fraud ring also opened fraudulent bank accounts and wrote dozens of checks. Daniel Lesly wrote 15 non-sufficient-funds checks totaling almost $2,000 from an account he fraudulently opened at Bank of America. The checks were written from the account to Target and Lucky’s. Lesly also returned a Gucci watch, previously purchased using a fake identity, and took over $2,000 in cash for the exchange.

To enable him to use the credit cards, defendant Mark Medlin used the victims’ identities to open credit lines and manufacture fake California driver’s licenses. These fraudulent driver’s licenses were used by Nick Luu, Chev Chan, and Quang Le.

Additional items purchased with the stolen identities include:
• A watch worth $8,150 from Ben Bridge Jewelers
• Merchandise worth $6,402 from Nordstrom
• A 55” flat screen television worth $3,277 from Sears online
• A 40” flat screen television worth $1,509 from Sears online
• Comforters and bedding worth $725 from Macy’s
• A Movado watch worth $1,281 from Kay’s Jewelers
• A Tag Heuer watch worth $4,485 from Macy’s
• Jewelry worth $8,150 from Ben Bridge Jewelers

A copy of the complaint available upon request.

Los Angeles—Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. announced today that the state DNA Data Bank has now matched 12,000 crime scene DNA samples to violent offenders and other suspects, helping to “secure thousands of convictions” of rapists, murderers, and kidnappers.

The DNA Data Bank’s 12,000th match was made at the state DNA database facility in Richmond. On average, the DNA Data Bank receives 300 hits per month. In March, the Data Bank had 405 DNA matches, the most ever in a single month.

“This is a remarkable milestone in the advancement of criminal justice technology,” Brown said. “The DNA database has been used in over 12,000 investigations and contributed to thousands of convictions of the most violent criminals. Otherwise, these crimes are likely to go unsolved.”

Recent notable cases in which the California Department of Justice assisted local law enforcement in the apprehension of dangerous sexually violent predators through DNA evidence include:

• In February, John Gardner III, a convicted sex offender, was arrested on suspicion of rape and homicide in the disappearance of Chelsea King, a 17-year-old high school student from San Diego County who went jogging in a park. She was found in a shallow grave in the park.
• In January, David Joseph Carpenter, a Death Row inmate also known as the “Trailside Killer”, was linked by DNA evidence to the killing of Mary Bennet, who was stabbed to death in San Francisco. The crime occurred in 1979. (Additional cases are listed below.)

The DNA Data Bank has been in operation since 1994 and contains over 1.5 million DNA samples. Approximately 25,000 samples are added to the database each month.

A voter-approved initiative in 2004, Proposition 69, required all defendants convicted of a felony to submit a DNA sample. On January 1, 2009, this requirement was extended to all adults arrested on felony charges.

In criminal investigations each day, state and local law enforcement agencies submit evidence from crime scenes to one of California’s seven Department of Justice crime labs or 15 local labs with forensic DNA capability. These labs try to establish DNA profiles to identify the perpetrators.

The DNA profiles then are uploaded to California’s database and sent to the national Combined DNA Index System (CODIS), which indexes samples for searching in categories such as convicted offenders, arrestees, crime scene samples, missing persons, relatives of missing persons, and unidentified human remains. DNA from convicted offenders and arrestees is compared with crime scene samples, and crime scene samples are compared to link cases together.

ADDITIONAL CASES WITH DNA MATCHES:

In September 2009, Richard Ramirez, a Death Row inmate known as the “Night Stalker”, was linked to yet another crime: the 1984 killing of a 9-year-old San Francisco girl, Mei Leung, after San Francisco Police Department criminalists reprocessed old evidence in the case to obtain DNA.

In August 2009, a 34-year-old cold case was solved when Dennis Vasquez, 50, of Los Angeles, was arrested and required to submit a DNA sample to authorities. Vasquez’s DNA matched the DNA found at a murder scene in 1975. He is being prosecuted for murder by the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office.

In March 2009, Ryan Nigel Curtis, 27, of Los Angeles, was arrested for stabbing a man after an argument in Huntington Beach. Curtis’ DNA was obtained from a cigarette pack he left before fleeing.

In May 2008, Alberto Pablo Ruiz, 25, of San Jose, was sentenced to 41 years in prison after he assaulted a female jogger in Alum Rock Park in San Jose. The San Jose Police Department linked Ruiz through DNA evidence found on the victim and at the crime scene. Ruiz’s DNA had been submitted to the database for previous violations.

In March 2008, James Dixon, 37, of Pomona, was sentenced to death after his DNA matched DNA found at a 2001 murder scene in Los Angeles County. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s office obtained DNA from a cigar tip found in the truck where the victim was murdered. Dixon’s DNA also matched that found in a 1996 home invasion in which two females were raped. The accomplice in the 1996 home invasion and rape had been sentenced to 70 years to life.

In 2001, a woman’s body was found near Mussel Shoals beach in Ventura County. The Ventura County Sheriff’s Office collected DNA and uploaded it into the national DNA database. The sample matched Douglas Dworak, 43, of Oakview, a convicted rapist who had been sentenced to death in 2005.

LOS ANGELES — Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. today discussed a report prepared by agents in the California Department of Justice, Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement showing that in the last month of his life, former child actor Corey Haim visited seven different doctors and seven different pharmacies to obtain at least 553 doses of prescription drugs, including dangerous narcotics.

The report confirms that from February 2, 2010 to March 5, 2010 – five days before he died – Haim obtained more than 195 tablets of Valium, 194 tablets of Soma, 149 tablets of Vicodin and 15 tablets of Xanax.

“In a period of 32 days, Corey Haim obtained at least 553 doses of potentially dangerous prescription drugs,” Brown said. “He died five days later. It’s important for people to understand that legal, prescribed drugs can be just as dangerous as street drugs, and doctor shopping can be deadly.”

Brown has been at the forefront of efforts to crack down on prescription-drug abuse and those criminals who profit from it.

In the report, Haim’s primary physician confirmed that Haim was addicted to pain medication. The investigation also uncovered that Haim used at least one alias to obtain pain medication. Although he was being treated by his primary physician, Haim continued to obtain prescription drugs from emergency rooms and urgent care facilities.

Witnesses confirmed that Haim had abused prescription drugs since the age of 15, attempting rehabilitation several times. In the months before he died, Haim was preparing to do a media special on how easy it was for him to obtain pain medications.

Haim’s doctors told agents that Haim was very convincing in his justifications for needing prescription pain medications. Haim told doctors he had shoulder pain acquired while he was filming a movie in Canada. He also claimed he was not seeing any other doctors and discussed his future plans to have surgery. Some of those doctors said they felt “duped” and “conned” when they found out from Haim’s primary physician that he was a drug seeker.

Haim visited multiple pharmacies to fill his prescriptions, investigators found, and either requested additional medication or asked for refills before the due date.

The report concluded that Haim’s behavior was consistent with “doctor shopping,” in which a patient requests care from multiple physicians, often to feed the patient’s addiction to prescription drugs. Patients prescribed a drug necessary for treatment of a legitimate medical condition will seek out other physicians to obtain more of the same medication, often by faking or exaggerating the extent of the true condition. It is common for patients to use aliases in order to evade detection.

Haim’s name surfaced in connection with an illegal prescription-drug ring operating in Southern California. The ring operates by ordering prescription-drug pads from authorized vendors and using identities stolen from doctors. The pads are then either sold on the street to prescription-drug addicts or to individuals who are paid to fill the prescription and then sell the drugs on the underground market.

The investigation has thus far linked 4,500 to 5,000 fraudulent prescriptions to the fraud ring and has led to one arrest.

The San Diego Regional Pharmaceutical Narcotic Enforcement Team (RxNET) is conducting the investigation. RxNET is a cooperative effort of the California Department of Justice, Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement, Department of Health Care Services, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement. RxNET also works in conjunction with other state, federal and local law enforcement agencies.

Prescription-drug abuse is a growing problem. Brown’s office has investigated and filed charges in more than 200 cases—both against physicians who have abused their trust and against patients who go from doctor to doctor in search of drugs.

In addition to costing the state millions of dollars each year, prescription-drug abuse can have serious public safety consequences: many of the top abusers hold down regular jobs including driving trucks, operating transit vehicles and working in medical facilities.

California is at the forefront of technology that makes it more difficult for criminals to operate prescription-drug rings. Brown’s office has introduced significant technology upgrades to the state’s prescription-monitoring program, known as CURES, by creating an accessible, online database. The database is a critical tool in assisting law enforcement investigations into these types of crimes.

For more information on the California Department of Justice, Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement and California’s prescription-drug monitoring system visit: http://ag.ca.gov/bne/cures.php.

BAKERSFIELD – Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. today announced that his office has secured back pay for more than 200 workers who were “routinely denied” fair wages and overtime pay by Charles Evleth Construction, Inc., a Bakersfield-based drywall company.

“To boost its profits and underbid competitors, Charles Evleth Construction routinely denied its hardworking employees a fair wage and overtime pay,” Brown said. “Today’s judgment secures back pay for more than 200 employees and prohibits this company from violating workers’ rights.”

In addition to providing back wages for more than 200 construction workers, today’s settlement prohibits Charles Evleth Construction from:

• Denying fair wages and overtime pay for workers;
• Paying employees in cash to avoid state and federal taxes; and
• Permitting supervisors to take kickbacks from their employees’ paychecks.

Today’s settlement follows a January 2009 suit Brown filed in Kern County Superior Court against Charles Evleth Construction to recover unpaid wages for workers who were denied full paychecks and overtime pay.

Brown’s office initiated its investigation in late 2008 and found nearly 1,200 violations of California law. In addition to wage violations, the investigation found that the company had failed to pay unemployment insurance, make state disability fund payments and pay state and federal taxes.

These practices allowed the company to gain an unfair advantage over its competitors and underbid them for construction jobs.

In the complaint filed in January 2009, Evleth was sued for violations of:

• California Labor Code section 510 for denying overtime pay;
• California Labor Code section 226 for failing to provide itemized statements detailing rate of pay, hours worked, deductions and pay period;
• California Labor Code section 1197 for failing to pay minimum wage;
• California Industrial Welfare Commission Wage Order 16 (8)(b)) for requiring workers to bring their own tools without paying at least twice the minimum wage;
• California Labor Code section 221 and 223 for allowing supervisors to take kickbacks in exchange for being allowed to work; and,
• California Labor Code section 221 and 223 for allowing employees to split paychecks in cash.

Worker’s Story

Juan Manuel Avalos of Bakersfield worked for Charles Evleth Construction for five months in 2005. Avalos was hired with a verbal agreement to work five days a week for $750 per week in pay. However, when Avalos started, he was required to work six days a week and often worked 12-hour shifts without overtime pay. Avalos was paid in cash every week, but discovered two months into the job that a site supervisor had been cashing his paychecks and taking up to $500 every week from his pay, leaving Avalos what remained in cash.

Last month, Brown filed two other lawsuits against companies that failed to pay workers and subjected employees to potentially dangerous workplace conditions, including:

• A lawsuit filed March 10 against Juan Munoz, a farm labor contractor in Southern California, for failing to provide rest breaks, potable drinking water or shade to field workers.
• A lawsuit filed March 3 against Livermore-based Country Builders after the company falsified payroll records to hide underpayments, deliberately misclassified workers to reduce the company’s workers’ compensation premiums and violated state prevailing wage laws.

A copy of the settlement, filed in Kern County Superior Court, is attached.

SAN DIEGO – California Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. today released a report, including newly obtained videotapes, that shows some members of the community organizing group ACORN engaged in “highly inappropriate behavior,” but committed no violation of criminal laws.

Brown’s report also uncovered “likely violations” of state law, including dumping 500 pages of confidential records into a dumpster, failure to file a 2007 tax return, and four instances of possible voter registration fraud by ACORN in San Diego in connection with the 2008 election, as well as other irregularities in the group’s California operations. These irregularities have been referred to the appropriate authorities.

“A few ACORN members exhibited terrible judgment and highly inappropriate behavior in videotapes obtained in the investigation,” Brown said. “But they didn’t commit prosecutable crimes in California.”

Last September, Gov. Schwarzenegger asked Brown to investigate the activities of ACORN in California. His request was triggered by tapes made by undercover videographer James O’Keefe III that purported to show ACORN employees providing advice on how to conduct a prostitution ring and commit other serious crimes.

But new, unedited videotapes discovered through Brown’s investigation, as well as other evidence, shed clearer light on interactions between O’Keefe and the now-defunct ACORN.

Videotapes secretly recorded last summer and severely edited by O’Keefe seemed to show ACORN employees encouraging a “pimp” (O’Keefe) and his “prostitute,” actually a Florida college student named Hannah Giles, in conversations involving prostitution by underage girls, human trafficking and cheating on taxes. Those videos created a media sensation.

Evidence obtained by Brown tells a somewhat different story, however, as reflected in three videotapes made at ACORN locations in California. One ACORN worker in San Diego called the cops. Another ACORN worker in San Bernardino caught on to the scheme and played along with it, claiming among other things that she had murdered her abusive husband. Her two former husbands are alive and well, the Attorney General’s report noted. At the beginning and end of the Internet videos, O’Keefe was dressed as a 1970s Superfly pimp, but in his actual taped sessions with ACORN workers, he was dressed in a shirt and tie, presented himself as a law student, and said he planned to use the prostitution proceeds to run for Congress. He never claimed he was a pimp.

“The evidence illustrates,” Brown said, “that things are not always as partisan zealots portray them through highly selective editing of reality. Sometimes a fuller truth is found on the cutting room floor.”

The original storm of publicity created by O’Keefe’s videotapes was instrumental in ACORN’s subsequent denunciation in Congress, a sudden tourniquet on its funding, and the organization’s eventual collapse.

In New Orleans, O’Keefe faces a maximum sentence of six months in prison and a fine of $5,000 on reduced federal charges related to misrepresentation in gaining access to the Louisiana office telephones of U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu.

Brown’s report found numerous faults with ACORN’s activities in California, including:

• Failure to “recruit, train and monitor its employees to ensure compliance” with state law.

• Likely violation of state civil laws designed to protect personal information when employees of the San Diego office disposed of 20,000 pages of records in a dumpster. These violations could result in private litigation if any of the victims were injured by disclosure.

• Four instances of “possible voter registration fraud in San Diego in connection with the 2008 election.”

• Failure to file a 2007 state tax return, an omission the Franchise Tax Board is pursuing.

• Sloppiness in its handling of charitable assets, although no misuse of those assets was found. The California Attorney General will monitor investigations into ACORN’s overall finances by the IRS and Louisiana Attorney General.

ACORN announced that it is closing its operations nationwide today. While a successor to ACORN in California called ACCE emphasizes that it is no longer part of ACORN, the Attorney General’s report notes that ACCE is “run by the same people, raising concerns about its ability to cure the defects in the organization.” The report notes that the Attorney General will closely scrutinize ACCE’s operations.

The full Attorney General’s report is attached. The unedited O’Keefe videotapes from California are available on the Attorney General’s website at http://ag.ca.gov/newsalerts/multimedia/index.php. Tapes from other states are available on request.