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TexasTowelie's Journal13 convicted in $189 million Medicare kickback scheme
HOUSTON – With the plea of a 46-year-old Houston man, 13 people now stand convicted in the healthcare scam involving Continuum Healthcare and its various health centers in the Houston area, announced U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Patrick.
Steven Houseworth admitted to conspiring to pay and receive kickbacks relating to the Medicare program today.
A total of 12 others have been convicted in relation to the scheme. A federal jury convicted Cheryl Waller, 73, of Houston, March 2, 2017, after a three-day trial on one count of conspiracy to pay and receive kickbacks and one count of receiving kickbacks. Those all convicted on the conspiracy count include James Bobino, 50, Ernestine Johnson, 60, Jackie Harris, 56, and Vermon Lacy III, 35, all of Houston; David Edson, 71, Palm Harbor, Florida; Jeffery Parsons, 60, Crockett; Aretha Johnson, 67, Wimberley; Inger Michelle Pace, 57, Missouri City; Ronald Turner, 59, Fresno; Deborah Davis, 56, Atlanta, Georgia; and Mary Browning, 71, Beasley. Edson and Parsons were also convicted of two counts of money laundering. Johnson also pleaded guilty to one count of money laundering, while Pace and Turner each further admitted to paying and receiving kickbacks.
Houseworth, Edson and Parsons were part of the executive team for Continuum Healthcare LLC, which owned Westbury Community Hospital in Houston as well as community mental health centers in the Houston area known by their locations as Hornwood, Baytown and Missouri City.
Read more: https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdtx/pr/13-convicted-189-million-medicare-kickback-scheme
Texas Manager Pleads Guilty to Pet Food Fraud, Company Pays $4.5 Million Restitution
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The manager of a Wilbur-Ellis Company processing facility in Texas pleaded guilty in federal court today to his role in a multi-million dollar conspiracy to sell adulterated ingredients to pet food manufacturers, for which the company has already paid more than $4.5 million in restitution.
William Douglas Haning, 48, pleaded guilty before U.S. Chief District Judge Rodney Sippel in the Eastern District of Missouri to one count of conspiracy to introduce adulterated and/or misbranded food into interstate commerce and one count of money laundering.
“For years, William Douglas Haning orchestrated a scheme similar to charging filet mignon prices for ground beef. He unjustly lined his own pockets at the expense of unsuspecting consumers,” said Acting Special Agent in Charge Alicia Corder of the FBI St. Louis Division. “Corporate fraud is one of the top white-collar crime priorities for the FBI.”
“U.S. consumers – and especially pet owners – look to the FDA to ensure that their pets’ food is not only safe and wholesome, but is also accurately labelled. When criminals introduce adulterated and falsely labelled pet food into the U.S. marketplace, they put the health of companion animals at risk,” said Special Agent in Charge Charles L. Grinstead, FDA Office of Criminal Investigations Kansas City Field Office. “We will continue to investigate and bring to justice food manufacturers who put profits ahead of the public health.”
Read more: https://www.justice.gov/usao-wdmo/pr/texas-manager-pleads-guilty-pet-food-fraud-company-pays-45-million-restitution
New Carlisle Man Convicted At Trial Sentenced To Prison And Ordered To Pay $2,271,720.05 In
New Carlisle Man Convicted At Trial Sentenced To Prison And Ordered To Pay $2,271,720.05 In RestitutionSOUTH BEND – Kevin Clinton, age 62, of New Carlisle, Indiana, was sentenced before U.S. District Court Judge Robert L. Miller, Jr, after being convicted on 4 counts of mail fraud during a 2-day trial in May 2019, announced U.S. Attorney Kirsch.
Clinton was sentenced to 71 months in prison and ordered to pay $2,271,720.05 in restitution.
According to evidence presented at trial, Clinton was employed as the Chief Information Officer at a business in South Bend. From about March 2012 through October 2017, he executed a scheme to defraud his employer. He incorporated a separate business called Innovation Services that supposedly provided information-technology services to his employer, and he used a virtual office to submit fraudulent billings to his employer totaling over $2.2 million. Clinton’s employer sent checks to the virtual office as payment for fake services claimed in the fraudulent billings. At the time, his employer did not know Clinton owned the sham business.
The case was investigated by the FBI. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Luke N. Reilander and Joel Gabrielse.
https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndin/pr/new-carlisle-man-convicted-trial-sentenced-prison-and-ordered-pay-227172005-restitution
The Purchase of the Texas GOP is Nearly Complete
Whether Dennis Bonnen fell into a trap or helped plan the conspiracy, his demise as Texas State House Speaker sends a clear message from Empower Texans’ mouthpiece Michael Quinn Sullivan and his billionaire benefactors to the entire Texas GOP: If you aren’t with us, we will take you out.
Deep-pocketed ideologues' investment in the Texas GOP is paying off
The big money behind the takeover of Texas Republicans belongs to fundamentalist oil baron Tim Dunn and a cadre of mega-wealthy extremists. Their return on investment is almost complete. For years, Dunn and the other deep-pocketed ideologues have spent millions of dollars through various dark money front groups – chiefly Empower Texans – to move Texas policy and politics so far to the right it would make Mussolini blush.
Dunn, Sullivan and the others have been on a mission to replace politicians they don’t like with ones who are willing to do their bidding. Their brand of elected official includes those who believe that “rape is non-existent in marriage,” and others who really seem to enjoy filing legislation that endangers women.
Dunn bankrolled the rise of the Texas Tea Party. He controls extremist Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick. He and his cabal of right-wing donors have also given hundreds of thousands to manipulate Greg Abbott’s agenda. The ridiculous “bathroom bill” that could have caused the state economic disaster? The draconian anti-choice measures designed to limit women’s access to health care? The idiotic removal of local control from cities and counties to manage their own communities? All occurred thanks to Empower Texans funded by Dunn and wealthy extremists.
Read more: https://lonestarproject.net/2019/10/23/the-purchase-of-the-texas-gop-is-nearly-complete/
Border wall construction advances in South Texas
(AP) — Work crews in South Texas are laying steel along the U.S.-Mexico border in preparation for the installation of new segments of border wall.
The U.S. Border Patrol said workers were installing steel rebar at a site south of Donna.
The rebar will reinforce concrete panels that will in turn be topped with 18-foot steel bollards. Crews will also clear vegetation 150 feet in front of the wall.
Environmental advocates and opponents of the wall have warned that construction will destroy critical habitat and require the seizure of land from potentially hundreds of people in South Texas.
Read more: https://www.brownsvilleherald.com/news/local/border-wall-construction-advances-in-south-texas/article_c6eb41c3-06b2-576c-92f8-2182b84deda5.html
New Hampshire Retirement System pulls $239M investment over crude remarks
CONCORD — The New Hampshire State Retirement System is ending its relationship with Fisher Investments, and investing the $239 million that Fisher had managed with other firms.
The retirement system joins a growing group of institutions terminating their relationships with the fund after its founder made lewd remarks at a conference earlier this month.
The retirement system provides retirement, disability, and death benefits to thousands of state workers and local government employees, including teachers, police and firefighters.
On Oct. 8, Bloomberg reported Ken Fisher compared the process of gaining a client’s trust to “trying to get into a girl’s pants” and talked about genitalia at a financial services conference.
Read more: https://www.unionleader.com/news/business/nh-retirement-system-pulls-m-investment-over-crude-remarks/article_433da364-f550-5330-9bc7-a7eb284a30a9.html
Beto O'Rourke is advocating for the disabled community. That's partly because of his sister Erin.
CONNECTING THE POLICY TO THE PERSONAL: In between the campaign events, town halls, television hits, and flights across America aimed at winning the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, there’s one person that Beto O’Rourke always makes time to catch up with: his 39-year-old sister, Erin, who was born with intellectual disabilities.
The former Texas congressman, who once served as his younger sister’s legal guardian, hops on the phone with Erin at the end of many of her workdays at a residential facility for adults and children three hours from El Paso, N.M., where she lives and works. Erin watched the Democratic debate last Tuesday in which her big brother became the first 2020 contender to discuss people with disabilities on the big stage.
-snip-
The proposal: So when O’Rourke rolled out a portion of his disability proposal last week — a plan to expand health-care coverage of medical equipment, inspired after meeting a woman who has struggled to find a way to pay to fix her power wheelchair — it didn’t just grow out of the countless meetings he’s had with families, caretakers and individuals in the U.S. disability community. It was also because of Erin.
• The former Texas congressman's complete disability plan is expected to be rolled out by his campaign soon: It focuses on addressing what O’Rourke calls an “institutional bias that exists in federal funding and priorities right now” against those with disabilities.
• What it does: O’Rourke wants to ensure disabled individuals receive long-term home and community-based services and that the federal government provide states with additional funding for the disabled community.
• The proposal will also bolster existing protections designed to support the disabled — such as funding the federal enforcement of the Supreme Court’s Olmstead v. L.C. decision ruling that under the Americans With Disabilities Act, appropriate individuals with disabilities should be integrated into the community instead of being forced to live in nursing homes or institutions.
• O'Rourke's proposal aims to “strengthen enforcement of existing civil rights laws, including the Americans With Disabilities Act,” according to his campaign.
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/paloma/powerup/2019/10/23/powerup-beto-o-rourke-is-advocating-for-the-disabled-community-that-s-partly-because-of-his-sister-erin/5daf9d58602ff10cf14f96e2/
Beto leads the 2020 Democrats on increasing resources for the disabled. 
Beto O'Rourke is advocating for the disabled community. That's partly because of his sister Erin.
CONNECTING THE POLICY TO THE PERSONAL: In between the campaign events, town halls, television hits, and flights across America aimed at winning the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, there’s one person that Beto O’Rourke always makes time to catch up with: his 39-year-old sister, Erin, who was born with intellectual disabilities.
The former Texas congressman, who once served as his younger sister’s legal guardian, hops on the phone with Erin at the end of many of her workdays at a residential facility for adults and children three hours from El Paso, N.M., where she lives and works. Erin watched the Democratic debate last Tuesday in which her big brother became the first 2020 contender to discuss people with disabilities on the big stage.
-snip-
The proposal: So when O’Rourke rolled out a portion of his disability proposal last week — a plan to expand health-care coverage of medical equipment, inspired after meeting a woman who has struggled to find a way to pay to fix her power wheelchair — it didn’t just grow out of the countless meetings he’s had with families, caretakers and individuals in the U.S. disability community. It was also because of Erin.
• The former Texas congressman's complete disability plan is expected to be rolled out by his campaign soon: It focuses on addressing what O’Rourke calls an “institutional bias that exists in federal funding and priorities right now” against those with disabilities.
• What it does: O’Rourke wants to ensure disabled individuals receive long-term home and community-based services and that the federal government provide states with additional funding for the disabled community.
• The proposal will also bolster existing protections designed to support the disabled — such as funding the federal enforcement of the Supreme Court’s Olmstead v. L.C. decision ruling that under the Americans With Disabilities Act, appropriate individuals with disabilities should be integrated into the community instead of being forced to live in nursing homes or institutions.
• O'Rourke's proposal aims to “strengthen enforcement of existing civil rights laws, including the Americans With Disabilities Act,” according to his campaign.
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/paloma/powerup/2019/10/23/powerup-beto-o-rourke-is-advocating-for-the-disabled-community-that-s-partly-because-of-his-sister-erin/5daf9d58602ff10cf14f96e2/
Beto leads the 2020 Democrats on increasing resources for the disabled.
Beto Greets Cornell College Town Hall Attendees in Mount Vernon, Iowa
https://twitter.com/BetoORourke/status/1187144486247374848Coverage at the link in the tweet.
Beto Greets Cornell College Town Hall Attendees in Mount Vernon, Iowa
https://twitter.com/BetoORourke/status/1187144486247374848Coverage at the link in the tweet.
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Gender: MaleHometown: South Texas. most of my life I lived in Austin and Dallas
Home country: United States
Current location: Bryan, Texas
Member since: Sun Aug 14, 2011, 03:57 AM
Number of posts: 112,773
