Former VA Nurse Pleads Guilty to Stealing Controlled Drugs from VA Urgent Care Clinic

ALEXANDRIA, La. – United States Attorney David C. Joseph announced today that a registered nurse formerly employed with the VA Medical Center in Pineville, Louisiana, pleaded guilty before Senior U.S. District Judge Dee D. Drell to one count of fraudulently obtaining Hydromorphone. Hydromorphone, a Schedule II controlled substance, is a powerful opioid designed to relieve pain, but can also be abused and sold on the black market.

While working as a registered nurse at the VA Medical Center Urgent Care Clinic, Jolie King, 40, of Alexandria, used her position as a registered nurse to access the clinic’s narcotics supply cabinet and retrieve vials of controlled substance medications that were intended for the treatment of patients. As a part of the plea agreement reached today, King admitted that she used the drugs for her own personal use. King also admitted that she would log into the narcotics supply cabinet, randomly select a patient’s name, and then withdraw the drugs without a physician’s orders. In one instance, in an attempt to avoid detection, she refilled two vials with saline solution and placed them back in the supply cabinet. From September 2017 to October 2018, she fraudulently acquired approximately 31 vials of Hydromorphone and two vials of Morphine.

A sentencing date has not been set. King faces up to four years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Office of Inspector General, conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian C. Flanagan is prosecuting the case.

Army Sergeant Sentenced To Eight Months For Marriage Fraud Scheme

DENVER – United States Attorney Jason R. Dunn announced that Sergeant Galima Murry was sentenced today by Senior U.S. Circuit Judge David M. Ebel to serve 8 months in federal prison for conspiracy to commit marriage fraud and making false statements regarding that fraud to the government.  Murry was one of four defendants who were tried and convicted together in January 2020.  Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), and Army Criminal Investigations Division (Army CID), joined in the announcement. 

According to facts established at trial, the purpose of the conspiracy was to obtain immigration benefits for Rajesh Ramcharan, Diann Ramcharan, and one of their minor children.  The Ramcharans, a married couple, came to the United States from Trinidad & Tobago on visitor visas in 2007.  They overstayed their visitor visas and settled in Colorado.  They then devised a scheme to defeat United States immigration laws and stay in the country illegally.

The scheme had several steps.  First, in 2010, the couple was married by Pastor Ken Harvell, who signed a marriage certificate for the Ramcharans.  The couple then filed for a divorce.  Five days after that divorce was finalized, Pastor Harvell signed a new marriage certificate for Diann Ramcharan and Sergeant Galima Murry in 2011.  Sergeant Murry is a citizen of the United States and at the time was a soldier at Fort Carson.  Diann Ramcharan and Sergeant Murry entered into this marriage for the purpose of evading immigration laws and enabling Diann Ramcharan to stay in the United States. 

Sergeant Murry’s involvement in the conspiracy spanned over six years and included participation in the filing of numerous documents with immigration authorities submitted to prove the fraudulent marriage was real.  He received a vehicle as payment for his role in the scheme.  In addition, Sergeant Murry obtained military benefits from the Army based on his fraudulent marriage to Diann Ramcharan.  The military benefits included additional money in every pay check during the time that he fraudulently reported being married.  Specifically, he got a family separation hardship allowance when deployed and received a housing allowance based on his dependents when in the United States.  He also received reimbursements for moving expenses based on his fake wife and one of her children.  He also claimed one of the Ramcharan children on his tax return.

In 2015, Rajesh Ramcharan entered into a marriage with Angelica Guevara, who also is a citizen of the United States.  Pastor Harvell, whom the jury found knowingly and voluntarily participated in the conspiracy, also signed the marriage certificate between Guevara and Rajesh Ramcharan.  During the time of both the Ramcharans’ fraudulent marriages to Murry and Guevara, the Ramcharans lived with each other and held themselves out to the public as married.

“Prison is an appropriate consequence for this defendant,” said U.S. Attorney Jason Dunn.  “Mr. Murry not only committed immigration fraud, but stole from taxpayers and the military.  Hopefully this sentence will be a deterrent to like-minded criminals.”  

Each defendant was also convicted for their involvement in the submission of at least one false statement to U.S. immigration authorities as part of the Ramcharans’ attempts to gain lawful immigration status in the United States.  Guevara pleaded guilty to the conspiracy and testified at trial about the marriage fraud scheme.

The nine-day jury trial was held before the Honorable David M. Ebel.  The jury reached their guilty verdicts on January 16, 2020.  Murry was one of four defendants that were found guilty at trial.  The other defendants are pending sentencing. 

The defendants were prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Daniel McIntyre and Emily Treaster.  This case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), and Army Criminal Investigations Division (CID), with assistance from the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office.

East Bay Resident Ordered To Pay Over $17,000 For Making False Statements To Gain Admittance For Military Service

Defendant also spent more than six months in jail at the time of his sentencing

SAN FRANCISCO – Ross Anthony Farca was ordered to pay $17,832 in restitution for making false statements to a government agency, announced United States Attorney David L. Anderson and Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent in Charge John F. Bennett. The sentence was handed down by the Honorable Jon S. Tigar, U.S. District Judge. 

Farca, 24, of Concord, pleaded guilty to the charge, without a plea agreement, on April 9, 2020.  As part of the proceedings for pleading guilty, Farca acknowledged he falsely certified on an electronic questionnaire that he had not consulted with a health care professional about an emotional or mental health condition when in fact he had. 

Additional facts about the case appear in other court filings, including a complaint filed November 19, 2019.  According to the complaint, on June 22, 2017, Farca traveled to a U.S. Army Recruitment Center in Mountain View, Calif., where he completed and submitted an online background check application in his bid to join the U.S. Army.  The background check application, also known as an SF-86, contains language specifically warning that falsifying or concealing a material fact on the application is a felony which may result in fines or imprisonment.  In this case, the criminal complaint alleges that Farca nevertheless knowingly made false statements about his mental health when completing the form.  Specifically, he affirmatively stated that he had not received mental health treatment when, in fact, Farca had been in regular contact with a psychiatrist since 2011.  In addition, the complaint alleges Farca had received prescriptions for various medications and had received treatments to manage his mental disorders. 

According to the complaint, Farca understood that because of his diagnosis, he needed a letter of clearance from a mental health professional before he would be qualified to enlist in the army.  The complaint alleges that Farca requested a letter of clearance from both his psychiatrist and a caseworker familiar with his condition; both mental health professionals, however, denied Farca’s request for a clearance letter.  The complaint further alleges that when Farca completed the SF-86, rather than admit he had been seeing a psychiatrist and that he was unable to obtain a letter clearing him for duty, Farca instead denied he had ever had counseling for his psychological or emotional health.  According to the complaint, Farca reported to basic training on August 28, 2017, and was discharged October 3, 2017.  The discharge paperwork cited "failed medical / physical / procurement standards" and noted, "erroneous enlistment; medical condition disqualifying for military service, with no medical waiver approved."

A federal grand jury indicted Farca on December 3, 2019, charging him with making a false statement, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1001(a).  Farca pleaded guilty to the count. 

In addition to the restitution order, Judge Tigar also sentenced the defendant to time served in jail—a period of more than six months as defendant has been in custody since his arrest on November 21, 2019—and a 3-year period of supervised release, to include special conditions restricting his computer usage. Defendant will be released from federal custody and transferred to the custody of Contra Costa County, to face additional pending charges. 

The Office of the U.S. Attorney’s Special Prosecutions Section is prosecuting the case.  The prosecution is the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Concord Police Department.