Not just drugs: West Virginia’s U.S. attorneys focus on guns, cyberattacks, health-care & COVID fraud, more (copy) | WV News

Northern District U.S. Legal professional William J. Ihlenfeld II and Southern West Virginia U.S. Legal professional William C. Thompson acknowledge gun prosecutions make up a big a part of their places of work’ work.

I’m a gun proprietor myself. We’re from a state that has lots of weapons,” Thompson mentioned. “Sadly, lots of these weapons are ending up within the unsuitable individuals’s palms. We’re seeing conditions the place a number of firearms are bought on a day, and it’s not for someone’s private safety or one thing of that nature.

“You’ll be stunned the place a number of the weapons which might be bought in West Virginia find yourself. … We’re going to have an enormous difficulty arising with that, however there’s a large drawback inside the state of our weapons ending up elsewhere concerned in dangerous crimes,” he mentioned.

Ihlenfeld mentioned drug prosecutions high the checklist of instances dealt with by his workplace. Gun prosecutions are second on the checklist, he mentioned.

Ihlenfeld has served on the Board of Administrators for the Appalachian Excessive Depth Drug Trafficking Space and lately was named chair of that panel. The group, generally known as the Appalachian HIDTA, has an intelligence heart that will get experiences from legislation enforcement throughout West Virginia. HIDTAs from different elements of the nation share data, as nicely.

“The developments that we’re seeing not solely in West Virginia however throughout the Appalachian area are that we’re seeing extra weapons seized in reference to drug trafficking offenses than we ever have,” Ihlenfeld mentioned. “So now when we’ve got a visitors cease the place medication are recovered or a search of a house the place medication are recovered, it’s uncommon once we don’t discover a firearm. And it didn’t was once that approach.

“That’s necessary for a lot of causes. One, it makes these kinds of investigations that rather more harmful for our process drive officers and our uniformed officers who’re concerned in these instances. It additionally exhibits that drug traffickers have change into, one, extra violent, two, extra, conscious of the worth of what they’re carrying and extra fascinated by defending the money and the medication that they’re carrying with them,” Ihlenfeld mentioned. “It is also one thing that comes into play once we prosecute these instances, as a result of if there’s a gun recovered from somebody who we will show is trafficking medication, that provides a further cost and a further enhancement that we will convey. That may be a very highly effective instrument that we’ve got is federal prosecutors.”

Thompson mentioned one lengthy drawback the state has confronted includes the intersection of weapons and medicines.

It may contain somebody from out of state coming to West Virginia, which is replete with firearms, and swapping medication to a state resident in return for weapons, he mentioned.

“Or, they’re shopping for weapons for another person in trade for some kind of drug … they’re going into the gun retailers and issues of that nature. Each family in West Virginia has a number of weapons in it, and there’s nothing unsuitable with that. However there’s a prevalence of firearms right here and lots of them find yourself within the unsuitable individuals’s palms. Weapons and medicines are what’s driving the state proper now,” Thompson mentioned.

Ihlenfeld mentioned weapons and medicines all the time have been related, “however we’re seeing far more of that now than we’ve got previously.”

“And also you’re going to see an enormous push for the [Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives], for all of our process forces to do much more with the weapons that we’ve recovered,” Ihlenfeld mentioned.

That can contain evaluation to hint them again to the unique supply. And within the occasion of a taking pictures, investigators will look to do extra with ballistic know-how to “do a fair higher job of fixing crimes,” Ihlenfeld mentioned.

Each U.S. attorneys talked about home terrorism as an necessary difficulty for his or her places of work.

“I’m seeing an uptick in home terrorism, home extremism. I believe everyone in our nation is realizing that,” Thompson mentioned. “We’ve been very, very lucky in West Virginia that we’ve not had very lots of any incidents of that, however we’re going to preserve a really shut eye on and monitor it. And hopefully we don’t have something to prosecute on that. However we’re watching and being very proactive on that.”

Ihlenfeld mentioned home terrorism has change into extra of a spotlight now than ever earlier than within the wake of the Jan. 6, 2021, rebellion on the U.S. Capitol.

“You might need seen [recently] the Nationwide Safety Division of the Division of Justice has created a Home Terrorism Unit. We have now prosecutors in every of our divisions who’re a part of our ATAC, or Anti-Terrorism Advisory Council,” Ihlenfeld mentioned.

“We have now an ATAC coordinator, and we’ve prosecuted some fairly substantial instances,” he added, pointing to the Timothy John Watson prosecution.

Watson, 31, of Ranson, received a 5-year jail time period in October for unlawfully possessing an unregistered firearm silencer in Jefferson County. Federal authorities had alleged he was offering machine gun conversion models to Boogaloo adherents.

“There are a variety of different instances which might be underneath investigation proper now that fall underneath that umbrella that the general public will ultimately study,” Ihlenfeld mentioned. “The FBI is fabulous in dealing with these issues. These instances aren’t solely essential to the protection of individuals in West Virginia but in addition to all Individuals. So we’ve received some actually necessary instances in that class that we’re engaged on now. That’s excessive on the checklist of priorities for me.”

Ihlenfeld additionally believes the specter of cyberattacks is larger than it ever has been.

“We’re working intently … to attempt to encourage the personal sector to achieve out to us sooner when a breach happens. I believe that some companies are reluctant to contact the FBI or the U.S. Legal professional’s Workplace for quite a lot of causes, they usually’re good causes,” Ihlenfeld mentioned. “However, we need to attempt to bridge that hole and get in on the entrance finish of a few of these instances and never on the again finish. And the FBI once more is lead on that. They actually know what they’re doing in relation to investigating these instances, however in addition they have lots of different tasks.

“One other factor we’re attempting to do is to assist our state and native brokers, deputy sheriffs, metropolis police, State Police troopers, to get the coaching they want to have the ability to help us within the cyber investigations,” Ihlenfeld mentioned. “We have already got some actually good native and state officers, however we want some extra as a result of these instances are going to proceed to come back and are available a lot larger quantity, and we want to have the ability to have these instances investigated. Particularly those which might be smaller however nonetheless necessary that the FBI may not have the capability to analyze.”

White collar prosecutions typically fall to federal investigators and prosecutors.

Ihlenfeld and Thompson mentioned they plan to proceed aggressively pursuing these instances.

“I do know from my time within the personal sector that there’s healthcare fraud that’s ongoing that’s both not being reported, or it’s not being uncovered. And so we might be extra proactive from a federal legislation enforcement standpoint in in search of health-care fraud,” Ihlenfeld mentioned. “We’ll even be working with our counterparts on the state degree with the Medicaid Fraud Management Unit by the West Virginia Legal professional Basic’s Workplace.

“You’ll additionally see an enormous push … what I’ll name a COVID fraud investigation inside the U.S. Legal professional’s Workplace. We’re working very intently with WorkForce West Virginia to analyze and prosecute what I consider might be a lot of people who had been concerned in fraud associated to the entire federal cash that was rolled out by the varied COVID aid packages from Congress,” Ihlenfeld mentioned.

“So that can embrace the Payroll Safety Program (PPP) loans. That can embrace the Supplemental Unemployment Insurance coverage cash that got here to West Virginia, that got here to all states, that was in lots of situations fraudulently obtained by individuals right here in West Virginia,” Ihlenfeld mentioned.

“That can embrace id theft that occurred the place we had people each inside West Virginia and out of doors of West Virginia who had been stealing the identities of others and making use of for unemployment insurance coverage advantages fraudulently,” Ihlenfeld mentioned. “So it is a main enterprise that’s going to take fairly a little bit of time. However, I’m pushing to have every part wrapped up on this calendar 12 months. That is thanks largely to the nice work of the individuals at WorkForce West Virginia.

“Loads of the work has been performed so far as the figuring out of people that have engaged in any such fraud. Now we simply have to attach the entire dots and decide how a lot fraud occurred,” Ihlenfeld mentioned. “We have to decide whose identities had been stolen. Who stole the identities, as a result of a number of the individuals had been fairly good at hiding themselves. We’re monitoring all that down.

“After which, after all, tax evasion, securities fraud, public corruption, all these match underneath that white collar umbrella. And that’s all the time been a ardour of mine, and can proceed to be, however I might say the 2 greatest issues can be healthcare fraud and COVID fraud,” Ihlenfeld mentioned.

Thompson mentioned in all probability his greatest shock since turning into U.S. lawyer was “simply the severity of the white collar crime, the financial institution fraud, stolen wire transfers, romance scams, it’s virtually overwhelming. It looks as if every single day I’m discovering out about one other one. We’re being very aggressive in prosecuting these. Now generally they’re arduous to prosecute as a result of the people who find themselves doing this are very brilliant and they won’t ever set foot in West Virginia and even in america. However we’re taking a really aggressive strategy to that.”

“That’s what I hope to depart one among my key marks in my administration is the truth that we’re dealing closely with the white collar crime and prosecuting it to the fullest extent,” Thompson mentioned. “However there’s lots of it, and I wasn’t conscious of it. And it’s an enormous drawback within the state that I’m doing my finest to attempt to work to handle. We’ve been capable of work with not solely our federal businesses, but in addition beginning to work with a few of our banks and different individuals as a method to deal with it.”

The U.S. attorneys are also pleased with the work of their civil divisions.

The civil divisions characterize the federal authorities — often known as “america” in courtroom lingo — in U.S. District Court docket litigation instances, whether or not that’s pursuing an motion or defending one.

“Our affirmative civil enforcement prosecutors are essential to recovering cash that belongs to the federal government. That may contain healthcare fraud. That may contain a pharmacy that has been reckless in its dishing out of prescription drugs,” Ihlenfeld mentioned.

“On the defensive aspect, we’ve got lots of litigation that comes out of our federal prisons at Hazelton and Gilmer and Morgantown. That actually retains us busy. After which one other factor associated to civil that’s necessary to me, all the time has been, and is necessary to the parents at predominant Justice, and that’s environmental justice. So anytime we see a violation of the Clear Water Act, or anytime there’s one thing that threatens that air high quality in West Virginia the place we’ve got a statute that enables us to pursue these instances, we’ll,” Ihlenfeld mentioned.

Ihlenfeld added that he has plans to designate a member of his workplace to dealt with each civil and prison environmental enforcement.

“Loads of instances it’s going to finish up on the civil aspect of the home, however generally it’s prison. We would like one individual be capable to deal with each, so I’m enthusiastic about that, and we’ve received some instances which might be coming by the workplace now that that individual might be dealing with,” Ihlenfeld mentioned. Thompson famous that many within the public aren’t even conscious {that a} U.S. lawyer’s workplace has a civil division.

However, “we even have a fairly productive civil aspect. … It’s reasonably vital. Any time somebody makes an accusation of medical malpractice at like a Veterans [Affairs] hospital or a federally funded clinic, we find yourself representing america’ curiosity in that,” Thompson mentioned.

“If there’s automotive wrecks and issues of that nature, we’ll characterize america on that. We even have a really lively [practice] the place persons are attempting to obtain their Social Safety Incapacity; we work with that to verify the right procedures are adopted,” Thompson mentioned.

“And we’re additionally considerably proactive as nicely. We will even take instances into courtroom resembling there’s a pharmacy overprescribing a sure kind of or over-billing a sure kind of remedy, or a health care provider doing the identical factor,” Thompson mentioned.