Attorney General Pam Bondi’s Office of Statewide Prosecution today announced the arrest of a man wanted in connection to drug diversion schemes after five years on the run. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement arrested Gil Hevia, 47, this week in Orlando.
Hevia is involved in a drug diversion enterprise operating in Florida, Puerto Rico and Texas, involving the buying and selling of more than $40 million in black market pharmaceuticals. These drugs included anti-depressants, anti-psychotics and HIV medications.
Additionally, Hevia is involved in a separate but similar multistate drug diversion ring that orchestrated the purchase of millions of dollars of medications on the black market. This criminal enterprise operated from Florida to Tennessee, Michigan, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York and New Jersey. The defendant purchased the black market drugs primarily from Medicaid recipients in Florida and New Jersey, and then resold the drugs to pharmacies in the Northeastern United States.
Attorney General Bondi’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, with the assistance of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, investigated both cases. For more information about these cases, click here and here.
Between the two cases, Hevia faces several felony charges related to trafficking in contraband prescription drugs, Medicaid fraud, money laundering and organized scheme to defraud. If convicted of all charges, Hevia faces up to 375 years in prison. Attorney General Bondi’s Office of Statewide Prosecution will prosecute these cases.
Office of Statewide Prosecution
KKK Members Convicted in Plot to Murder Former Inmate
Attorney General Pam Bondi’s Office of Statewide Prosecution has secured the conviction of two members of the Traditionalist American Knights of the Ku Klux Klan for conspiracy to commit first degree murder. A Columbia County jury found David Elliot Moran, 49, and Charles Thomas Newcomb, 45, guilty of one count each for plotting to kill a former inmate.
The convicted were arrested in 2015 along with defendant Thomas Jordan Driver, 27, following an investigation by members of the North Florida Joint Terrorism Task Force, led by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Homeland Security Investigation, with assistance from additional federal, state and local law enforcement agencies. The joint investigation revealed that Newcomb, Moran and Driver enlisted an FBI informant to kill a former inmate as retaliation for a fight between the former inmate and Driver. The murder plot was captured on recorded conversations between the three subjects and the FBI informant.
At the time of the murder conspiracy, Driver and Moran were correctional officers for the Florida Department of Corrections, and Newcomb was a former correctional officer. In March 2017, Driver pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit murder and was sentenced to four years in prison.
“These Klansmen plotted to murder a black inmate after he was released from prison, but swift action and clever investigative tactics on behalf of investigators foiled their plot and may have saved a life,” said Attorney General Bondi. “We will continue to work daily to ensure the KKK or any other hate-filled organization is unable to inflict violence on the citizens of our great state.”
“This case would not have been possible without the collaboration of our partnering law enforcement agencies,” said Charles P. Spencer, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Jacksonville Division. “We commend the members of the North Florida Joint Terrorism Task Force (NFJTTF) who combined their talents, skills, and knowledge to work as a cohesive team and successfully disrupt this conspiracy.”
“These men had positions of trust, which they violated when they conspired to kill a former inmate, and we worked closely with our law enforcement partners to ensure they are held accountable for their crimes,” said HSI Tampa Special Agent in Charge James C. Spero.
Attorney General Bondi’s Office of Statewide Prosecution prosecuted the case. Members of the Joint Terrorism Task Force that participated in the investigation include the Federal Bureau of Investigation Jacksonville Division, Homeland Security Investigations, Florida Department of Corrections Office of Inspector General, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Naval Criminal Investigative Service, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Florida Department of Law Enforcement, Florida Highway Patrol, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office and the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office.
Justice Comes Calling for Men Suspected of Stealing Cellphones
Attorney General Pam Bondi’s Office of Statewide Prosecution today announced three Broward County residents have been charged in connection to a string of retail thefts. The defendants allegedly stole smartphones and tablets from retail cellphone outlets in Broward, Miami-Dade, Palm Beach and St. Lucie Counties.
“Members of this organized retail theft ring targeted mobile phone stores in multiple Florida counties but thanks to our joint investigation, justice came calling—and now all three suspects have been arrested and charged in connection to this case,” said Attorney General Bondi.
According to a multiagency investigation, the defendants entered various retail cellphone stores open for business and stole smartphones and tablets by tearing demo items from display cords and running out of the stores. In many cases, one defendant would allegedly distract a store salesperson while the others stole electronics. The stores targeted include AT&T, T-Mobile and Sprint. The investigation uncovered more than 31 incidents involving the three defendants, totaling more than $70,000 in stolen merchandise.
The following defendants are facing charge in connection to this case:
· Christopher Jordan, 27;
· Prosper Vilsaint, 29; and
· Willie Walker, 29.
All three defendants face charges including racketeering, conspiracy to commit racketeering and numerous counts of grand theft. If convicted, each defendant could face more than 30 years in prison. Attorney General Bondi’s Office of Statewide Prosecution will prosecute the case.
Jordan and Walker are currently in law enforcement custody in Maryland facing charges not related to this case. Vilsaint is in the custody of the Broward Sheriff’s Office, also on unrelated charges.
The agencies that assisted in the investigation include the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the Boca Raton Police Department, the Coral Spring Police Department, the Broward Sheriff’s Office, the Davie Police Department, the Delray Beach Police Department, the Doral Police Department, the Fort Lauderdale Police Department, the Hialeah Police Department, the Hollywood Police Department, the Miami Police Department, the Miami-Dade Police Department, the Miami Gardens Police Department, the Miramar Police Department, the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office, the Pembroke Pines Police Department, the Plantation Police Department and the Port St Lucie Police Department.
If you have additional information about this case, please contact Dennis Roadruck at [email protected].
Woman Arrested for Travel Fraud Scheme
Attorney General Pam Bondi’s Office of Statewide Prosecution and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement today announced the arrest of Maria Constanza Shults in connection with an organized travel fraud scheme operating in north and central Florida. According to the FDLE investigation, Shults, 62, of Jacksonville, operated an organized scheme defrauding a total of 27 known victims of more than $100,000. Shults’ scheme targeted Catholic parishioners by offering trips to holy sites.
“Preying on people’s religious faith to defraud them will not be tolerated and my Office of Statewide Prosecution will aggressively prosecute this case,” said Attorney General Bondi. “Thanks to a great partnership with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, this travel fraud scheme has been shut down.”
“Fraud can take many forms and in this case, it preyed on the trust of unsuspecting Florida citizens. FDLE is committed to fighting this crime and I am grateful for the hard work of our agents and the diligence of the Office of the Attorney General,” said FDLE Commissioner Rick Swearingen.
From 2012 through 2015, Shults allegedly proposed trips to Catholic parishioners to holy sites in countries such as Israel, Italy and Portugal. After collecting payments ranging from $2,500 to $7,000 from the victims, Shults allegedly canceled the trips without refunding the victims’ money.
Shults faces one count of organized scheme to defraud in excess of $50,000. The Attorney General’s Office of Statewide Prosecution will prosecute the case. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement investigated the case.
