A man who operated a number of tax preparation business in Broward was sentenced to nearly six years in prison for an identity theft fraud scam.

Julio Lugo, 38, had previously plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to defraud the government with respect to claims and one count of aggravated identity theft. In addition to his prison sentence, Lugo was given three years of probation and ordered to pay nearly $280,000 in restitution.

http://liarcatchers.com/identity_theft_investigation.html

Lugo operated various tax preparation businesses including #1 Tax Specialist, The Number One Tax Specialist, and Number Two Tax Specialist.

Lugo used an Electronic Filing Identification Number (EFIN) from another tax prep service, Light House Refund, to file 48 phony tax returns, using stolen identities, and received thousands in tax refunds.

Co-defendant Jamar James was sentenced to two years of probation. James previously pled guilty to one count of making a false statement to a federal agency.

Delaware prosecutors say a Milton woman, who worked as a biller for a licensed clinical social worker, has pleaded guilty to health care fraud and related charges after an investigation revealed she billed the state’s Medicaid program for fictitious office visits.

The state Department of Justice said Wednesday that 51-year-old Karen Fueyo pleaded guilty to one count of felony health care fraud, one count of felony theft and one count of felony second-degree conspiracy in Sussex County Superior Court. Judge E. Scott Bradley gave Fueyo a three year prison term suspended for probation. The judge also ordered Fueyo to pay full restitution to the Delaware Medicaid Program, in addition to fines and court costs, as well as the costs of investigation to the DOJ’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit.

http://liarcatchers.com/fraud_investigation.html

Prosecutors said Fueyo worked as a biller for Rosa Fernandez, a licensed clinical social worker in Milton, who was also arrested and indicted in this case. Following an audit, the Delaware Division of Medicaid and Medical Assistance referred the matter to the Department of Justice Medicaid Fraud Control Unit. Prosecutors said the DOJ investigation showed Fueyo billed the Delaware Medicaid program for numerous office visits that never occurred, including dates when clients were out of the country.

Fernandez, who was also indicted on multiple counts of felony health care fraud, theft, falsification of business records, and felony conspiracy, is facing trial later this year, prosecutors said.

A Jefferson County man and school crossing guard has been arrested on charges related to possession and distribution of child pornography, a Louisville station reports.

Christopher Miller was arrested as the result of an undercover Internet Crimes Against Children investigation which began in February. The KSP Electronic Crime Branch began the investigation after discovering the suspect showing images of child sexual exploitation online. The images included prepubescent children engaged in sexual acts.

http://liarcatchers.com/pedophile_tracking.html

Miller has worked as a crossing guard for LMPD since 2007, according to WHAS-11 in Louisville.

The investigation resulted in the execution of a search warrant at Miller’s residence on March 26, 2015. Equipment used to facilitate the crime was seized and taken to KSP’s forensic laboratory for examination. The investigation is ongoing.

Miller is currently charged with 20 counts of possession and two counts of distribution of matter portraying a sex performance by a minor. All charges are Class D Felonies, with each count punishable by one to five years in prison.

Miller was lodged in the Jefferson County Detention Center.

A Tyler man allegedly attempting to have sex with a child was arrested late Wednesday.

Police Chief Jay Sanders said Joshua Strickland, 30, was taken into custody on suspicion of solicitation of a child for sexual conduct and possession of a controlled substance.

Strickland is accused of planning the meet up via a Craigslist ad, but in reality, the suspect was talking to an internet crimes against children officer posing as a 15-year-old girl.

http://liarcatchers.com/pedophile_tracking.html

At around 11 p.m., Strickland arrived at a convenience store located near the intersection of League and Camp Streets, said Sanders. He was arrested at the scene and later booked into the Hopkins County Jail.

Police said Strickland had already rented a room at a local hotel. The possession charge stems from officers finding meth during the arrest.

During interviews, the suspect admitted to the crime, according to Sanders.

State police say a head-on crash in Bath County Thursday night left two people dead and another person hurt.

It happened around 7:30 p.m. on Highway 36 West, a few miles outside of Owingsville. Troopers say a car carrying two people crossed the center line and hit a Jeep head-on. Two people in the car died soon after, while the person in the Jeep was sent to the hospital. There’s no word yet on the extent of their injuries. The coroner has identified the deceased victims as Monica Wells and Christopher Meadows.

http://liarcatchers.com/accident_reconstruction.html

The road was closed for a couple hours, but reopened around 10 p.m. Investigators say they’re not sure why the car crossed into the Jeep’s path, and they have more work to do before they’ll know for sure. They tell us the crash happened on a hill in the rain, but that visibility was likely not an issue.

The Madison County Sheriff’s office is searching for a person they believe was caught on film breaking into a church and a vehicle in the church’s parking lot.

A white male was caught on film entering the Union City Christian Church through an unlocked door, before eventually leaving and breaking out the window of a vehicle parked at the church. He then allegedly stole a purse from inside the car.

http://liarcatchers.com/electronic_surveillance.html

The suspect could face felony charges. The suspect was seen leaving the scene in a silver van.

The Madison County Sheriff’s office is currently working this case. If anyone may know or have information about this person please contact the sheriff’s office at 859-623-1511.

A Phillips man was sentenced Thursday to five years in prison with all but 146 days suspended after a judge found him guilty of sexual contact with a child under age 15 from Dec. 1, 2013, to April 30, 2014.

William Sylvester, 40, pleaded no contest to a felony charge of unlawful sexual contact in Franklin County Superior Court.

Two counts of felony gross sexual assault were dismissed in a plea agreement.

http://liarcatchers.com/pedophile_tracking.html

A no contest plea means that a defendant doesn’t admit to a crime but will not contest it and is found guilty by a judge.

If the case went to trial, Assistant District Attorney Claire Andrews said the victim would have testified that Sylvester touched her and committed a sexual act.

A physician would testify that the child revealed the abuse to her. Another person would testify that Sylvester would play tickle games with the child and the child would cry after each incident. The person would also testify that it happened two or three times a week.

Defense attorney John O’Donnell said the state could use its evidence at a jury trial and Sylvester could be found guilty.

The victim’s statements included inconsistencies, but Sylvester decided it made more sense and was in the best interest of justice to do it this way, he said.

Judge Susan Oram said she understood the state was concerned about the strength of its case and about putting a young victim on the stand.

Franklin County Sheriff’s Department Lt. David St. Laurent began an investigation in May 2014 after receiving a referral from the Maine Department of Health and Human Services.

Sylvester turned himself in to the Sheriff’s Office on Oct. 30 and has been in custody since then. He has already served 146 days and was given credit for time served.

Once he is released from jail, he will be on probation for three years. He also is required to register as a sex offender with the state for 10 years, Oram said.

Among his conditions of release are to have no contact with the victim or children younger than 18.

A man who spent six years working in Zanesville as a child care worker faces a maximum of 559 years in prison if convicted on all charges accusing him of sexual misconduct with a 15-year-old.

Rodney A. Curtis, 34, pleaded not guilty to 74 charges Wednesday in Muskingum County Common Pleas Court.

On March 18, he was indicted on 63 counts of illegal use of a minor involved in nudity-related material, second-degree felonies, and 11 counts of sexual battery, third-degree felonies.

http://liarcatchers.com/pedophile_tracking.html

The first 63 charges refer to multiple incidents between last April 28 and Sept. 24, said Muskingum County Prosecutor Mike Haddox. The counts accuse Curtis of either photographing the minor or creating, directing, producing, or transferring the material.

The other 11 contained in Curtis’ 19-page indictment refer to sexual battery against a female who was 15 at the time between April 16 and July 18.

He was arrested on a warrant last Friday and has since been held at the Muskingum County Jail on a $1 million bond.

The victim was a resident at the Avondale Youth Center, where Curtis had been employed for six years as a child care worker, said David Boyer, executive director of Muskingum County Adult and Child Protective Services, the parent of Avondale.

Founded in 1911, the Youth Center on Roseville Road serves as a therapeutic intervention center for youths between ages 10 and 18 who have been abused or neglected. Children at the center have often been diagnosed with mental health disorders and emotional problems.

The agency took immediate action after a staff member received a personal disclosure about the alleged conduct between Curtis and the victim, Boyer said.

Boyer said Curtis passed a rigorous background check before he was hired. Boyer called the situation “tragic,” and said his agency plans to help investigators any way they can as the case develops.

“We must take this very seriously because we are mandated and charged with protecting children from harm,” Boyer said. “This is a dark day for our agency and Avondale, and we we are going to do everything it takes, everything possible, to make sure this does not happen again.”

“We’re confident the truth will be arrived at and justice served,” he said.

Curtis would next be given a trial date in common pleas court, Haddox said. Haddox noted children at this facility are already victims of these types of abuse.

“It’s pretty sad when you put them in a residential facility and they’re abused again, re-victimized,” he said. “There needs to be some changes made so these types of things don’t occur.”

Northern California investigators say they were suspicious when a man took hours to report that strangers broke into his home and abducted his girlfriend for an $8,500 ransom but had to take it seriously for the two days she was missing.

Denise Huskins, 29, reappeared 400 miles away in Southern California on the same day police revealed they had no proof of a kidnapping and believe it was a hoax. After the investigation turned to the couple, police said they weren’t able to contact either Huskins or her family members by Wednesday’s end and do not know where she is.

http://liarcatchers.com/missing_persons_investigations.html

Huskins had indicated she would talk to detectives, and the FBI had arranged to have her flown back to Northern California, police said. She hired an attorney, but the lawyer’s name was not released.

The day began with what seemed to be a happy ending: Huskins showed up unharmed outside her father’s apartment.

Mike Huskins said his daughter called him to say she had been dropped off at her mother’s Huntington Beach house. No one was there, so she said she walked the 12 blocks to his home, but he had traveled to Northern California to help with the search.

“She wasn’t crying at all. She just said, ‘Daddy, I’m OK,”’ an emotional Mike Huskins told The Associated Press. “I feel very relieved. Can you imagine? You can’t unless you’ve experienced it.”

Her boyfriend, 30-year-old Aaron Quinn, had told police Denise Huskins was taken forcefully from their Mare Island home in Vallejo early Monday. He called police around 2 p.m. to report she had been abducted.

Vallejo police Lt. Kenny Park said the delay is part of what aroused suspicions.

“It was such an incredible story, we initially had a hard time believing it,” Park said. “Upon further investigation, we couldn’t substantiate any of the things he was saying.”

It was not clear whether police have spoken with Quinn since they determined the case was a hoax. Park said he was “free on his own” for now and would not say whether the two may had any accomplices.

Police expressed disgust at the resources squandered — saying over 40 detectives had worked on the case — and the fear the couple instilled in the community with a report of random violence.

“Devoting all of our resources 24 hours a day in a wild goose chase, it’s a tremendous loss,” Park said. “It’s disappointing, it’s disheartening.”

In another bizarre twist in the case, the San Francisco Chronicle received an email Tuesday from an anonymous person claiming to be holding Denise Huskins. The person wrote that she would be returned safely Wednesday, the newspaper reported.

“We will send a link to her location after she has been dropped off. She will be in good health and safe while she waits,” the email read. “Any advance on us or our associates will create a dangerous situation for Denise. Wait until she is recovered and then proceed how you will. We will be ready.”

It included an audio file of a woman identifying herself as Denise Huskins, who mentioned Tuesday’s airliner crash in the French Alps to verify she was alive. Her father confirmed the voice in the file was his daughter’s, the Chronicle reported.

Police had asked the newspaper to wait to reveal the email until the voice was verified, Park said.

Huskins’ uncle described her as a person of sterling character, saying she is career-oriented, independent and strong. She works as a physical therapist at Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in Vallejo.

“She’s a good girl, not into any bad things,” uncle Jeff Kane said.