Tag: D. Michael Dunavant

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Interim U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee Named

Joseph “Joe” Murphy Jr.

First Assistant United States Attorney Joseph “Joe” Murphy Jr. succeeded former United States attorney D. Michael Dunavant this morning as the Acting U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee. Per precedent, Dunavant stepped down from the position following the change of federal administration.

The Memphis resident was able to naturally assume Dunavant’s former position due to a clause in the Vaccines Reform Act, which allows the First Assistant to the office to become the office’s acting officer. Murphy is a graduate of Lambuth College and the University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law. Murphy has served as an assistant U.S. attorney in the U.S. Attorney’s Memphis office since 1989.

Prior to being named first assistant, Murphy served as the office’s criminal chief and as chief of the Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force. During his career, Murphy has tried approximately 125 felony cases to verdict in U.S. District courts. He has also represented the government in over 200 cases litigated before the United States Court of Appeals.

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Operation LeGend Hopes to Curb Violent Crime in Memphis

Thursday Afternoon United States Attorney D. Michael Dunavant announced Operation LeGend will be expanding into the City of Memphis.

Operation LeGend is a sustained, systematic, and coordinated law enforcement initiative in which federal law enforcement agencies work in conjunction with state and local law enforcement officials to fight violent crime.

U.S. Attorney D. Michael Dunavant

“The most basic responsibility of government is to protect the safety of our citizens,” said Attorney General William P. Barr. “Today, we have extended Operation Legend to Memphis and St. Louis, two cities experiencing increases in violent crime that no resident of those cities should have to accept as part of everyday life.”

The move will lead to 40 federal investigators from the FBI, DEA, ATF, and Homeland Security Investigations Unit being deployed in the city, 26 of which will remain in Memphis for the foreseeable future.

The federal investigators will be working with ongoing investigations through the Multi-Agency Gang Unit, the goal of which is to combat violent gangs, gun crime, and drug trafficking organizations.

The Bureau of Justice Assistance has also pledged $200,000 to support Operation LeGend’s violent crime reduction efforts in the city of Memphis, in addition to a prior grant award of $1.4 million to Shelby County to help bolster their law enforcement infrastructure.

Memphis has experienced a significant increase in violent crimes over the year with homicides in the city up 49 percent since 2019. The Shelby County District Attorney General stated that Memphis has a “public health crisis” as well as a “public safety crisis.”

“In the midst of a public health crisis, we are dealing with a public safety crisis. This help from our federal partners will mean justice for more families devastated by all of this violence. For that I am grateful. But for lasting change, we need the community to do more. We need a coordinated community reaction to the disturbing number of murders —- to the number of children we have buried. We need everyone to do their part to combat the growing number among us who embrace violent behavior.”

Operation LeGend began following the murder of 4-year-old LeGend Taliferro early on June 29th. Operation LeGend was first launched in Kansas City on July 8th and has expanded to Chicago, Albuquerque, Cleveland, Detroit, St. Louis, and Milwaukee.

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As Opioid Overdoses Spike, Officials Up Enforcement, Prevention Efforts

CREDIT: DEA

DEA

The head of the Shelby County Health Department (SCHD) said Monday that the opioid epidemic is continuing to plague the community in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, noting a recent spike in overdoses and deaths.

In the past 60 days, Dr. Alisa Haushalter, director of the SCHD, said there have been an “unprecedented” number of overdoses and deaths. Since March 15th, there have been 700 overdoses resulting in 102 deaths.

“This is significantly more deaths than have occurred with COVID-19 so we want to bring this particular issue back to the public’s attention,” Haushalter said at a Tuesday press conference.

“The deadly drugs are not taking a break during this unprecedented time in our country,” said Shelby County District Attorney Amy Weirich. “The drug dealers are clearly not taking a break. Law enforcement is not taking a break either.”

Weirich said law enforcement will do “everything they can in their power” to arrest and bring to justice individuals distributing drugs in the community.

“The reason it is important is not simply because it’s against the law,” Weirich said. “The reason it is important to us is because people are dying. Our sons, our daughters, our brothers, our sisters, our mothers, our fathers are dying every day because of these deadly drugs. The enforcement effort will not stop and it will only increase in the wake of this disturbing news.”

Weirich also warned the public of the dangers of fentanyl, a synthetic opioid that can be 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine.

“A dose of fentanyl the size of Abraham Lincoln’s nose on a penny is enough to kill you,” she said. “Think about that for just a moment. For anybody out there that is contemplating experimenting with these drugs, contemplating trying these drugs, know what you‘re dealing with and know the deadliness of these substances.”

D. Michael Dunavant, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee, said the opioid issue is a “pandemic within a pandemic” and it’s important to raise awareness about the opioid epidemic “that has not gone away, but in fact has dramatically increased during the time we’ve been dealing with the COVID pandemic.”

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“Drug dealers continue to deliver,” Dunavant said. “Drug dealers do not self-quarantine and criminals do not engage in social distancing. Unfortunately, through a number of factors in people’s lives here in Memphis and Shelby County the demand for these opioids has risen. Unfortunately, enterprising drug dealers and drug trafficking organizations have risen their supply to meet that demand.”

Dunavant said the unprecedented spike in overdoses calls for a multi-disciplinary, multi-agency response, which includes education and public awareness, prevention of new users, treatment and rehabilitation, and enforcement.

Law enforcement agents are “working tirelessly” to find, arrest, and prosecute drug distributors who are contributing to overdoses and deaths, he said. Dunavant iterates that distributing a narcotic that leads to someone’s death is a violation of both state and federal law, for which dealers face a minimum sentence of 20 years.

“We can and we will find you and hold you accountable if you are distributing poison into our communities,” Dunavant said.

For those using these drugs, Dunavant said there are treatment and recovery resources available to help.

One resource is the Tennessee REDLINE, a hotline people can call to access treatment. Reach the hotline at 1-800-889-9789.

Haushalter also said people can call the Memphis Area Prevention Coalition at 901-249-2828 for assistance in accessing services, including access to Narcan, which is used to help reverse opioid overdoses.

Finally, the county’s Street Team for Overdose Prevention (STOP) will be hosting events this week to distribute overdose prevention kits with Narcan as well as exchange needles.

The STOP events will be:

Tuesday (today) and Thursday, May 21st: 4-8 p.m, 3360 N. Watkins Street, 2760 S. Perkins Road, 3362 Third Street.

Wednesday, May 20th, and Friday, May 22nd: 4-8 p.m., Sycamore View Road; 1-3 p.m. 28 N. Claybrook Street; 6:30-8:30 p.m., 3628 Summer Avenue

Saturday, May 23rd: 1-6 p.m., all sites

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U.S. Attorney’s Office Urges Public to Report COVID-19 Fraud

U.S. Attorney D. Michael Dunavant

The U.S. Attorney’s office for the Western District of Tennessee is urging the public to report fraud schemes related to the coronavirus.

Examples of these schemes include:

• Individuals and businesses selling fake cures for COVID-19 online and engaging in other forms of fraud

• Phishing emails from entities posing as the World Health Organization or the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

• Malicious websites and apps that appear to share coronavirus-related information to gain and lock access to your devices until payment is received

• Seeking donations fraudulently for illegitimate or non-existing charitable organizations

• Medical providers obtaining patient information for COVID-19 testing and then using that information to fraudulently bill for other tests and procedures

U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee D. Michael Dunavant has appointed Assistant U.S. Attorney Tony Arvin to serve as the district’s COVID-19 Coordinator. Arvin will be the district’s legal counsel in matters related to the coronavirus, prosecute cases related to the coronavirus, and conduct public outreach and awareness related to the virus.

“Our office is absolutely committed to bringing to justice those who would seek to take advantage of our friends, family, and neighbors during this challenging and uncertain time, but we need the public’s help,” Dunavant said. “If you see, hear it, or suspect it, report it. Like everything else we are doing as a nation right now, we can combat COVID-19 fraud, but we have to do it together. The message is clear: Good guys, we have your back and need your help. Bad guys, we are coming after you.”

As directed by the Department of Justice and Attorney General William Barr, U.S. Attorney offices around the country are actively remaining vigilant in directing, investigating, and prosecuting criminal activity associated with the coronavirus, prioritizing fraud scheme cases.

To report fraudulent activity, the public can call the National Center for Disaster Fraud hotline at 866-720-5721 or send an email to disaster@leo.gov.

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High-Ranking Gang Member Sentenced to 25 Years Imprisonment

A high-ranking West Tennessee member of a national street gang was sentenced to 25 years in federal prison Wednesday for conspiracy to participate in a racketeering enterprise.

Demarcus Crawford, 36, “chief enforcer” for the Gangster Disciples in Tennessee and responsible for all of the gang’s activities in the state, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge John Fowlkes Jr. in Memphis.

DeMarcus Crawford

The case is a part of a larger RICO conspiracy case called Operation .38 Special. The case dates back to 2016, when 16 members of the Gangster Disciples gang were charged with racketeering.

Gangster Disciples is a national gang operating in 35 states, according to court documents. The gang is known for threats, intimidation, obstruction of justice, and violence, including murder, attempted murder, and assault.

In Tennessee, the gang is organized into “sets,” based on region, which were all headed by Crawford. According to the indictment against Crawford, he was responsible for enforcing the gang’s rules and “the administration of punishment.” That included charging gang members with fines, beating them, or in some cases, murder.

In June, Crawford admitted to ordering the shooting of rival gang members for retaliation and in order to maintain his position in the Gangster Disciples. Crawford also admitted to being directly and indirectly involved with the gang’s other criminal activities, including attempted murder and narcotics trafficking.

U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee D. Michael Dunavant said the case demonstrates his department’s “ability and resolve to aggressively prosecute and hold accountable those who engage in organized criminal enterprises and hang conspiracies in furtherance of racketeering.”

“This office is proud to work with our federal, state, and local law enforcement partners to disrupt the Gangster Disciples gang and punish their leaders and members for the violence and lawlessness that they perpetrate across West Tennessee,” Dunavant continued. “Crawford is now taking a long trip to the federal penitentiary for his violent gang leadership and activity.”

The case was prosecuted as a part of the Justice Department’s Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force, which is responsible for conducting comprehensive, multilevel attacks on major drug trafficking and money laundering organizations, as well as diminishing violence and other criminal activity associated with the drug trade.


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Man Gets 10 Months for Peeing in Kellogg’s Cereal

CREDIT: YouTube

YouTube

The man who filmed himself peeing on the Kellogg’s production line in 2014 will get 10 months in prison and will pay $10,000 in restitution.

Gregory Stanton, 49, pleaded guilty to tampering with consumer products in December. At the time, he faced up to three years in prison and a fine of up too $250,000.

Stanton worked at Kellogg’s Memphis manufacturing facility in 2014. That year he filmed himself urinating on the proaction line and posted the video to YouTube.

In 2011, Stanton was indicted by a federal grand jury for tainting consumer products “with the intent to cause serious injury to the business of any person,” according to U.S. Attorney D. Michael Dunavant. He was sentenced Friday.

“American citizens and consumers rely upon food manufacturers engaged in interstate commerce to provide them with safe and consistent products,” Dunavant said. “Unfortunately, this defendant betrayed that trust by tampering with and tainting food products.”
[pullquote-1] Acting Special Agent in Charge H. Peter Kuehl of the U.S. Food & Drug Adminstration’s Office of Criminal Investigations, Miami Field Office, said his office is “fully committed” to prosecuting “criminals who tamper with or taint the U.S. food supply in any manner.”

“Americans expect and deserve the highest standards of food safety and wholesomeness, and the integrity of the U.S. food supply is too important to be thwarted by the illicit acts of any individual,” Kuehl said.

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Shelby County Fills Fewer Opioid Prescriptions, Sees More Overdose Deaths

CREDIT: DEA


DEA

The opioid fentanyl can be 100 times more potent than morphine.

Though the number of opioid prescriptions filled each year in Tennessee and Shelby County has been decreasing since 2013, the number of opioid overdose deaths have not. 

The latest available data from the Tennessee Department of Health (TDH) shows that of the 1,776 drug overdose deaths that occurred in the state in 2017, 1,268 of them were opioid related.

Nationwide, 30 Americans die every day from opioid overdose, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

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Opioids include prescription opioids such as hydrocodone, oxycodone, morphine, and fentanyl, which can be 100 times more potent than morphine, as well as heroin and opium.

Shelby County saw a total of 207 drug overdose deaths in 2017. Of those, 159 were caused by an opioid. Nine more opioid-related deaths occurred that year than in 2016 and 66 more than in 2013. 


Fentanyl, a synthetic opioid often mixed with other illegal drugs and sold on the street, was by far the deadliest opioid in Shelby County in 2017. It led to 106 overdose deaths, while heroin led to 59 and opioid pain relievers led to 52.

Tennessee Department of Health

Fatal overdose data for Shelby County

Shelby County had the state’s third-highest number of opioid overdose deaths in 2017 behind Knox County, which had 196, and Davidson County, which had 184.

The TDH report also shows that in 2017, 66 percent of Tennesseans who died from an opioid overdose, filled a prescription included in the Tennessee Controlled Substance Monitoring Database within a year of their death.

Thirty-seven percent of Tennessee residents who died from an overdose that year filled a prescription for an opioid within two months of their death. This is a 20 percent decrease from the number who did so in 2013.

Just under 6.9 million opioid prescriptions were filled across the state in 2017. That’s a little over a million less than were filled in 2013. 

In Shelby County, which has a population of about 939,000 people, 607,512 opioid prescriptions were filled for pain in 2017. This number has steadily declined from 2013 when 718,103 opioid prescriptions were filled.

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D. Michael Dunavant, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee, said last week that many times those who end up addicted to heroin start with a dependence to prescription painkillers.

“Opioid misuse and abuse is an insidious epidemic, created in large part by the over-prescribing of potent opioids nationwide, and unfortunately, Tennessee and West Tennessee is at the center of that epidemic,” Dunavant said at a press conference last week as he detailed the indictment of sixteen medical professionals from Tennessee, including five from Memphis who allegedly illegally distributed of opioid prescriptions.

The five Memphis medical professionals — three doctors and two nurses — who were indicted along with 11 others from Jackson, Tennessee, were arrested in a sweep last week coordinated by U.S. Attorneys and the Department of Justice’s Appalachian Regional Prescription Opioid Strike Force (ARPO).

Together the medical professionals allegedly distributed more than 350,000 prescriptions for controlled substances, equaling about 32 million pills.

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Memphis Doctors, Nurses Charged With Illegally Distributing Opioids

Five Memphis medical professionals were indicted Thursday for illegally distributing opioid prescriptions to patients — in one case in return for sexual favors.

The five Memphis professionals were indicted along with 11 others from Jackson, Tennessee, who were arrested in a Wednesday sweep coordinated by U.S. Attorneys and the Department of Justice’s Appalachian Regional Prescription Opioid Strike Force (ARPO).

D. Michael Dunavant, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee, said the 16 defendants together allegedly distributed more than 350,000 prescriptions for controlled substances, equalling about 32 million pills.

“Opioid misuse and abuse is an insidious epidemic, created in large part by the over-prescribing of potent opioids nationwide, and unfortunately, Tennessee is at the center,” Dunavant said. “ We will not stand by and allow the harmful and oftentimes deadly practice of over-prescribing highly addictive drugs to continue unchecked.

“Along with our partners, the U.S. Attorney’s Office will pursue medical personnel who misuse their positions of trust to blatantly disregard and endanger others’ very lives for their own financial gain.”

Through “good old-fashioned police work,” undercover efforts, and data analytics, Dunavant said the ARPO Strike Force was able to identify medical professionals in West Tennessee prescribing excessive amounts of narcotics.

Defendant Richard Farmer, a Memphis psychiatrist, allegedly issued controlled substances at his clinic here without a medical diagnosis and sometimes in return for sexual favors. Farmer is also accused of providing these substances to pregnant women.

Two more local doctors, Michael Hellman and Thomas Hughes, were also taken into custody and indicted Wednesday. Hellman is accused of prescribing large amounts of promethazine with codeine, a Schedule V controlled substance, without doing medical examinations.

Hellman gave these substances to confidential informants on multiple occasions, according to court documents.

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Hughes, an endocrinologist, is accused of fraudulently dispensing a Schedule III substance for testosterone to himself.

James Litton, a former nurse practitioner, is charged with conspiracy to distribute and dispense controlled substances, as well as healthcare fraud.

Finally, Kathryn Russell, a registered nurse here, allegedly prescribed opioids and other drug cocktails to drug-seekers with no legitimate medical purposes. Court documents also indicate that Russell might have been under the influence of drugs while working.

If found guilty, all of the defendants, with exclusion of Hughes, face up to 20 years imprisonment and a fine of up to $1 million. Hughes, faces up to four years of imprisonment and a fine of up to $250,000 for dispensing substances to himself. Law enforcement will look to link each of the 16 individuals to specific cases of opioid overdoses, Dunavant said.

“It is clear that these defendants charged in this ARPO Strike Force initiative has contributed to and caused much harm, addiction, pain, injury, and perhaps even death here in West Tennessee,” Dunavant said. “These physicians are nothing more than white-coated drug dealers with prescription pads. And if these licensed medical professionals are going to act like drug dealers, we’re going to treat them like drugs dealers.”

Dunavant added that he “had no problem signing the 16 indictments,” and that there “will be more to come.”

The ARPO Strike Force, formed in October, is a joint law-enforcement effort by the FBI, DEA, several U.S. Attorneys’ Offices, and others. The mission of the strike force is to identify and investigate health care fraud involving the illegal distribution of opioids

According to the Centers for Disease Control, 130 Americans die every day from opioid overdose.

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‘Duct Tape’ Stuck with 30 Years on Racketeering

Dunavant

Way to shoot your shot, D. Michael Dunavant, United States Attorney Western District of Tennessee.

Nobody turns down a pun this good.

Tommy Earl Champion Jr., aka “Duct Tape,” of Jackson, Tennessee, was sentenced Wednesday to 30 years in prison on racketeering charges and carrying a firearm during a crime.

Champion, 29, was a member of the Gangster Disciples and served on the gang’s “blackout squads” and “security teams,” according to a Wednesday statement. He was responsible for carrying out violent acts, including attempted murder, witness and victim intimidation, and assault, at the direction of senior Gangster Disciples leaders, according to law enforcement officials.

In a statement on the matter, Dunavant took his shot.
[pullquote-1] “Dismantlement of criminal gangs is a top priority of the Department of Justice, and this case represents the collaborative efforts of federal, state, and local law enforcement to target and remove a significant violent participant in the Gangster Disciples organization,” Dunavant said.

Here’s where Dunavant unveils a line that would make any Dad proud:

“‘Duct Tape’ is now stuck with a 30- year sentence for his violent crimes. We are taking the fight to the gangs in West Tennessee, and we are relentless in our resolve.”