Washington, DC - The Department of Justice announced Thursday that the United States has filed a complaint alleging infringement by Gilead Sciences Inc. and Gilead Sciences Ireland UC (collectively, Gilead) of four U.S. patents awarded to and owned by the United States, Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).  These patents cover specific drug regimens used for pre-exposure prophylaxis (commonly referred to as PrEP) that prevents HIV transmission.  The complaint alleges infringement in connection with two of Gilead’s drugs, Truvada® and Descovy®, which Gilead markets for use to prevent HIV as part of the PrEP regimen. 

Baltimore, Maryland - A Navy employee, who resided in Silver Spring, Maryland, before moving to Japan, was sentenced Thursday to 40 years in prison for the production, transportation and possession of child pornography.

Washington, DC - The Department of Justice announced Thursday that Fagron Holding USA LLC (Fagron) has agreed to pay $22.05 million to resolve allegations concerning the establishment of false and inflated Average Wholesale Prices (AWPs) by its wholly owned subsidiary Freedom Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Freedom) for active pharmaceutical ingredients used in compound prescriptions.  Freedom’s pricing scheme caused pharmacies that purchased Freedom’s compound ingredients to submit false prescription claims to the Defense Health Agency, which administers the TRICARE Program for the Department of Defense and the Department of Labor’s Office of Workers Compensation Programs (federal healthcare programs).

San Antonio, Texas - A federal jury found three individuals associated with dozens of hospice and home health companies guilty Wednesday for their roles in a $154 million health care fraud scheme, one of which was a mayor in Texas at the time.

San Francisco, California - Ali Alzabarah, Ahmad Abouammo, and Ahmed Almutairi, aka Ahmed Aljbreen, were charged for their respective roles in accessing private information in the accounts of certain Twitter users and providing that information to officials of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.  Abouammo was arrested in Seattle, Washington, on November 5, 2019.  All three defendants are charged with acting as illegal agents of a foreign government; and Abouammo also is charged with destroying, altering, or falsifying records in a federal investigation.

Washington, DC - U.S. District Court Judge R. Bryan Harwell sentenced defendant Bobby Paul Edwards, 54, of Conway, South Carolina, to 10 years in prison and ordered him to pay $272,952.96 in restitution to the victim. The defendant pleaded guilty on June 4, 2018, to one count of forced labor for coercing an African-American man with an intellectual disability to work extensive hours at a restaurant for no pay.