Flint, Michigan - A Palm Beach County, Florida, resident pleaded guilty Monday in Flint, Michigan, to conspiring to steal from an organization receiving federal funds, announced Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg of the Justice Department’s Tax Division. In May 2018, John Capella also pleaded guilty to conspiring to impede the lawful functions of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in connection with this scheme.

According to court documents, from August 2012 through May 2018, John Capella and his co-defendants, using the company Blue Horseshoe Consulting Inc. (Blue Horseshoe), obtained police reports, stolen from the Detroit Police Department, which contained automobile crash victim information.  Capella and his co-conspirators used the stolen information to solicit automobile accident victims for medical and chiropractic services. Capella and his co-conspirators also underreported to the IRS gross receipts they received from Blue Horseshoe operations and the total wages Blue Horseshoe paid to its employees.

United States District Court Judge Matthew F. Leitman scheduled sentencing for Capella for Jan. 15, 2020. Capella faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine for each of the two conspiracy counts.  Capella also faces a period of supervised release, restitution and monetary penalties.

Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Goldberg thanked special agents of IRS-Criminal Investigation and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, who conducted the investigation, and Tax Division Trial Attorneys Mark McDonald and William Guappone, who are prosecuting the case.