South Florida Criminal Attorneys Blog
Following up on an article posted here last September, the second of five defendants who was convicted of bribery charges that stemmed from a fraud that amounted to millions in duplicitous Medicaid and food stamps payments will be released from a Residential Reentry Management (RRM) field office, a halfway house operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons in Miami.
Alejandro Lomoso was the last to be sentenced earlier this year and was given the second lightest punishment of the five defendants involved in the fraud by a Federal Judge. He is scheduled to be released from the facility on Sept. 6. His release will be followed by six months of house arrest with electronic monitoring.
Lomoso a former Social Security Administration employee admitted at trial that he accepted roughly $10,000 in bribes from the masterminded of the racket; Irma Davidian.
Asking for leniency during sentencing proceedings Lomoso’s attorney told the Court that his client suffers from an array of serious medical conditions causing a susceptibility to blood clots, falling when balance fails him, extreme dizziness and even heart attacks; suggesting it was unfair to expect prison administrators to cope with his client’s multifaceted medical conditions and attempted to send a veiled message that the medical problems could become an expensive proposition for taxpayers and could possibly lead to a death sentence for Lomoso. Experts who testified acknowledged that Lomoso’s conditions were chronic and at least one of them had existed since his birth.
Countering the claims, the prosecutor said Lomoso’s crime was a “very serious offense” and it was essential to reprimand corrupt government employees leading them to understand that they won’t get away with a slap on the wrist if an act of abusing their positions of trust occur. He also detailed that Lomoso was earning over $60,000 per year and accepting the bribes “was purely a matter of greed by accepting another $10,000”, for the expedition and modification of favored applications.
Agreeing with the prosecution’s assessment and recommendations, the judge sentenced Lomoso to the six month penalty and continuation of house arrest upon his discharge from prison.
Maria Sanchez was the first to be released this past March after serving four months in prison which is now being followed by four months of house arrest after admitting that she received more than $13,000 in bribes in exchange for moving selected clients to the top of the benefits list.
Gladys Roman and George Lopez the two other minor defendants in the scheme of things did not fare as well; being sentenced to forty and fifty-four months respectively in federal prison as coconspirators in the case.
Irma Davidian a Boca Raton resident of Russian descent who was known as “the key player” of the fraud and bribery case has been sentenced by the same federal judge to ten years in federal prison.
Davidian’s conviction has completed the cycle of working both sides of the law.
In her “previous life” in the former Soviet Union, Davidian was a prosecutor in the Republic of Georgia who put criminals away. But since coming to South Florida she crossed the line to the darker side of the criminal justice system.
After admitting she bribed the four above listed federal and state employees for years it was revealed that with her help, clients she recruited using online publications benefitted by fraudulently claiming and receiving more than $5 million of Medicaid and food stamp payments in addition to more than $2.7 million from the government.
At her sentencing, in federal court in West Palm Beach she explained to the judge that “paying bribes to get results was an everyday thing when she grew up in the former USSR”. “We always do things like that back in Russia.” She concluded her odd plea for leniency by telling the judge “You have to give something to get something”.
Although she seemed to change course often from telling the judge she was sorry, ashamed and felt “very, very bad about” herself she complained that she was still struggling to completely understand that what she did was wrong, even though the FBI and federal prosecutors explained her illegal actions at extensive length.
To read the original story of her arrest that led up to this conviction click here.
To learn more about fraud charges in general follow this link to read about it in detail on my Website.
With two office locations in Fort Lauderdale and one in Palm Beach County my law offices can immediately assist you with all answers concerning questions for a strong criminal defense when fraud and/or bribery charges are filed.
If you or someone close to you is accused of any of these federal crimes in Florida, don’t delay. Call me at the earliest possible time. My law firm has the capabilities to meticulously defend multiple types of federal and state allegations.
Contact The Law Offices of Michael B. Cohen for a completely confidential and free consultation today.
Michael B. Cohen is a veteran Fort Lauderdale fraud and bribery attorney who was previously an Assistant United States Attorney as well as an Assistant State Attorney for Broward County, Florida, now practicing as a criminal defense attorney since the advent of the twenty-first century
To read an overview of his qualifications click here.