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How Common is Human Sex Trafficking in Oakland County Michigan?

Published on: February 11, 2021 | by Patrick Barone

While no statistics are readily available to answer this question, anecdotal evidence suggests that human trafficking is more common in Oakland County Michigan than most people realize or want to admit. This contention is informed by a recent press announcement by Oakland County Prosecuting Attorney Karen McDonald.

Ms. McDonald addressed the media when announcing a significant human trafficking bust in Madison Heights, a suburb of Detroit Michigan. During this press conference, Ms. McDonald indicated that her new administration had formed Oakland County’s first ever human trafficking unit. Furthermore, that under her administration, rather than assemble a special drug unit, her administration will focus on the identification, investigation, interdiction, and prosecution of those involved in human trafficking.

This public announcement comes days after Michigan’s Attorney General announced Michigan’s Human Trafficking Commission’s 2020 Annual Report. This 20-page report, available online, explains the framework under which Michigan’s Human Trafficking Commission operates, and a summary of the Commission’s work in 2020.

Michigan Prosecutor’s DUI Arrest Places Job at Risk

Published on: May 13, 2020 | by Michael Boyle

On May 11, 2020, a Southwest Michigan prosecutor arrested for DUI after crashing his car. He was later observed pouring liquid out of a container in an apparent attempt to conceal evidence. The container was later determined to have contained alcohol, and so the prosecutor was charged with open intoxicants as well as drunk driving.

If Convicted of DUI in Michigan He May End Up in Jail

The potential penalties for a first offense DUI, called OWI or Operating While Intoxicated in Michigan, include a maximum penalty of up to 93 days in jail. Additional sanctions include a fine of up to $500 fine, court costs and cost recovery, in addition to a crime victim rights fee and a judgement fee. On top of this, if convicted of DUI this prosecutor is likely to serve a term of probation, be ordered to complete up to 45 days of community service, be ordered to complete some form of counseling and could even lose his car through vehicle forfeiture.

Former RICO Prosecutor Offers Insider Tips for Avoiding Opioid and Prescription Fraud Investigations

Published on: March 15, 2019 | by Patrick Barone

The Barone Defense Firm is pleased to announce that Patrick Barone and Keith Corbett will be co-presenting to the Oakland County Bar Association’s Medical Legal Committee on April 4, 2019. Their presentation will offer attendees an insider view of the federal government’s tactics, objectives and methods of conducting an opioid fraud investigation. They will also offer tips for avoiding governmental scrutiny as well as what to do when contacted by the government.

Mr. Corbett will take the lead role in this presentation. He is an entertaining and informative speaker and will draw upon the wealth of knowledge and experience gained over the three decades he spent under the employ of the Department of Justice (DOJ), the institution charged with the investigating and prosecuting Medicare fraud. As Chief of the Organized Crime Strike Force for the United States Attorney’s Office, Mr. Corbett gained invaluable insight into what happens “behind the curtain” of the government’s opioid investigations. He will use this knowledge to provide seminar attendees with insider tips for avoiding the scrutiny of the Federal Government and offer advice for how to handle the threat of prosecution when such scrutiny becomes unavoidable.

This topic is currently of great concern to all health care professionals and the attorneys representing them due to the increasing federal pressure to investigate and hold responsible all health care professionals who engage in prescription fraud, with a special emphasis on cases involving opioids. For example, the Department of Health and Human Services announced late last year that they would spearhead a much more aggressive stance on prescription fraud, with a focus on stemming the opioid crisis in America. These increased efforts included the dispatch of 300 new prosecutors whose efforts will be supervised by an Opioid Coordinator in each Department office. The number of prosecutions and excluded providers is expected to increase in 2019.

When is a Doctor’s Referral Fee a Crime?

Published on: March 1, 2019 | by Barone Defense Firm

It is unlawful for a doctor to receive any kind of payment or thing of value when the underlying services are payable by a Federal Health Care Program, including Medicare and Medicaid. Services may include medical services, drugs or supplies. The thing of value can include money, restaurant meals, event tickets, hotel rooms etc. Less obvious might be additional and/or excessive compensation for a particular job, such as a consultancy. In legal terms such compensation is called a “remuneration.”

Based on the Anti-Kickback Statute, found at 42 U.S.C. § 1320a-7b(b) it is a crime to either pay or receive such remuneration. The law indicates as follows:

(b) Illegal remunerations

Michigan Court Finds Search Producing Marijuana is Unlawful

Published on: October 13, 2016 | by Patrick Barone

If you are charged in Michigan with possession of Marijuana and/or Possession of Marijuana with Intent to Deliver, and the search producing the drugs is unlawful, your case can be dismissed. That’s effectively what happened in the case of People v. Mahdi, where Mr. Mahdi was convicted of two counts of possession with intent to deliver less than 50 grams of a controlled substance, MCL 333.7401(2)(a)(iv), and one count of possession with intent to deliver less than 5 kilograms of marijuana, MCL 333.7401(2)(d)(iii).

In investigating this crime, the police found out where Mr. Mahdi lived, then tricked his mother into giving them consent to search her house where he lived. The police did this because consent is an exception to the Fourth Amendment search warrant requirement. In searching the home, they did not find any drugs but did find keys, a cell phone and a wallet. This led the police to the apartment where they did find the drugs that became the basis of the felony drug charges. Also, while in possession of the phone, the police were able to retrieve calls from individuals ostensibly attempting to purchase drugs.

The court held that Mr. Mahdi’s mother had the authority or ability to consent, but because the police said they were going to search for drugs, but found keys, wallet and phone, the search exceeded the consent given. Her consent was for the limited purpose of uncovering drugs. Thus, the wallet, keys and phone were not lawfully seized by the police.

Fraudulent Breath Tests Lead to As Many as 4000 Wrongful Drunk Driving Convictions

Published on: September 2, 2016 | by Patrick Barone

The lynchpin of Michigan drunk driving prosecution is a reliable breath testing program. Prosecutors have big problems when this reliability is legitimately called into question.

This is exactly what has happened recently in Texas where it is reported that between 1200 and 4000 breath tests were fraudulently verified.

According to the Houston Chronicle a Department of Public Safety contractor by the name of Deetrice Wallace fraudulently manipulated the state’s breath testing machines causing thousands of wrongful DUI convictions. Instead of changing the reference sample every month as required Wallace instead falsified the tests and pocketed $146,000 in profit.