Former NFL Player Sentenced to Prison for $197M Medicare Fraud

The Department of Justice announced that former NFL player Joel Rufus French, 47, was sentenced to 16+ years in prison and ordered to pay $110,753,619 in restitution after a years-long scheme to bilk Medicare and the Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Department of Veterans Affairs (CHAMPVA) out of nearly $200 million.

He also forfeited approximately $17 million that the government seized from bank accounts and other assets.

French was an All-American tight end at Ole Miss before briefly playing in the NFL for the Seattle Seahawks and the Green Bay Packers.

According to the DOJ, French, who owned a marketing company and was the beneficial owner of eight durable medical equipment (DME) companies, was selling patient information and sham doctors’ orders for orthotic braces that patients did not want or need.

Assistant Attorney General Colin M. McDonald of the Justice Department’s National Fraud Enforcement Division. shared, “Fueled by lies, bribes, and overseas telemarketers, this corrupt scheme preyed on senior citizens and disabled veterans to flood the country with unnecessary medical devices — and then billed the taxpayer for it.”

“Today’s sentence makes clear that if you target America’s elderly, sick, or vulnerable — and rob America’s purse doing so — you will be targeted and brought to justice.”

“The defendant orchestrated a brazen, yearslong scheme that preyed on elderly patients and the families of disabled and deceased veterans to steal millions from Medicare and CHAMPVA.”

Acting Deputy Inspector General for Investigations Scott J. Lampert of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS‑OIG) added, “By hiding behind overseas call centers, sham telemedicine companies, and straw‑owned DME suppliers, he exploited some of the most vulnerable people these programs were created to protect.”

“This lengthy sentence underscores the seriousness of his crimes and sends a clear message: HHS‑OIG and our law enforcement partners remain steadfast in safeguarding taxpayer‑funded programs and ensuring those who seek to defraud them will be found, stopped, and held accountable.”

Keep reading

FURIOUS Democrats in Tennessee Demand SECESSION of Memphis from the State in Epic MELTDOWN After Republicans Erase Last Race-Based Democrat Stronghold

After Tennessee Republicans rammed through a new congressional map that dismantles the state’s lone Democrat-held congressional district centered in Memphis, at least one furious Democrat is now openly floating the idea of Memphis seceding from the Volunteer State altogether.

Tennessee State Rep. Antonio Parkinson (D-Memphis), apparently unable to stomach the political reality of a deep-red Tennessee exercising its legislative authority, called for Memphis to separate from the state following the explosive redistricting battle.

As The Gateway Pundit reported just days ago, all hell broke loose in the Tennessee House when Republicans passed a new congressional map eliminating the state’s only majority-Black, Democrat-held district in Memphis.

The map, now signed into law by Gov. Bill Lee, cracks up Shelby County and spreads those heavily Democratic voters into three Republican-leaning districts stretching into rural and suburban areas.

A potential 9-0 Republican sweep in Tennessee’s congressional delegation, exactly what fair maps and the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent ruling against race-based mapmaking were designed to achieve.

The 9th District will now potentially see Rep. Steve Cohen, a white Democrat, likely replaced by Charlotte Bergmann, a black female Republican.

But the sore-loser Democrats can’t handle it. Instead of accepting the will of the people and the rule of law, they’re throwing the ultimate hissy fit: secession.

Keep reading

Astronauts Saw Strange Things in Space: UFO Files

The United States Defense/War Department published on Friday previously classified documents related to “aliens” and UFO/unidentified anomalous phenomena sightings. The drop includes transcripts of astronauts reporting strange lights and objects during space missions in the ’60s and ’70s.

Not the Whole Story

But, according to a member of Congress who has been very invested in this issue, the interesting stuff is yet to come. Around the same time, he also said the public will never be told everything. “The 1st drop will be big but in comparison to what is coming they will be a drop in the bucket,” Tennessee’s Republican Rep. Tim Burchett said on X Friday morning. “I would say ‘Holy Crap’ is coming.”

Burchett has made many comments over the last few months suggesting the government is concealing bombshell information about non-human intelligent beings on this planet. As a member of Congress, he has received briefings that include information not available to the public. The big questions are: How much of the information that he and other members of Congress have received is legitimate, and how much of it is mis- or disinformation?

In a recent interview with podcaster Joe Rogan, Burchett likened UFO-alien disclosure to MKUltra, the illegal CIA mind-control and human-experimentation program. In 1973, CIA Director Richard Helms ordered most MKUltra files to be destroyed. The order was carried out by Sidney Gottlieb, the chemist who had been the longtime head of the program. Investigators on the Church Committee — the senate committee tasked in the mid-’70s with investigating questionable CIA activity — had to rely mostly on survivor testimony and the few remaining documents to get a glimpse into the program. To this day, it is generally agreed the public knows only a fraction of what the government did in it.

When it comes to “aliens” and UFOs, Burchett told Rogan, “It’s kinda like MK Ultra. …They’re not going to tell us everything. … I don’t think they’re going to give us half of what we should get.”

Keep reading

Town Council Fires Back After Small Town Mayor Fires Entire Police Force for Allegedly ‘Insulting’ His Wife

The small town of Cohutta, Georgia, is making big news after its Mayor, Ron Shinnick, fired its entire police force.

The town, with a population of around 1000 people, saw all ten of its police officers relieved of their duties after officers allegedly made “inappropriate comments” about his wife on Facebook.

When asked about the decision, Shinnick said, “They’ll get a paycheck. We’re not that way, and I appreciate their service, okay? It is time for a change.”

Per Fox News:

The dispute appears to stem from last month, when officers filed formal complaints against former town clerk Pat Shinnick, the mayor’s wife.

Pat Shinnick was fired from her position for allegedly creating a “hostile work environment.” According to the officers’ complaints, despite her firing, she was still working and continued to have access to personal information of the town’s 1,000 residents.

Following the complaints, Shinnick, Police Chief Greg Fowler and town attorney Brian Rayburn said during a press conference that the situation had been resolved using “open dialogue and good-faith mediation.”

The following week, the entire department was fired.

During a packed special meeting of the Cohutta Town Council on Friday, the council voted to reinstate all officers immediately and to provide back pay.

Additionally, the council passed a separate measure to prevent Shinnick from firing the officers for the next 30 days.

According to Channel 9 News, the councilmembers say they stepped in “after finding the town’s charter wasn’t followed when Mayor Shinnick dissolved the police department.”

The charter mandates that the Mayor alert the town council at least 30 days before an employee is let go.

Further, the charter requires the Mayor to provide a clear reason for a termination.

Keep reading

Time To End the Fed and Its Mismanagement of Our Economy

Every major economic downturn of the last 110 years bears the mark of the Federal Reserve. In fact, as long as the Fed has been around, it has swung the economy between inflation and recession. Yet Americans, surprisingly, have tolerated it.

But we shouldn’t expect that to go on forever. We had three central banks before the Fed and confined each to the ash heap of history. The problems inherent to central banking are cause to scrap the Fed as well.

Central banking dates to 1694, when the Bank of England was founded for the purpose of creating the hidden tax of inflation to provide cheap money to government—above all, for Britain’s many foreign wars. In exchange, the central bankers were paid well with interest.

Like any government-favored bank, the Bank of England lent money it didn’t have, lending far more than the silver in its vaults. The British government endorsed this fraud because the king and Parliament wanted the money. 

Keep reading

Human Remains Found Near Guthrie Home Create New Mystery, Fail to Solve Current One

A new find near the Arizona home of Nancy Guthrie did nothing to clarify the mystery of her disappearance, but instead added a new one.

Human remains were found about five miles from the Tucson home from which Guthrie disappeared on Feb. 1, according to the New York Post.

A bone was discovered by a livestreamer who was conducting a search of the area.

Tucson police acted quickly to tamp down any speculation the bone could belong to the 84-year-old mother of “Today” host Savannah Guthrie.

“This will be a prehistoric anthropological investigation,” Tucson Police Department said, according to KVOA-TV.

Police said the bone was at least 50 years old, and there is no criminal investigation forthcoming.

The University of Arizona’s Anthropology Department is assisting the Pima County Office of the Medical Examiner in ascertaining details about the bone.

The Post noted that Native American artifacts have been found in the area where the bone was found.

This week, FBI Director Kash Patel criticized the way the Pima County Sheriff’s Office conducted the early stages of the investigation into Guthrie’s disappearance

“For four days we were kept out of the investigation,” Patel said on Sean Hannity’s podcast, according to ABC News.

“The first 48 hours of anyone’s disappearance are the most critical,” he said.

Patel criticized Pima County Chris Nanos for sending DNA samples to a private lab instead of the FBI lab in Quantico, Virginia.

“We have Quantico, best lab in the world,” Patel said.

The Pima County Sheriff’s Office pushed back on both criticisms.

“Sheriff Nanos responded to the scene the night of the incident, providing immediate local leadership and oversight. A member of the FBI Task Force was also notified and present at that scene working alongside our personnel. The FBI was promptly notified by both our department and the Guthrie family. While the FBI Director was not on scene, coordination with the Bureau began without delay,” it said in a statement.

Decisions about processing evidence “were made on scene based on operational needs,” the statement said.

“The laboratory utilized by the Pima County Sheriff’s Department and the FBI Laboratory in Quantico have worked in close partnership from the outset and continue to collaborate in the analysis of evidence,” the statement said.

“We remain committed to a thorough, coordinated, and fact-based investigation and will continue working closely with our federal partners as the process moves forward,” the statement said.

Keep reading

Ukraine has violated Victory Day ceasefire – Moscow

The Ukrainian military has violated the Victory Day ceasefire on 8,970 occasions since it took effect at midnight on Friday, including drone and artillery strikes, according to the Russian Defense Ministry.

Moscow said on Friday that it had ordered all of its troops along the Ukraine front line to halt combat operations and stay at their positions.

In a statement on Saturday, the Russian Defense Ministry stressed that its forces were continuing to abide by the ceasefire. By contrast, the Ukrainian military had conducted “strikes on our forces’ positions involving unmanned aerial vehicles and artillery,” military officials in Moscow reported. On top of that, a number of Russian regions, including Crimea, Bryansk Region, Belgorod Region, Kursk Region, and Moscow Region, have come under Ukrainian attacks.

According to the ministry, of the 8,970 ceasefire violations on Kiev’s part, 1,173 attacks were conducted by Ukrainian artillery, multiple launch rocket systems, mortars and tanks. The Russian military has additionally recorded a total of 7,151 enemy drone strikes.

Keep reading

What ‘Rights’ Do They Want That They Don’t Already Have?

As we all know, the political leaders of the Democrat Party have absolutely no conscience whatsoever. Most politicians, around the world and in America (on both sides of the aisle), fall into that category, but Democrats are especially guilty of it. They lie, they propagandize, they demagogue, they cheat, they steal, they do whatever they believe is necessary to obtain and hold the power they lust for. It doesn’t matter what they need to do, how immoral it is, how egregious it is, how harmful it is to fellow Americans—if it puts them in power, they’ll do it. No conscience whatsoever. And they’ll hope sufficient Americans are blind and naïve enough (I hate to use the word “stupid,” but that’s what it amounts to) to believe their propagandistic lies.

Claiming, or implying, that certain groups don’t have the same “rights” as other (mainly white male) Americans do, is one of their major ploys. The great Thomas Sowell once wrote, “If you believe in equal rights, then what do ‘women’s rights,’ ‘gay rights,’ etc., mean? Either they are redundant or they are violations of the principle of equal rights for all.” If homosexuals or woman or blacks must have their own special set of “rights,” then that means, as Sowell so correctly points out, that “equal rights” means nothing. “Equal rights for all, special privileges for none,” Thomas Jefferson said, but that isn’t what the Democratic Party believes.

Of course, the Democrats like to claim that “gays,” “blacks,” and “women” are denied “equal rights” that other Americans have. Well, even if they are (more on that in a moment), why not insist upon “equal rights” for everybody? That would include blacks, women, homosexuals, white males, etc. Why do they need to single out certain groups? Historical grievances and inequalities are invalid unless those historical inequalities can be proven to be happening now. And that can’t be done. What are they?

The Democrats shout “women’s rights,” “gay rights,” whatever special group of “rights” they can concoct for one purpose and one purpose only—to try to obtain votes. And they lie incessantly to accomplish it. Hence, no conscience, only lust for power.

Keep reading

Trump Considering Moving the Troops Withdrawn From Germany to Poland

Goodbye Germany, hello Poland?

We have been reporting here on TGP about the repercussions of German Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s offensive comment about the US operations in the Middle East, and the fierce response by Donald J. Trump, as you can read in Trump Hits Back at Germany’s Merz for Suggesting that Iran ‘Is Humiliating the US’, as Foreign Minister Wadephul Tries To Walk Back the Absurd Comments by failing Chancellor.

This is an unforced error by Merz that showed his true colors and his lack of appreciation for his US allies.

In fact, Merz is failing badly as head of government, as we reported in a post on Merz’s first year as Chancellor:

“Merz’s numbers are a record low: a mid-April poll shows only 18% of voters are satisfied with his work, while as much as 80% are dissatisfied. Even the majority of Merz voters are reportedly unhappy.”

Now that the withdrawal of US troops from Germany is considered a done deal, Trump is constantly asked whether the US troops withdrawn from Germany will be moved to Poland.

Now, Trump said that Warsaw favors the idea, and he considers it to be feasible.

Euronews reported:

“US President Donald Trump has admitted he is considering moving some of the American troops being withdrawn from Germany to Poland.”

Keep reading

DOJ Sues New Mexico and Albuquerque Over Laws Blocking Federal Immigration Enforcement

The United States has filed a complaint and motion for preliminary injunction against the State of New Mexico, New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham, New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torrez, the City of Albuquerque, and Albuquerque Mayor Timothy Keller, alleging that the implementation of House Bill 9 (HB9), entitled the “Immigrant Safety Act,” and Albuquerque City Ordinance O-26-15, entitled the “Safer Community Places Ordinance (SCPO),” infringes on federal immigration enforcement authority.

Through HB9, the State of New Mexico is trying to abolish decades of long-standing, voluntary partnerships between local governments and federal authorities that are essential for enforcing immigration laws and keeping the federal immigration system running as Congress intended.

“New Mexico is attempting to regulate immigration policy, something the federal government is clearly and uniquely empowered by the Constitution to do,” said Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “Our filings seek to halt the state’s unconstitutional actions by preserving cooperation between federal, state, and local law enforcement and allowing federal immigration officials to enforce the law.”

Both HB9 and the SCPO seek to block federal agents from using any local government property to carry out their work. Additionally, by unlawfully requiring private businesses to tip off illegal aliens about immigration enforcement activities, the SCPO attempts to harbor and shield illegal aliens from detection by federal immigration authorities and poses an obstacle to the enforcement of federal immigration law.

“The State of New Mexico and the City of Albuquerque seek to intentionally obstruct federal law enforcement by preventing cooperation between local governments and the federal government,” said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Ryan Ellison for the District of New Mexico. “HB9 and the SCPO unlawfully interfere with federal immigration enforcement, illegally discriminate against federal operations, and violate constitutional protections regarding contracts and federal supremacy. Additionally, by barring public entities from participating in federal immigration detention in New Mexico, HB9 jeopardizes nearly 300 jobs and the economy of Otero County. Our lawsuit asks the court to declare these laws invalid and issue an immediate injunction to stop them from being enforced.”

Keep reading