Week In Review – South Bend

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASECONTACT: Mary Hatton

www.usdoj.gov/usao/inn/ CELL: (219) 314-9993

mary.hatton@usdoj.gov

South Bend, Indiana —The United States Attorney’s Office announced the following activity in Federal Court:

PLEA:

Frank Piatek, 72, of Elkhart, Indiana pled guilty before District Judge Robert L. Miller Jr. to the felony offense of failure to register as a sex offender.Sentencing has been set for 12/4/2013.This case resulted from an investigation by the US Marshals Service .This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney John Maciejczyk.

If convicted in court, any specific sentence to be imposed will be determined by the judge after a consideration of federal sentencing statutes and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines.

DISPOSITIONS:

Kelly Ann Norris, 49, of LaPorte, Indiana was sentenced by District Judge Jon E. DeGuilio to 6 months imprisonment, 6 months location monitoring on home detention, 2 years supervised release and $697,000 in restitution after pleading guilty to the felony offense of health care billing fraud.According to documents filed in this case, from 2009 through early 2013, Norris defrauded Indiana Medicaid through fraudulent billing claims.Norris was the owner of Norris Medical Transportation and made claims for reimbursement for transportation services that were never provided.This case was the result of an investigation by the Indiana Attorney General’s Office and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Donald Schmid.

Brian Edwards, 50, of Fort Wayne, Indiana was sentenced by District Judge Jon E. DeGuilio to 21 months imprisonment, 2 years supervised release and of $400,000 in restitution after pleading guilty to the felony offense of making false statement in connection with a mortgage loan and mortgage insurance.According to documents filed in this case, during 2008 through 2010, Edwards was a licensed loan originator in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Edwards and others involved would sell low-end houses to purchasers unable to qualify for mortgage loans. Thru use of falsified gift letters, Edwards was able to falsely represent borrower assets to qualify individuals for mortgage loans they could not pay.Buyers soon after obtaining the homes could not maintain the locations and the homes went into foreclosure.Edwards knowingly submitted to lenders loan applications containing false representation of borrower assets and phony bank account documentation. The defendant received thousands of dollars from his part of the fraudulent business.This case was the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Donald Schmid.