A federal jury in Los Angeles convicted a physician assistant late yesterday for his role in a $7.7 million Medicare fraud scheme.

Joseph McNealy, a former Jackson, Miss., computer systems administrator, was sentenced today to 70 months in prison for receiving and possessing images of child pornography.

Carl Courtright III, of Granite City, Ill., was sentenced today to life plus 10 years in prison for production of child pornography and other offenses.  A federal jury convicted Courtright of one count of production of child pornography, two counts of possession of child pornography, one count of receipt of child pornography and one count of bank fraud following a five-day trial in March 2009.

William Travis Brown, 39, of Sellersburg, Ind., was convicted today by a federal jury in Indianapolis of transporting and possessing child pornography. Brown was charged on July 8, 2009, in an amended indictment with one count of transportation and one count of possession of child pornography.

Mark Edwin Cairnes, 51, of Jonestown, Texas, has been charged with advertising, receiving and possessing child pornography. A grand jury in the Western District of Texas returned the indictment against Cairnes on July 21, 2009, which was unsealed today after his arrest yesterday in Jonestown.

Robert Restuch, 69, of Bullhead City, Ariz., pleaded guilty yesterday to one count of mailing child pornography. As part of his plea agreement, Restuch admitted that he entered a U.S. Post Office in Bullhead City and mailed a package that contained more than 600 images of child pornography, including images depicting children less than 12 years old.

Johnny Pires, 24, of Middleboro, Mass., was convicted today by a federal jury in Boston of attempting to receive child pornography and possessing child pornography.

Charles Brown, 54, of Mesa, Ariz., was sentenced today to five years in prison and lifetime supervised release following his prison term for receiving child pornography.

Michael D. Doyle, 41, of Woburn, Mass., was sentenced today to four years in prison for possessing images of child pornography. Doyle also was sentenced to nine years of supervised release following his term in prison by U.S. District Court Judge George A. O’Toole Jr. The court accepted Doyle’s guilty plea to a one-count information charging possession of child pornography, which was filed on April 22, 2009.

Detroit area physical therapist Jay Jha, 45, pleaded guilty today to participating in a conspiracy to defraud the Medicare program of approximately $18.3 million.

Jeffrey Robert Libman, 42, of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., pleaded guilty in Miami today to one count of receiving child pornography.

Robert P. Merz was sentenced to life in prison today for advertising, transporting, receiving and possessing child pornography.

Timothy L. Lantz was sentenced today to 15 years in prison for transporting child pornography in interstate commerce and failing to update his sex offender registration in violation of the Adam Walsh Act.

Mark Edwin Cairnes of Jonestown, Texas, pleaded guilty today to advertising and possessing child pornography.

James M. Tanksley, 52, pleaded guilty today to receipt of child pornography and possession of child pornography and was sentenced to 80 months in prison.

Michael Wildridge, 41, pleaded guilty today to transportation and possession of child pornography and was sentenced to 10 years in prison.

Donald Collier, 45, was sentenced today to nine years in prison for mailing child pornography.

Solomon Nathaniel of Sterling Heights, Mich., pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Detroit to participating in a conspiracy to defraud the Medicare program.

Troy, Mich., resident Syed Aziz pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Detroit to participating in a conspiracy to defraud the Medicare program.

Jeffrey Robert Libman, 42, of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., was sentenced to 87 months in prison today for receiving child pornography.

Wayne Nelson Corliss, 60, of Union City, N.J., was sentenced to 235 months in prison today in Newark, N.J., on three charges of traveling in foreign commerce with the intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct and a single count each of producing and possessing child pornography.

A federal jury in Indianapolis convicted William Travis Brown on July 23, 2009, of one count of transportation and one count of possession of child pornography.

Robert Restuch, 70, of Bullhead City, Ariz., was sentenced today to five years in prison for mailing child pornography.

Detroit-area residents Baskaran Thangarasan, Sandeep Aggarwal and Wayne Smith pleaded guilty this week for their roles in connection with several Detroit-area health care fraud schemes.

Mark Edwin Cairnes, 51, was sentenced today to 292 months in prison and lifetime supervised release following his prison term for advertising and possessing child pornography.

Visiting Physicians Association, which is based in Farmington Hills, Mich., will pay the United States and the state of Michigan $9.5 million to settle allegations that the association violated the False Claims Act by submitting false claims to Medicare, TRICARE and the Michigan Medicaid program.

Johnny Pires, 24, was sentenced today to five years in prison and five years of supervised release following his prison term for attempting to receive and possessing child pornography. Pires was also ordered to register as a sex offender.

Detroit-area resident Jessica Vigil pleaded guilty today for her role in a Detroit-area home health care fraud scheme.

Elden Ray Cibart, 60, was found guilty of one count of possessing and three counts of receiving child pornography.

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan abandoned its attempt to purchase Physicians Health Plan of Mid-Michigan after the Department informed the companies that it would file an antitrust lawsuit to block the acquisition.

Jeffrey Alan Wasley of Kennesaw, Ga., pleaded guilty today to production of child pornography related to surreptitiously videotaping young boys using public restrooms in Atlanta-area establishments.

“The Justice Department is committed to vigorously pursuing those who defraud Medicare,” said Tony West, Assistant Attorney General of the Civil Division of the Department of Justice.

Sterling Heights, Mich., resident Solomon Nathaniel was sentenced today to 62 months in prison for his role in a wide-ranging conspiracy to defraud the Medicare program, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer of the Criminal Division; U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan Barbara L. McQuade;

The United States has intervened in a False Claims Act lawsuit alleging that Satilla Health Services Inc., dba Satilla Regional Medical Center, and Dr. Najam Azmat submitted claims for medically substandard and unnecessary services to Medicare and Medicaid.

Solstice executive Dmitry Shteyman, 35, and Solstice employees Aleksey Shteyman, 41; Maxsim Shvedkin, 38; and Sara Kalantarov, 22, were each charged in an indictment unsealed today in U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of New York, with conspiracy to defraud the United States, to submit and cause the submission of false claims and to pay health care kickbacks.

Detroit-area residents Tariq Chaudhary, Lura Barrett and Stephen Cartier pleaded guilty today for their participation in a fraudulent Medicare home health scheme.

Edward Oedewaldt, 47, was arrested in Arcadia, La., on April 23, 2010, after an extensive search involving assistance from law enforcement in the United States and abroad.

Brian Thomas Smith, of Gainesville, Fla., was sentenced today to 42 months in prison and a lifetime of supervised release following his prison term for attempted possession of child pornography and obstruction of justice.

Miami resident Timothy Pierce was sentenced today to 48 months in prison for his participation in a fraudulent Medicare infusion scheme, and Troy, Mich., resident Jay Jha was sentenced to 27 months in prison for his participation in a separate fraudulent physical therapy scheme.

Farmington Hills, Mich., resident Baskaran Thangarasan was sentenced today to 57 months in prison for his participation in a fraudulent physical therapy scheme.

The Health Alliance of Greater Cincinnati, two of its member hospitals (The Fort Hamilton Hospital and The University Hospital), and University Internal Medicine Associates Inc. have agreed to pay the United States $2.6 million to settle claims that they violated the Anti-Kickback Statute and the False Claims Act by engaging in a kickback-for-referral scheme.

Timothy Christenbury, 47, was sentenced today in Charlotte, N.C., to 72 months in prison and 10 years of supervised release following his prison term for possessing child pornography.

Four defendants were sentenced today in connection with their participation in an online child pornography conspiracy, while a fifth defendant was sentenced for receiving child pornography.

Detroit-area residents Faisal Chaudry and Guy Ross pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Detroit for their participation in a fraudulent Medicare home health scheme

Douglas Carruthers, 46, formerly of Rockland, Mass., was sentenced today to 70 months in prison and eight years of supervised release following his prison term for child pornography offenses.

Jeffrey Alan Wasley of Kennesaw, Ga., was sentenced today to 20 years in prison for producing child pornography through the surreptitious videotaping of young boys using public restrooms in Atlanta-area establishments.

Thomas Attebury, 40, of Bakersfield, Calif., was sentenced yesterday to 38 years in prison for his role in the child pornography conspiracy and David Williams, 46, of Selinsgrove, Pa., was sentenced yesterday to 25 years in prison for his participation in the conspiracy.

Two individuals have pleaded guilty to charges related to their participation in an international group of child pornography traffickers who used a social networking site to share thousands of sexually explicit images.

The United States has filed a complaint under the False Claims Act against Dr. Najam Azmat and the Satilla Regional Medical Center in Waycross, Ga.

A Virginia man pleaded guilty today to charges related to his possession and distribution of images containing child pornography.