Eastern District of Tennessee Archives

For members: Company ordered to pay $500,000 fine after improperly shipping radioactive materials

Posted at 11:15 pm May 31, 2019
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

KNOXVILLE—An Oak Ridge company has been ordered to pay a $500,000 federal fine about two years after pleading guilty to criminal charges related to the improper shipping of radioactive materials in devices used in the oil and gas “fracking” industry.

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Shutdown: DOJ workers in public safety, national security will remain on job; others could be furloughed

Posted at 2:31 pm December 22, 2018
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

The partial government shutdown that started at midnight affects nine federal departments and several agencies. They include the U.S. Department of Justice, which includes the Drug Enforcement Administration, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and U.S. attorney’s offices.

During the partial shutdown, some employees who are considered excepted for reasons that include national security and public safety might continue working, but without being paid until the shutdown is over, while others will be furloughed.

Oak Ridge Today has previously reported that FBI agents will continue working, but they will work without pay, at least for now.

The U.S. Department of Energy, which has major operations in Oak Ridge, is not affected by the shutdown, while the National Park Service, which also has operations here, is. The Park Service is part of the U.S. Department of Interior, which is one of the departments that has had a lapse in funding due to a lack of agreement between Congress and President Donald Trump over whether to include $5 billion for a wall along the Mexican border in spending legislation. [Read more…]

UPF lawsuit moved from DC to Knoxville

Posted at 8:13 am April 5, 2018
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

A rendering of the Uranium Processing Facility at the Y-12 National Security Complex. (Image from May 2017 courtesy of NNSA)

The federal lawsuit that asks for an environmental review of the new multi-building design for the Uranium Processing Facility at the Y-12 National Security Complex has been transferred from Washington, D.C., to Knoxville.

The transfer of the civil complaint had been requested in September by the defendants, U.S. Energy Secretary James Richard “Rick” Perry and Frank G. Klotz, former administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration. The NNSA is an agency within the U.S. Department of Energy that manages nuclear weapons programs and facilities, including Y-12, among other activities.

United States District Judge Dabney L. Friedrich, who was assigned the case in December, granted the motion to transfer the lawsuit from the District of Columbia to U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee, which includes the Knoxville division, on March 23.

The 44-page federal lawsuit, which was filed in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., on July 20, argues that a new environmental impact statement should be prepared for the new design for the UPF, the largest federal construction project in Tennessee since World War II. The plaintiffs allege that the NNSA’s decision to use several new buildings for the UPF, rather than just one, and continue to use some old buildings at Y-12 for some nuclear weapons work is risky because the old buildings could collapse during a major earthquake, possibly leading to a nuclear accident that could release radiological materials.

Federal officials denied that allegation and others in a 29-page response filed September 29. They’ve called some allegations vague, ambiguous, or speculative, and they have said that safety and technical analyses are under way at Y-12. Some buildings may require seismic upgrades, depending upon evaluation results, and an Extended Life Program is meant to ensure that two buildings—Building 9215 and Building 9204-2E—will safely support future operations, federal officials said. [Read more…]

Anderson County residents among 44 indicted in meth distribution conspiracy

Posted at 8:28 pm March 26, 2018
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

A group of Anderson County residents was part of an alleged methamphetamine distribution ring that involved 44 people and a conspiracy to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine in East Tennessee and elsewhere, federal officials said Monday.

A 30-count indictment was returned against the 44 people by a federal grand jury in Greeneville in East Tennessee on January 9. Among those indicted were nine residents of Clinton, Oliver Springs, Powell, and Rocky Top, according to a press release from the U.S. Department of Justice’s Eastern District of Tennessee on Monday. There were also four Knoxville residents indicted and a dozen in Bristol and Kingsport in upper East Tennessee, among other defendants in Tennessee, Georgia, and Virginia.

Anderson County Sheriff’s Department, Clinton Police Department, Oak Ridge Police Department, Oliver Springs Police Department, and Seventh Judicial District Crime Task Force in Anderson County were among the agencies that helped with the investigation, the press release said.

Here are the people that were indicted in the alleged methamphetamine distribution conspiracy: [Read more…]

Nuclear engineer receives two years in prison for violating Atomic Energy Act

Posted at 10:23 am September 3, 2017
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

U.S. Department of Justice

KNOXVILLE—On Thursday, Szuhsiung Ho, also known as Allen Ho, 66, a naturalized U.S. citizen, was sentenced by Chief U.S. District Judge Thomas A. Varlan to serve 24 months in prison and one year of supervised release. Upon his release, he will be supervised by U.S. Probation for one year. He was also ordered to pay a fine of $20,000.

Ho pleaded guilty in January 2017 to conspiracy to unlawfully engage or participate in the production or development of special nuclear material outside the United States, without the required authorization from the U.S. Department of Energy, in violation of the Atomic Energy Act, a press release said.

An April 2016 indictment charged Ho; China General Nuclear Power Company (CGNPC), the largest nuclear power company in China; and Energy Technology International (ETI), a Delaware corporation, with these offenses. At the time of his indictment, Ho was a nuclear engineer, employed as a consultant by CGNPC, and he was also the owner of ETI. CGNPC specialized in the development and manufacture of nuclear reactors and was controlled by China’s State-Owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, the press release said. [Read more…]

Maine man pleads guilty in armed bank extortions, including at Y-12 Credit Union

Posted at 4:47 pm March 1, 2016
By John Huotari 1 Comment

Brian Witham

Note: This story was last updated at 5:40 p.m.

A Maine man charged in several armed bank extortion plots, including at Y-12 Federal Credit Union in Oak Ridge, pleaded guilty in federal court on Tuesday, authorities said.

Brian Scott Witham, 45, of Waterville, Maine, pleaded guilty to the charges contained in a 15-count indictment from December 2015 involving armed bank extortions of the Y-12 Federal Credit Union in Oak Ridge, SmartBank in Knoxville, and Northeast Community Credit Union in Elizabethton, said Nancy Stallard Harr, acting U.S. attorney in the Eastern District of Tennessee. Witham is one of two people charged in the bank extortion scheme.

As part of his plea agreement, Witham agreed to plead guilty to similar charges from three other federal jurisdictions including the Western District of North Carolina, the Middle District of Pennsylvania, and the District of Connecticut, authorities said. Witham, U.S. attorneys, and a federal judge all agreed to transfer the similar charges to U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of Tennessee, a press release said. Those charges include being a felon in possession of a firearm in Haywood County, North Carolina; armed robbery of an Ingles in Arden, North Carolina; armed robbery of the Peoples Security Bank and Trust in Clarks Summit, Pennsylvania; and attempted armed bank extortion of the Achieve Financial Credit Union in New Britain, Connecticut, authorities said. [Read more…]

U.S. Attorney Killian resigning from ET post to join national law firm

Posted at 12:39 pm November 19, 2015
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

William C. “Bill” Killian

Note: This story was updated at 10:47 a.m. Nov. 20.

KNOXVILLE—William C. Killian, the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Tennessee, has submitted his resignation to President Barack Obama effective December 5. He is joining a national law firm.

Killian was sworn into office October 4, 2010, after he was nominated by Obama and unanimously confirmed by the United States Senate. He served on the following subcommittees of the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee: Terrorism and National Security, Civil Rights, and Healthcare Fraud Working Group, a press release said.

Federal cases that originate in Oak Ridge are heard in the Eastern District of Tennessee, which has offices in Knoxville and uses courtrooms there. Among the cases heard there in the past few years, for example, are the case of three anti-nuclear weapons activities who broke into the Y-12 National Security Complex in 2012, the trademark lawsuit against Lake City when it changed its name to Rocky Top, and a methamphetamine manufacturing conspiracy in Anderson County. [Read more…]

Roane Sheriff part of investigation that leads to long sentence for pill mill operator

Posted at 11:54 pm August 30, 2015
By Oak Ridge Today Staff 1 Comment

A Chattanooga pill mill operator was sentenced to 280 years in federal prison on Thursday, and the Roane County Sheriff’s Office was among the law enforcement agencies that participated in the investigation that led to her indictment and subsequent conviction, authorities said.

Barbara Lang, a.k.a. “Aunt Bea,” 61, of Rossville, Georgia, was sentenced by the Honorable Curtis L. Collier, U.S. District Judge, said United States Attorney William C. Killian of the Eastern District of Tennessee.

After a 25-day trial that spanned almost three months, Lang was convicted of two counts of conspiring to distribute and dispense Schedule II and IV controlled substances, outside the scope of professional practice and not for a legitimate medical purpose; five counts of maintaining a premises for the purpose of distributing controlled substances; and 14 counts of structuring financial transactions to evade reporting requirements, a press release said.

Lang was charged along with three other people. [Read more…]

U.S. attorneys, law enforcement target heroin, opioid trafficking, overdoses

Posted at 8:42 pm August 26, 2015
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

William C. “Bill” Killian

DETROIT—U.S. attorneys and leaders of federal law enforcement agencies from across six states met in Detroit on August 26, 2015, to share strategies to combat the heroin and prescription pill epidemic across the region.

U.S. Attorney William C. Killian of the Eastern District of Tennessee was among those who attended.

The summit was called in response to the national epidemic of heroin and prescription pill abuse that has hit Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia, particularly hard. Heroin overdose deaths in the United States have tripled from 2010 to 2013. Nationally, the number of deaths from all drug overdoses exceeded 43,000 last year, more deaths than from traffic accidents. Heroin use in the United States has doubled from 2007 to 2012.

In the Midwest, opioid deaths have increased 62 percent. The summit seeks to target this national and regional problem by dismantling drug trafficking organizations that distribute heroin and prescription pills and by increasing prevention and educational efforts. [Read more…]

POST asks DAs, feds to investigate whether Akagi violated state, federal law

Posted at 3:11 pm May 4, 2015
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Tasha Blakney

Chief’s attorney calls it one more effort to vilify Akagi

The organization that certifies police officers in Tennessee has asked state and federal authorities to investigate whether Oak Ridge Police Chief James T. Akagi violated state and federal laws by possessing a firearm after being issued an ex parte order of protection during divorce proceedings in Blount County three years ago.

The April 27 letter from Ray Farris, assistant director of the Tennessee Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) Commission, was sent to Mike Flynn, district attorney general in the Fifth Judicial District in Maryville; Dave Clark, district attorney general in the Seventh Judicial District in Clinton; and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Tennessee in Knoxville.

“Documents provided to our office indicate that an order of protection was issued by the Blount County Court against Chief Akagi on April 19, 2012,” Farris said in the letter. “During the effective period of this order of protection, Chief Akagi submitted his firearms qualifications scores to the Commission, which appears to be a violation of the aforementioned order of protection.”

But Tasha Blakney, an attorney for the police chief, has said Akagi was not prohibited from carrying a firearm.

“I am absolutely confident that there has been no violation of state or federal law in this family law matter with regard to the ex parte order of protection that was temporarily entered and subsequently dismissed,” Blakney said Thursday. “They simply don’t carry any implications for an individual’s Second Amendment rights. That’s just a function of understanding the way that Tennessee law works.” [Read more…]

Preliminary injunction stops use of Rocky Top as trademark for goods, services

Posted at 1:35 am April 30, 2015
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Ryan Levy

Note: This story was updated at 12:40 p.m.

A federal judge has issued a preliminary injunction to stop a group of developers who are trying to revitalize the former Lake City from using Rocky Top as a trademark for goods or services.

The preliminary injunction was issued on Friday by Chief U.S. District Judge Thomas Varlan of the Eastern District of Tennessee.

The former Lake City Council changed the town’s name to Rocky Top in June 2014. The idea was to use the name change to spur developments along Interstate 75 that could be worth up to $237 million. Proposed projects include an indoor and outdoor water park, interactive theater with a children’s museum, a coal miners music theater, and laser tag, among other things. Officials had said those developments—which have also included other options such as a hotel, restaurant, and candy company—wouldn’t happen without the name change. [Read more…]

Two orthopedic clinics to pay $1.85 million over Medicare billing allegations

Posted at 5:42 pm January 25, 2014
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

Two orthopedic clinics in East Tennessee have agreed to pay a combined $1.85 million to resolve state and federal False Claims Act allegations that they knowingly billed state and federal health care programs for reimported osteoarthritis medications, known as viscosupplements, federal authorities said.

Tennessee Orthopaedic Clinics, P.C., with headquarters in Knoxville and nine locations in East Tennessee, will pay $1.3 million and Appalachian Orthopaedic Clinics, P.C., with headquarters in Kingsport and three locations in the Tri-Cities area, will pay $550,000, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney William C. Killian said in a press release. Killian is U.S. attorney in the Eastern District of Tennessee.

The press release said viscosupplements, such as Synvisc and Orthovisc, are injections approved by the Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of osteoarthritis pain in the knee. Viscosupplements are reimbursed by Medicare, Medicaid, and other federal health care programs at a set rate based on the average sales price of the domestic product. [Read more…]