Law Enforcement

Los Angeles – Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. announced that agents from his office late last night arrested two individuals who bilked Medicare out of $678,000 by submitting phony bills for walkers, wheelchairs, diabetic shoes and even body braces and canes, using the proceeds for luxury goods including a gold-colored Hummer H200.

A third suspect remains at large.

“At a time when government needs every dollar it has, these individuals submitted completely false claims for equipment they never purchased,” Brown said. “Such callous disregard for the public interest is intolerable and warrants swift prosecution.”

In April 2009, agents from the Attorney General’s Bureau of Medi-Cal Fraud and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services launched a joint investigation into dozens of suspicious Medicare claims for durable medical goods.

The four-month investigation found that, beginning in November 2008, the defendants established dummy medical supply companies, obtained stolen social security numbers and physician providers numbers, made counterfeit state IDs, and used the information to submit false claims totaling $678,000 to Medicare.

After receiving payment from Medicare, the defendants deposited the funds into an account at Center Bank in Los Angeles, using them to pay for luxury goods, including the Hummer that Odonnell purchased.

Brown’s office filed charges Tuesday in LA Superior Court and yesterday arrested the following individuals:

• Monica Odonnell, 44, of Canoga Park, on four counts of misapplication of records, and computer access and fraud. She is being held on $15,000 bail in the Los Angeles County Jail. Odonnell is a Department of Motor Vehicles employee.
• Ekaterina Shlykova, 23, of Los Angeles on one count of perjury. She is being held on $25,000 bail in the Los Angeles County Jail.
• A third individual -- Evgeny Lyadov, 32, of Los Angeles -- was charged with 36 counts of grand theft, making fraudulent claims, identity theft, and perjury. Lyadov remains at large. A search of his office uncovered over $170,000 in cash, fraudulent credit cards and duplicate passports.

Medicare schemes are often uncovered when one business submits an unusually large number of claims for the same device or beneficiaries. To evade detection, these defendants sought to give the impression that doctors were ordering medical equipment for different beneficiaries at different stores.

Ultimately, however, the actual Medicare beneficiaries complained that their monthly statements showed that they had received medical equipment from businesses in Los Angeles, when they had not.

Auditors investigated and discovered a large number of claims for the same devices were being made from a company called “North Hollywood Medical Supply” and referred the suspicious activity for prosecution.

"Medicare fraud is an increasingly serious problem that costs taxpayers billions in lost and wasted dollars,' said Sarah J Allen, Special Agent in Charge for the San Francisco Region of the Office of Inspector General for the Department of Health of Human Services. 'Today’s arrests represent one victory in a bigger battle to stop these fraudulent schemes so that Medicare can better serve those who really need and deserve help.'

If convicted, Odonnell and Shlykova could receive up to three years in state prison. Lyadov could face more than 15 years in prison.

To report fraud or abuse, call the Attorney General's Bureau of Medi-Cal Fraud and Elder Abuse at (800) 722-0432.

Copies of the arrest warrants and criminal complaints are available upon request.

Los Angeles – Threatening possible criminal and civil prosecution, Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. today ordered 386 mortgage foreclosure consultants to post $100,000 bonds and register with his office.

He also ordered more than two dozen companies to justify suspicious loan modification claims made in “slick advertising,” online and through the mail.

“Hoping to lower their mortgage payments, thousands of homeowners were instead duped by slick advertising and money-back guarantees,” Brown said. “The time for accountability is at hand, and this rogue industry must clean itself up or face legal action,” Brown added.

Brown also unveiled a new website (http://ag.ca.gov/loanmod) that provides homeowners tips to avoid loan modification fraud, allows them to determine if a company is registered with his office and makes it easier to file complaints.

Brown today joined with the California Department of Real Estate and the State Bar of California in a new partnership to combat loan modification and foreclosure fraud.

Brown has sent letters directing 386 mortgage foreclosure consultants to register with his office within 10 days and post $100,000 bond, or demonstrate why they are not required to. If the consultants are required to register and have failed to do so, they are subject to criminal penalties of up to a year in jail and fines ranging from $1,000 to $25,000 per violation. Eighty-five of these consultants are based in Los Angeles County, 133 in Orange County, 47 in the Inland Empire, 68 in San Diego County and seven in the Bay Area.

Additionally, Brown sent letters today demanding that 27 loan consultants substantiate suspect claims made on the internet and in direct mail advertising. For instance:

· Brown directed Irsfeld, Irsfeld & Younger, LLP as corporate counsel for JL Richman, doing business as Home Retention Programs of Glendale, Calif. to substantiate its claims including: “Our team has 10 years of success in negotiating 90% of all mortgage loan modification requests to a successful outcome….For the modification requests we accept, our modification failure rate is less than 1%.”

· Brown directed 21st Century Real Estate Investment Corporation of Rancho Cucamonga to substantiate its written solicitations including: “[y]our proposed loan modification is a 30 year fixed/3.5% interest rate with a monthly payment of $495. Your monthly savings is $705. Total savings over a 30-year period is $253,800. . . . Your first payment will be negotiated to begin March 2009 – payable to your current lender for $495.”

· Brown directed Mortgage Modification Solutions of Irvine to substantiate its claims including: “Our services are due to the FEDERAL MANDATE which makes it mandatory for mortgagees, upon the default of a single family mortgage, to engage in loss mitigation actions” and “Why $3995.00 is nothing compared to what you can accomplish in return? #1- It’s 10 times more expensive to hire a CPA or a Financial Advisor to exclusively analyze & Research your financial affairs to create a plan acceptable to the Banking standards.”

· Brown directed Alliance Law Center of San Diego to substantiate its letters to consumers stating: “Final Notice: 3/11/09, our review of certain information indicates you may be a victim of federal disclosure violations and/or predatory lending violations, therefore your loan may be invalid, and you may qualify for a loan modification saving you thousands of dollars.”

The State Bar of California today announced that it has obtained resignations from two lawyers and filed charges against a third for their loan modification activities. The State Bar’s special team on loan modification complaints continues to investigate more than four hundred active complaints from consumers about lawyers’ roles in loan modification scams.

Brown has made it a top priority to combat loan modification fraud. As part of a nationwide sweep last month, Brown filed suits against 21 individuals and 14 companies who ripped off thousands of homeowners seeking mortgage relief. In total, Brown has sought court orders to shut down 32 companies and has brought criminal charges and obtained lengthy prison sentences for deceptive loan modification consultants.

Copies of the letters and a list of consultants who have not registered are attached.

Los Angeles – Today at 11:00 a.m. Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. will hold a media availability to discuss yesterday’s ruling by a federal three-judge panel ordering California to release more than 40,000 inmates from state prisons.

Date: Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Time: 11:00 a.m.
Location: Los Angeles Office of the Attorney General
First Floor
300 South Spring Street
Los Angeles, CA 90013-1230

Please call (510) 622-4500 with questions or to RSVP.

San Diego – Continuing his fight against “rip-off artists,” Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. won a $1.2 million ruling against Gaston Muhammad, 42, and Ronna Green, 41, of Duluth, GA, who billed nearly a million California business owners $150 each for deceptive and unnecessary corporate minutes services.

“These rip-off artists sent nearly a million deceptive mailers to business owners, threatening them with loss of their corporate status if they didn’t pay $150 for unnecessary services,” Brown said. “In reality, this was a massive scam costing California small business owners hundreds of thousands of dollars.”

The defendants mailed solicitations to California business owners that were designed to look like State of California official forms—specifically, the Secretary of State’s “Annual Statement of Information.” The solicitations implied that unless the corporations paid the defendants a $150 annual fee, they could lose their corporate status. The defendants sent out 986,000 solicitations to California businesses between July 2007 and November 2008.

The solicitation appeared to be a government document featuring an official-looking seal, an official-sounding name, the corporation number, citations to the Corporations Code, and a return address in Sacramento. The defendants, in fact, resided in Georgia and the Sacramento address was a mail drop.

The defendants promised to prepare annual minutes for the recipient corporations, even though the information sought on the forms was insufficient to create minutes. Defendants simply invented the dates, meeting places, participants, and actions taken in the fictitious minutes they created.

Brown filed suit in San Diego Superior Court in May 2008, charging defendants with violating:

• Business and Professions Code section 17533.6 (Deceptive Mailing Statute) and 17550 (False Advertising Statute)
• Civil Code section 1716 (Phony Billing Statute)
• Permanent injunction from a previous mail scam judgment against Gaston Muhammad
• Unfair business practices within the meaning of Business and Professions Code section 17200.

On June 22, the Trial Court ruled that the solicitations were misleading. The Court also found that the disclaimers were not big and bold enough to alert the recipients that this was not an official form. It found that the defendants violated all four statues and the permanent injunction.

The court ordered defendants to pay restitution of $200,000 and imposed civil penalties of $986,000. It further issued a permanent injunction which, in addition to requiring the defendants to comply with the law, barred them from engaging in the business of providing corporate minutes in California for five years. The Court also awarded the state the costs incurred in the prosecution of this case.

Earlier this year, Brown filed suit against two brothers operating a similar scam, billing homeowners nearly $200 each for property tax reassessment services that were almost never performed and are available free of charge from local tax assessors.

The judgment and a copy of the mailer are attached.

Fresno – Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. announced that agents from his Bureau of Gambling Control, working with the FBI, today arrested Chukchansi Casino’s former General Manager, Jeff Livingston, who “willfully abused his trust” by using a corporate credit card to spend more than $30,000 on down payments for two cars and a Hawaiian golf vacation.

Livingston, 49, of Fresno, was arrested at his residence this morning on two federal counts of theft by an officer or employee of a gaming establishment on Indian lands. If convicted, Livingston faces up to 20 years in prison. Livingston is a former Broward County, Florida Deputy Sheriff.

“Jeff Livingston willfully abused his trust as casino general manager to conceal more than $30,000 in lavish purchases, including a Shelby Mustang and a Hawaiian golf vacation,” Brown said.

Brown’s office launched an investigation into Livingston in February 2008 after the Tribal Gaming Agency of the Chukchansi Gold Resort and Casino discovered questionable charges on the casino’s corporate credit card. Brown’s office asked the FBI to join the investigation because the matter involved an employee of an Indian casino. The Chuckchansi Casino is located 35 miles north of Fresno in Coarsegold, Calif.

The joint investigation revealed that Livingston made unauthorized purchases with the casino’s corporate credit card, including:
• A $20,000 down payment on a new Ford Mustang Shelby;
• A $5,000 down payment on a new Ford Fusion for the casino’s former Vice President of Marketing; and
• A $7,000 Mercedes Benz PGA National Golf Championship package in Maui, Hawaii.

Livingston attempted to conceal the down payments by making it appear as if they were part of a ten car purchase he made for a casino giveaway.

Livingston was indicted yesterday by a federal grand jury on two counts of theft by an officer or employee of gaming establishments on Indian Lands in violation of U.S. Code Section 1168 (Title 18).

The defendant was arraigned earlier this afternoon in Fresno in the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of California.

A copy of the federal indictment, issued July 23, 2009, is attached.

East Palo Alto -- Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. announced that agents from the Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement today arrested a Mexican national, Adan Alfonso Herrera, and seized 70 pounds of heroin from his Lincoln Towncar on Sacramento Street in East Palo Alto.

"The suspect stashed at least 70 pounds of heroin in a secret compartment of his car,' Brown said. 'With a street value of $7 million, this is the largest heroin seizure ever made in San Mateo County.'

Herrera, 27, is a native of Mexico and a known associate of the Sac Street Gang, a violent East Palo Alto street gang with ties to Mexican drug-trafficking organizations. Herrera has prior arrests for domestic abuse, kidnapping and providing false information to a police officer.

As part of the investigation, agents served a search warrant on Herrera's residence and vehicle, located at 559 Sacramento Street in East Palo Alto. Agents discovered a small amount of heroin in the house.

Subsequently, agents found approximately 70 pounds of heroin stashed in a secret compartment in the dashboard of the Herrera’s Lincoln Towncar. The Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement determined the street value of the heroin is in excess of $7 million.

Herrera was arrested and booked into the Santa Clara County Jail for possession of heroin for sale and for possession of a hidden compartment. Bail was set at $5 million.

The Attorney General's Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement is the oldest narcotic enforcement bureau in the United States.

Questions regarding this investigation can be directed to Special Agent in Charge Bob Cooke at (408) 452-7360.

Federal and State authorities this morning arrested 20 defendants accused of being part of ring that defrauded Medi-Cal out of nearly $4.6 million by using unlicensed individuals to provide in-home care to scores of disabled patients, many of them children with cerebral palsy or developmental disabilities.

The 20 defendants arrested this morning are among 42 defendants named in a 41-count indictment that was returned by a federal grand jury on June 25. The indictment is part of an investigation called Operation License Integrity, a two-year investigation conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General, and the Office of the California Attorney General-Bureau of Medi-Cal Fraud and Elder Abuse. The indictment alleges that the 42 defendants and two others, one of whom has already pleaded guilty to health care fraud charges, conspired to bill Medi-Cal nearly $4.6 million for in-home licensed nursing services that were actually provided by unlicensed individuals.

The organizer of the ring, Priscilla Villabroza, a registered nurse who ran a Santa Fe Springs-based company called Medcare Plus Home Health Providers, pleaded guilty in federal court last year to five counts of health care fraud. According to court documents, Villabroza and others hired individuals to provide care to disabled Medi-Cal patients, many of whom were children and young adults served under a program called Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnosis, and Treatment (EPSDT) Supplemental Services. The indictment alleges that from August 2004 through the end of 2007, Villabroza and others hired unlicensed individuals to provide services to the disabled Medi-Cal patients and billed Medi-Cal as if they were licensed vocational nurses (LVNs). Some of the unlicensed individuals had foreign training, but never passed a nursing exam here. Some of them had no medical training at all.

'Villabroza and her associates concocted a clever rip-off where they hired untrained and unlicensed nurses to provide care to children with serious health conditions,' California Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. said. 'At a time of budgetary crisis, they cheated California's welfare system and pocketed millions of dollars in unauthorized state reimbursements.'

'We believe that this is the largest single case alleging Medi-Cal fraud ever filed in the state,' said United States Attorney Thomas P. O’Brien. 'The nearly four dozen people associated with this fraud ring not only cheated taxpayers, they endangered the lives of young people they promised to protect and care for.'

The unlicensed nurse defendants visited the patients at home and at school and provided nursing services that included administering medications, adjusting ventilators, and feeding through gastronomy tubes. Some parents and patients reported to authorities that the 'nurses' lacked basic skills. In one case, a 'nurse' was unable to replace a tracheotomy tube that had fallen out of a young patient’s neck. In another case, an imposter nurse simply fled a medical situation when she apparently was unable to provide assistance.

Salvador Hernandez, Assistant Director In Charge of the FBI in Los Angeles, stated: 'This case is particularly troubling in that patients received sub-standard care for serious medical conditions when defendants operated without a license and in their own best interest, not their patients’ interests. The FBI and our partners will continue to provide resources to detect and fight health care fraud that affects the stability of government programs and our economy.'
Glenn R. Ferry, Special Agent in Charge for the Los Angeles Region of the Office of Inspector General for the Department of Health of Human Services, commented: 'Today's arrests send a strong message to those who would corruptly take advantage of the Medi-Cal system. Greed, at the expense of our most vulnerable citizens and their quality of care, will not be tolerated. The Office of Inspector General will continue to closely work with our Federal, State and local law enforcement partners to prevent, deter and prosecute health care fraud.'
A key assistant to Villabroza – Susan Bendigo, an RN who ran a Medcare Plus subsidiary – was indicted last year. Bendigo is a fugitive who fled the United States during the investigation into her activities.
Villabroza, Bendigo and supervisors involved in the scheme allegedly directed the unlicensed nurse defendants to lie about their licensing and qualifications by telling the parents or guardians of the disabled Medi-Cal beneficiaries that they were LVNs, according to the indictment. The unlicensed nurse defendants falsely presented themselves as professionals, concealed their unlicensed status from the parents or guardians of the disabled Medi-Cal beneficiaries, and in some cases affirmatively misrepresented themselves as LVNs.
An indictment contains allegations that a defendant has committed a crime. Every defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
The defendants arrested today are expected to make their initial appearances this afternoon in United States District Court in Los Angeles. The other defendants named in the indictment will be summoned to appear in court for arraignments in the coming weeks.
All of the defendants named in the indictment are charged with conspiracy to commit health care fraud, a felony count that carries a statutory maximum penalty of 10 years in federal prison. All of the defendants are also named in at least one substantive count of health care fraud, a charge that carries a maximum statutory penalty of 10 years in federal prison.
Both the California Department of Registered Nursing, which licenses RNs, and the California Department of Consumer Affairs Bureau of Vocational Nursing, which licenses LVNs, maintain websites where consumers can check the licensing status of any purported professional providing services to them. These can be accessed at http://www2.dca.ca.gov.
Anyone who suspects Medi-Cal fraud related to the use of unlicensed nurses or any other type of Medi-Cal or Medicare fraud may report their concerns to the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General hotline at 800-HHS-TIPS (800-477 8477) or the California Department of Justice’s Bureau of Medi-Cal Fraud and Elder Abuse hotline at 800-722-0432 or webpage, http://www.dhcs.ca.gov/individuals/Pages/StopMedi-CalFraud.aspx.

Sonoma – Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. announced today that Kim Louise Lemoine, 36, who passed “bogus” state government checks totaling $308,000, was sentenced today to five years in prison on charges of identity theft, forgery and grand theft.

Two of Lemoine’s associates are in custody; two remain at large.

“This band of counterfeiters fabricated 235 state government checks that looked and felt like the real thing,” Brown said. “They were able to pass these forgeries and amass more than $300,000.”

On March 11, 2009, Brown filed 63 criminal charges of grand theft, possession of counterfeit card making equipment, identity theft, forgery of a California driver’s license, forgery of a check and forgery of the California state seal against:

• Kim Louise Lemoine, 36, arrested on March 13, pled guilty in Sonoma County Superior Court on April 28 and was sentenced today to five years in prison;
• Hiedi Lynn Roth, 36, arrested on April 22, and is expected to be sentenced to 8 years in prison on July 21;
• Daria Inessa Sidorkina, 23, who is being held in Solano County jail on unrelated charges;
• Laura Renee Harkey, 29, who remains at large; and
• Mary Nicole Holstein, 35, who remains at large.

The defendants cashed 235 counterfeit checks at Bank of America branches located in 20 California counties from October 2007 until September 2008. The counterfeit checks ranged from $777 to $3,000.

The counterfeit checks looked similar to state-issued checks and included the state seal, bank routing information, and the state Controller’s signature. The driver’s licenses that the defendants used to verify their identifications also appeared valid. In reality, both the checks and driver’s licenses were forgeries, created at Lemoine’s home in Sonoma County.

On July 28, 2008, a bank teller in Sebastopol refused to cash one of the checks. After being informed that the check would not be honored, the suspect grew angry and demanded the items back. The bank employee refused, and the bank’s staff then contacted the California State Controller’s Office.

The Controller’s Office launched an investigation in conjunction with Brown’s office. Last September, agents discovered counterfeiting equipment capable of producing fraudulent checks and driver’s licenses, including laminating machines, printers, check paper and blank driver’s license cards at Lemoine’s home in Sonoma County.

The agents also discovered personal information for more than 50 individuals and businesses in a duffel bag. The information included credit reports, driver’s license numbers, social security numbers, and dates of birth.

Sacramento -- Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. announced that agents from his office this week raided Internet cafes in Stockton and San Diego that illegally operated “Las Vegas-style games” including video poker, keno and slots.

"Agents from my office shut down Internet cafes in Stockton and San Diego that are a cover for illegal gaming operations,' Brown said. 'These are unregulated and illegal gambling parlors, operating Las Vegas-style games in violation of the law.”

Beginning in early June, undercover agents entered establishments in Stockton and San Diego and played various Las Vegas-style games on computers at these Internet cafes. The agents purchased a card that allowed them 'Internet time' on the café’s computers. If they won, an on-site employee paid them in cash.

In Stockton, law enforcement agents raided the Lucky Déjà Vu Internet Cafe and the Déjà Vu topless bar and seized 98 computer terminals, 2 master computer servers, money machines and business records, plus more than $4,000 in cash.

In San Diego, law enforcement agents raided five locations: Café Hong Hung, ‘08 Wireless, Café 2000, Phnom Penh Video and ‘05 Billiards. In total, agents seized 31 video slot machines and approximately $13,000 in cash.

Additional sites in San Diego and Oceanside are under investigation for similar activity.

Brown’s office is working with the San Diego Police Department in “Operation Jackpot” to identify and close businesses that offer illegal gambling in violation of Penal Code Section 330b, which prohibits individuals from owning and operating slot machines.

Agencies involved include the Attorney General’s Office Bureau of Gambling Control, the San Joaquin Sheriff’s Office, the San Joaquin District Attorney’s Office, the High Tech Crimes Task Force, the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, the San Diego Police Department, the San Diego District Attorney’s Office and the Oceanside Police Department.

Los Angeles – Responding to a directive from Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. to reform its police force, the Maywood City Council late Tuesday evening unanimously approved a stipulated court order that will end the “widespread abuse and gross misconduct” exposed over the course of a 16-month investigation.

“This court order will compel the City of Maywood to overhaul its police department after years of widespread abuse and gross misconduct,” Brown said. “It paves the way for real reform, enabling the Maywood police department to live up to its potential by truly serving and protecting.”

On April 28, 2009, Brown released a report that found that the City of Maywood Police Department routinely used excessive force, did not obtain probable cause to justify arrests and searches and operated without adequate oversight.

The report also found a lack of accountability, inexperienced and untrained officers and civilian complaints routinely ignored.

Brown’s investigation examined some 30,000 pages of documents from January 2002 through April 2007. Sixty-four witness interviews were conducted with sworn officers, city council members, City of Maywood administrative personnel, city residents and civil rights attorneys.

Over the past two months, Brown’s office and the City of Maywood negotiated a stipulated court order to reform the police department. With last night’s city council approval, the order will now be submitted to the Los Angeles Superior Court and entered into as a legally binding agreement.

The agreement will be enforced for at least three years following the date it is approved by the Court.

The stipulated court order compels the city to:

1. Hire well-trained and experienced officers to combat crime effectively and lawfully. The Maywood Police Department’s hiring policies must exceed industry standards as defined by the California Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training.

2. Ensure strong oversight.
• The City Council has hired a professional city manager who will have direct responsibility for overseeing the Department.
• An auditor, hired by the City, will write annual public reports about the state of the Department’s operations. The first report will be released in March 2011.

3. Stop the use of excessive force through monitoring and holding officers accountable.
• Officers will be required to use digital audio recorders while in the field, and video cameras will be installed on police vehicles and in the Maywood police station.
• Following use-of-force incidents, reports must be submitted and reviewed to determine whether use of force was necessary.
• An “Early Intervention System” will be established to track and monitor the activities of sworn personnel to identify problem officers and to take corrective action, which may include formal disciplinary procedures.

4. Improve training for officers to prevent and fight crime in a lawful manner.
• Officers will be trained on the legal requirements of motor vehicle stops, probable cause, appropriate use of force, determination of need for supervisor assistance and the city’s ethnic, racial and religious makeup.
• One Maywood police sergeant will be enrolled at a Peace Officer Standards and Training certified Supervisory and Leadership Institute every year.
• A zero tolerance policy will be put in place regarding sexual innuendo, harassment, vulgarity, cultural, racial and ethnic insensitivity.
• Sworn personnel promoted to sergeant will complete a Peace Officer Standards and Training certified Basic Supervisory Course within six months of appointment.

5. Establish a system whereby residents can lodge complaints that will be investigated and resolved by the Maywood Police Department.
• Each issue in the complaint will be thoroughly investigated and addressed by a Maywood Police Department Internal Affair’s investigator.
• Complaint forms will be made readily available in English and Spanish.
• The personnel history of the officer in question will be reviewed in determining the credibility of the complaint.
• The rationale for any stop or search related to a complaint must be investigated, evaluated and addressed by Internal Affairs.

6. Change the operating philosophy of the department from an “us versus them” philosophy to a community oriented policing philosophy. The City must revise the policies and procedures of the Department to bring them into conformity with contemporary police practices and adopt a strategic plan based on a community policing philosophy.

Additionally, Brown will appoint an expert on police matters who will advise him on the progress the City is making in implementing its reforms. If the City fails to comply with any terms of the agreement, Brown may seek a contempt of court citation against the city.

"The City is very committed to working with the Attorney General to complete its commitment to community-based policing and the reforms outlined in the Attorney General's report,” said Paul Philips, Maywood Interim City Manager. “The City appreciates the working relationship it has established with the Attorney General's staff over the past two years.'

To read the report on the abuse and misconduct found in the Maywood Police Department, go to http://ag.ca.gov/newsalerts/release.php?id=1722&.

A copy of the agreement is attached.