Federal agent charged with tipping off target of healthcare fraud investigation in Miami
A veteran federal agent accused of providing insider information to an alleged member of a painkiller-distribution ring in Miami-Dade County has been arrested on a variety of charges stemming from an FBI corruption investigation.
Alberico Ahias Crespo, an agent with the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General, made his first appearance in Miami federal court Wednesday on charges of conspiring to commit a crime against the United States, witness tampering, obstruction of justice and distributing Oxycodone. He has a pretrial detention hearing set for Monday.
Crespo’s defense attorney, Marc Seitles, declined to comment.
Crespo, 45, is charged along with an accused member of the painkiller racket, Jorge Diaz Gutierrez, 65, who also appeared in federal court with him. Diaz, who is represented by the Federal Public Defender’s Office, has a bond hearing Friday.
In a corruption probe launched in March of last year, both men were recorded on wiretaps talking about protecting each other, issuing Santeria religious curses and threatening to kill snitches in the underlying Oxycodone investigation. Both were arrested and taken into federal custody on Tuesday.
Crespo is accused of using his position in a healthcare strike force to tip off Diaz about an investigation into a Hialeah doctor, Rodolfo Gonzalez-Garcia, according to an FBI criminal complaint filed by prosecutor Sean McLaughlin.
Gonzalez-Garcia pleaded guilty to Medicare fraud and other charges last year for unlawfully prescribing and dispensing Oxycodone pills. Three other defendants also pleaded guilty to similar offenses.
Diaz worked as a narcotics distributor for the doctor’s clinic, the complaint says. He also received kickbacks for the patient referrals.
Crespo worked on the healthcare strike force with other HHS and FBI agents over the past decade and with the Drug Enforcement Administration before that stint.
Crespo regularly alerted Diaz about the status of their investigation into his role in the Oxycodone ring, according to an affidavit filed with the complaint. Diaz told a confidential federal source that he had been recruiting patients and buying and selling Oxycodone prescriptions for years — and that Crepo was well aware of his criminal activities, the FBI complaint says.
“Diaz told [the source] not to worry, that Crespo would alert Diaz if Diaz was being investigated,” according to the affidavit by FBI special agent Timothy Lawler. “Diaz informed [the source] that Crespo told Diaz that if anyone ever wished ‘Santeria’ on Crespo, ‘they would pay for it with a bullet.’ “
In recorded conversations last week, Crespo discussed the Oxycodone investigation with Diaz. They talked about the likelihood that they would be caught for collaborating in the distribution of painkillers. Crespo told Diaz that he could end up in prison and talked about “killing and assaulting those who may have cooperated against [him],” the FBI affidavit says.
“Old man, we’re both gonna end up in jail,” Crespo told Diaz on July 17, according to the affidavit. “You’re not understanding. Both of us. Because old man, I’m not gonna sell you out.”
On Monday, the lead FBI case agent in the Oxycodone investigation called Crespo and recorded their conversation. The agent said Crespo lied to him and continued to obstruct the probe.
Crespo told the agent that Diaz was not involved in distributing painkillers and that people were lying about him. Crespo said Diaz only used Oxycodone because he had fallen off a roof and hurt his back. “Crespo stated that Diaz was a good person and that if Diaz was involved in Oxycodone distribution, Crespo would arrest Diaz himself,” the affidavit says.
Crespo and Diaz were arrested the next day.
This story was originally published July 22, 2020 at 2:24 PM.
