Indiana Free Press - Indiana By the People, For the People

Anderson Man Charged with Defrauding the Indiana Medicaid Program of Over $900,000

kpaul.mallasch — Mon, 5 Jan 2009 21:18:45 -0800

Timothy M. Morrison, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana, announced that Dennis Lennartz, 55, Anderson , Indiana , was charged with defrauding the Indiana Medicaid program, following an investigation by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and The Indiana Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit.

The information alleges that beginning in April 2006, Dennis Lennartz, knowingly defrauded the Indiana Medicaid program of $964,852.59, by billing for services not actually rendered. In furtherance of his scheme, Lennartz concealed his involvement from Indiana Medicaid by billing under the provider number of another company.

"This case demonstrates the commitment of the Office of Inspector General working with our Federal and State law enforcement partners to protect our Nation's vulnerable Medicaid recipients," said Lamont Pugh III, Special Agent in Charge for the Chicago region of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General which covers the State of Indiana. "Defrauding the Medicaid program isn't fair to the taxpayers who deserve accountability," said Attorney General Steve Carter. "Even more tragically, though, it wastes money that would otherwise provide healthcare for those who can't afford to pay."

According to Assistant U. S. Attorney Bradley P. Shepard, who is prosecuting the case for the government, Lennartz faces a maximum possible prison sentence of 20 years and a maximum possible fine of $250,000. An initial hearing has been scheduled for January 20, 2009 before a U.S. Magistrate Judge in Indianapolis , Indiana .

The information is an allegation only, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty at trial or by guilty plea.

New Detective Assigned to ISP Peru Post

kpaul.mallasch — Mon, 5 Jan 2009 12:48:08 -0800

PERU, IN - Indiana State Police Superintendent Paul Whitesell, Ph.D., recently announced the reclassification of Trooper Bob Burgess to the position of detective. Detective Burgess is an eight year veteran of the Indiana State Police Department. He earned his assignment into the Criminal Investigation Division through written testing and a competitive interview process. Detective Burgess will work from the Indiana State Police Peru Post which is responsible for Wabash, Tipton, Cass, Howard, Miami, and Fulton Counties.

Detective Burgess is a Cass County native and a 1986 graduate of Lewis Cass High School. He holds an associates degree in conservation law enforcement from Vincennes University. Detective Burgess graduated from the Indiana State Police Academy in June of 2000 and was assigned to the Indiana State Police Peru Post, where he has worked road patrol in Cass and Miami Counties. Detective Burgess is a certified field training officer, emergency vehicle operation instructor and a member of the Indiana State Police Clandestine Lab Enforcement Team.

Prior to his new assignment, Burgess was assigned to the Indiana State Police Methamphetamine Suppression Section, where he worked as the methamphetamine suppression officer for the Indiana State Police Peru Post. Burgess has also worked as the marijuana eradication officer for the Indiana State Police Peru Post.

Prior to joining the Indiana State Police, Burgess worked six years as an officer for the Logansport Police Department. He also served the Indiana State Excise Police Department for two and a half years.

Shenandoah’s Kate Hillman Wins Pizza Hut Invitational

kpaul.mallasch — Mon, 5 Jan 2009 12:44:01 -0800

Shenandoah’s Kate Hillman Wins Pizza Hut Invitational

By Kevin Rockhill

Hamilton South Eastern High School hosted the 1st Annual Pizza Hut Invitation Saturday introducing a new format to the Indiana high school diving community. The field of girls and boys from across the state featured many of the state’s top 20 ranked divers.

The event format was identical to the Olympic Trials where each diver completed a list of 5 optional dives three times and their cumulative score determined the winner. Unlike a typical 6 dive meet or 11 dive championship event, this format required the divers to not only complete each of their dives well one time, they had to complete each of their five dives well three times to be in the hunt for the title.

Shenandoah’s Kate Hillman topped the field of girls with a total score of 660.20 points followed by Hamilton Southeastern’s Christina Beyerl with 618.60 points and Homesteads Mariah Kiefer with 569.65 points. Beyerl and Kiefer finished in the top 16 at the 2007-08 IHSAA State Championships. Highland was represented by Kelsey Upperman (15th) and Cassie Gaton (26th). Pendleton Heights was represented by Kristen Sylvester (20th), Haley Dick (22nd), and Hannah Cochran. Cochran was delayed by and academic commitment and only completed 1 list of 5 dives, however a three list average would have placed her in 9th position.

On the boy’s side, Dakota Johnson earned top honors with a score of 550.60 points. Highland’s Josh Doggett was 5th with 441.10 points. Pendleton Heights’ was represented by Cody Thrasher (9th), Josh Wilson (11th), and Brady Tibbets (17th).

Hillman was also awarded the Pizza Hut Dive of the meet for her Inward 1 ½ somersault pike that topped all dives in the meet by scoring 50.4 points on her best one and averaged 47.2 points for the three attempts.

Shenandoah and Pendleton Heights will be in competition again Jan 6th against Anderson High School beginning at 5:15pm at Pendleton Height High School. Highland’s next meet will be against Pendleton Heights at Highland on Jan 13th at 5:00pm.

Iraqi, Coalition Forces Detain Suspects, Find Weapons

kpaul.mallasch — Sat, 3 Jan 2009 14:45:02 -0800

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Jan. 2, 2009 – Iraqi and coalition forces detained numerous terrorism suspects and seized stockpiles of illegal weapons in various operations this week, military officials reported.

In Dec. 31 operations:

-- Iraqi security forces detained five people after an indirect-fire attack southwest of Kut in Wasit province.

-- Iraqi soldiers found a cache in Baghdad's Ameriyah neighborhood that contained homemade explosives, a detonation cord and blasting cap.

-- Acting on a resident's tip, Iraqi and U.S. soldiers recovered two rocket-propelled grenades in western Baghdad.

-- U.S. and Iraqi soldiers uncovered a cache north of Baghdad that contained three 107 mm projectiles.

In Dec. 30 operations:

-- Iraqi National Police, supported by coalition forces, detained two men who allegedly were involved in a recent bomb attack against a checkpoint in Baghdad's Aamel community manned by the "Sons of Iraq" citizen security group.

-- In Baghdad's Saydiyah community, Iraqi soldiers, supported by coalition forces, found three rocket-propelled grenades, three fuses, a battery and an unexploded 40 mm round. Later, Iraqi and coalition soldiers also found 15 mortar fuses in a vacant house in the area.

-- Iraqi and U.S. soldiers operating west of Baghdad seized a large weapons cache that included various rockets, mortars, grenades, fuses, a partially built bomb and a variety of bomb-making materials. Later, soldiers from the same units seized another cache in the area. The second cache contained 23 mortars.

(Compiled from Multinational Corps Iraq news releases.)

Face of Defense: Future Airman Loses 160 Pounds, Gains Confidence

kpaul.mallasch — Sat, 3 Jan 2009 10:02:11 -0800

By Air Force Tech. Sgt. Jennifer Lindsey
Special to American Forces Press Service

RANDOLPH AIR FORCE BASE, Texas, Jan. 2, 2009 – For the past 15 months, Leo Knight-Inglesby has pushed himself beyond the limits he and his loved ones ever thought possible.

The 22-year-old Silver Spring, Md., native shed more than 160 pounds to meet the physical standard of Air Force enlistment, amazing his recruiter, family and friends.

"No one believed I would do it till I showed them the [enlistment] papers," Knight-Inglesby said. "My life has completely changed. Not only am I stronger, physically, I am mentally stronger and more confident."

Today, the former 351-pound college freshman noshes only on healthy food, limits his daily caloric intake and exercises at least five days a week. Although he maintains the same smile, he looks like a different person at about 190 pounds, his recruiter, Air Force Staff Sgt. Ty Lopez, said.

"He's well on his way to making his goal of 185 pounds before heading to basic military training," Lopez said.

Leo Knight-Inglesby, left, reviews his Air Force enlistment contract with his recruiter, Air Force Staff Sgt. Ty Lopez, in the Rockville, Md., recruiting office. The 22-year-old lost more than 160 pounds to join the Air Force. U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Ty Lopez
high-resolution image available.

Knight-Inglesby is scheduled to enter basic training at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, in March, but said he hopes to attend earlier if a spot becomes available.

The 317th Recruiting Squadron recruiter caught Knight-Inglesby's attention in the summer of 2007 while speaking about Air Force opportunities to a group of people near a local community college.

"I wasn't getting much interest out of anyone except an obviously overweight guy in the back of the group," Lopez recalled. "He asked me questions that I gladly answered in hopes that the other guys in the group would become interested. At the end of our conversation, Leo said he wanted to join."

The recruiter told the young man he looked heavier than the maximum allowable weight to enlist, and that at his height he needed to weigh under 202 pounds to join. A week later, Knight-Inglesby visited Lopez, tipping the recruiting office scale at 347 pounds and leading the future airman to a serious evaluation of his life.

"My uncle was overweight and had a massive heart attack, and I didn't want that to happen to me" he said. "I knew I had to get my life on track, and I wanted the benefits the Air Force offers."

The potential to travel overseas, especially to Germany, remains a powerful motivator for Knight-Inglesby, as does his father's encouragement to serve in the military. Both his grandfathers and father served in the Army, and his brother serves in the Navy.

The only issue that kept Knight-Inglesby from becoming an airman earlier was his girth, he said.

Lopez said Knight-Inglesby's weight loss gave him insight on the power of personal determination. When Knight-Inglesby proved he was serious about making the standard, Lopez joined him at the gym and helped the future airman continue when he reached a plateau in his weight loss at 220 pounds.

"We worked hard and he would never give up," Lopez said. "No matter how hard I worked him or how tired he got, he would keep going and ask for more.

"As a recruiter, we get hung up on time management," he continued. "I have 28 high schools and colleges to visit every month in addition to scheduled appointments. Applicants 15 to 20 pounds overweight say they want to join and that they'll lose the weight, then I never hear from them again. But based on Leo's case, now I'll think twice about not taking them seriously."

(Air Force Tech. Sgt. Jennifer Lindsey serves in the Air Force Recruiting Service public affairs office.)

Pakistani Forces Making ‘Good Progress' in Khyber Pass Offensive

kpaul.mallasch — Sat, 3 Jan 2009 09:44:51 -0800

By Gerry J. Gilmore
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Jan. 2, 2009 – The Pakistani military is making good progress against militants who have threatened a major supply route running from Pakistan into Afghanistan, U.S. officials said here today.

U.S. military officials in Afghanistan are "cautiously optimistic" regarding recent news reports that cite Pakistani forces' success in driving militants away from the Khyber Pass region, U.S. Forces Afghanistan spokesman Army Col. Jerry O'Hara said in a telephone interview with American Forces Press Service today.

Pakistani forces launched an offensive Dec. 30 to target militants who, in recent weeks, have attacked some supply convoys that transit the Khyber Pass.

That supply route runs hundreds of miles from the Pakistani port city of Karachi to Peshawar in northwestern Pakistan and then through the Khyber Pass into Afghanistan. The Khyber Pass route provides about 75 percent of the U.S. supplies to troops in Afghanistan.

The Pakistani military actions directed against militants who operate in the Khyber Pass area are providing "security of the Peshawar [supply] terminals and our supply lines," O'Hara said.

Pakistan's operations in the Khyber Pass region are achieving success, Washington-based U.S. State Department spokesman Fred Lash said today during a phone interview with American Forces Press Service.

"We certainly welcome that kind of cooperation we're seeing," Lash said, noting he understands that Pakistani forces "are making good progress" against the militants.

The United States appreciates Pakistan's actions against militants operating along the border with Afghanistan, Lash said, as well as Pakistan's arrests of suspects following the November terrorist attack on Mumbai, India.

"We welcome the full and transparent cooperation of Pakistan in all matters like this," Lash said. "Not only in trying to ferret out the perpetrators of the Mumbai attack, but actions such as this in the Khyber-Pass region just shows they are cooperating more in a lot of ways."

The Khyber Pass supply route was temporarily closed at the start of the Pakistani offensive, but U.S. Forces Afghanistan and NATO International Security Force officials had noted in a recent joint statement that closure of the supply route had "no immediate impact on our ability to provide supplies to the troops" in Afghanistan. Due to the offensive's success, the Khyber Pass route was reopened today, according to news reports.

Meanwhile, U.S. military officials have been looking for other supply-route options. U.S. Transportation Command's top officer, Air Force Gen. Duncan J. McNabb, traveled to several Central Asian countries in November to explore options for establishing added supply routes for Afghanistan operations, Transcom spokeswoman Cynthia Bauer said Dec. 31 during a telephone interview with American Forces Press Service. Transcom is based at Scott Air Force Base, Ill.

"We've been looking at alternate distribution routes for a while," Bauer said.

Coalition, Afghan Troops Kill Militants, Capture Suspects

kpaul.mallasch — Sat, 3 Jan 2009 09:41:26 -0800

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Jan. 2, 2009 – Afghan and coalition forces killed numerous enemy fighters, captured terrorism suspects and repelled two attacks against bases in recent days, military officials reported.

Coalition and Afghan forces killed five militants and detained 10 suspects -- including a targeted Haqqani terrorist group militant and a Taliban subcommander -- during multiple operations in Afghanistan's Khowst and Zabul provinces yesterday.

Afghan and coalition forces netted the Haqqani leader during a combined operation in the Sabari district of Khowst province that left five armed militants dead and seven suspects detained.

As the combined force approached the targeted man's compound, several armed militants came out of the buildings and attacked the force with small-arms fire and hand grenades. The combined force returned fire, called in close-air support, and killed five armed militants. A search revealed several hand grenades and assault rifles, pistols and bomb-making materials.

An operation in Zabul province's Qalat district yesterday resulted in the capture of a Taliban subcommander known for weapons trafficking and planning attacks against coalition forces along Highway 1, the major north-south road connecting Kandahar to Kabul.
Coalition forces searched the targeted compound without incident and detained the subcommander and two other suspected militants while protecting nine women and 20 children.

In earlier operations:

-- Coalition forces killed eight armed Taliban militants and detained one suspect in Zabul province's Arghandad district Dec. 31. The operation targeted a Taliban subcommander wanted for his ties to a bombing network along Highway 1 and recent attacks against coalition forces. He also is believed to help foreign fighters enter the region. Coalition forces killed six militants who refused to leave the targeted compound, where a subsequent search revealed assault rifles, pistols and hand grenades. As coalition forces left the targeted building, armed militants moving along a nearby ridge attempted to engage them. The forces called in close-air support, and two armed militants were killed.

-- Afghan National police and coalition forces killed three insurgents who tried to attack a forward operating base in the Nahr Surkh district of Helmand province Dec. 31.

-- Afghan security guards thwarted a daytime insurgent attack on Shindand Airfield in western Afghanistan's Herat province Dec. 29. Afghan National Police officers detained four insurgents for questioning. One insurgent who was wounded during the operation received medical care from a coalition medic, but died of his wounds. An Afghan National Army cleric took possession of the body to ensure an appropriate burial in accordance with Islamic religious customs.

-- Afghan commandos and coalition forces killed an insurgent and detained five others during a Dec. 28 operation in Sanowghan in Herat province. The combined forces safeguarded two men, 12 women and 18 children during the operation. The insurgent killed had fired upon the commandos as they approached, and the commandos responded with small-arms fire. After the engagement, the combined forces met with village elders to discuss the reasons for the operation.

(Compiled from U.S. Forces Afghanistan news releases.)

IDEM technology upgrade helps communities and businesses, enhances public safety

kpaul.mallasch — Fri, 2 Jan 2009 19:16:14 -0800

New e-Service allows near real-time chemical reporting

INDIANAPOLIS, IN - When natural disasters strike, fire departments and businesses must work quickly together to safely manage stored chemicals and protect the public. The Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) has a new online reporting tool that makes it easier for businesses to update facility information and provide real-time information to responders who need it.

"We're making it easy for about 5,000 businesses in Indiana that file reports on hazardous chemicals under community-right-to-know requirements," said IDEM Commissioner Thomas Easterly. "Just as importantly, our online reporting tool will provide accurate, up-to-date information for the Indiana Department of Homeland Security, local emergency planning committees and members of the public who are involved or have an interest in emergency planning."

To meet clear, consistent, and speedy service goals, IDEM has created a new e-Services portal on the agency's Web site at www.idem.IN.gov/5674.htm. Three major components comprise IDEM's e-Services: the Regulatory Services Portal (RSP) provided through a new agency-wide database known as TEMPO; Virtual File Cabinet (VFC); and LEADS® (Leading Environmental Analysis and Display System), a near real-time air quality monitoring network. Another innovation currently underway is called Digital Inspector.

Businesses that file reports under the federal Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act can begin registering online via IDEM's Regulatory Services Portal at www.idem.IN.gov/5674.htm. Businesses and the public can find information about Community Right To Know on IDEM's Web site at www.idem.IN.gov/5285.htm.

"We serve 6.2 million Hoosiers every day and have responded to the desires and needs of the public by working smarter," said Commissioner Easterly. "In upgrading the agency's methods and keeping up with technologies, we can improve government efficiency and protect Hoosiers and our environment."

U.S. Deaths in Iraq Decrease in 2008

kpaul.mallasch — Fri, 2 Jan 2009 19:12:37 -0800

By John J. Kruzel
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Jan. 2, 2009 – The number of U.S. military fatalities in Iraq in 2008 fell two-thirds compared to the previous year, underscoring an improvement in security amid upcoming provincial elections.

Last year's casualty figure -- 314 -- marks a sharp reduction from 2007 when 904 troops died. The 2008 tally comes on the heels of a week in which the number of daily attacks in Iraq dropped nearly 95 percent compared to the same time last year.

"This is a dramatic improvement of safety throughout the country," Army Brig. Gen. David G. Perkins, a Multinational Force Iraq spokesman, told reporters in Baghdad last week, when the average number of daily attacks in Iraq was 10, compared to 180 a year earlier.

He added that the country's murder rates have dropped below levels that existed before the start of American operations in Iraq. In November, the ratio was .9 per 100,000 people.

Military and Defense Department officials have attributed security gains over the past year to a host of factors, including the now-completed surge of U.S. forces, Sunni fighters aligning themselves with Iraqi and coalition forces to help purge al-Qaida and maintain security, and a cease-fire pledge by prominent Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, who controlled several militias.

Overall violence in Iraq has fallen some 80 percent since the surge of 33,000 U.S. forces began in January 2007.

Speaking in October about the reduced bloodshed in Iraq, Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, emphasized the role of reinvigorated counterinsurgency tactics.

Put simply, counterinsurgency is a form of warfare in which a civilian population is in the center of a tug-of-war between an insurgency and the forces attempting to stop it. The Army and Marine Corps in late 2006 published a counterinsurgency strategy written by a host of contributors, including Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, who implemented its tenets while serving for 20 months as the top U.S. commander in Iraq.

"In my view, what really turned it around was the counterinsurgency tactics our troops embraced and perfected," Mullen said Oct. 8 at the annual Association of the U.S. Army conference.

While the security gains are significant, Army Gen. Raymond T. Odierno, Multinational Force Iraq commander, warned in an interview with reporters in Baghdad last month against becoming complacent amid Iraq's improved security, a transfer of authority to Iraqi forces and an upcoming election.

"In military terms, transitions are the most dangerous times," the general said Dec. 23. "What we're trying to do is make sure we don't have any seams in our transition."

A piece of legislation hammered out by Washington and Baghdad -- known as the Status of Forces Agreement -- went into effect yesterday. The agreement supersedes the United Nations mandate for the coalition presence in Iraq, and transfers military operational authority to Iraqi forces with U.S. forces assuming a support, or "overwatch," role.

The deal becomes effective ahead of the scheduled Jan. 31 provincial elections in Iraq, which Odierno characterized as the next security test for combined forces.

"Al-Qaida will try to exploit the elections because they don't want them to happen. So I think they will attempt to create some violence and uncertainty in the population," he said. "The next 60 days are a critical period."

U.S. Turns Over Green Zone Security Responsibility to Iraq

kpaul.mallasch — Thu, 1 Jan 2009 23:12:52 -0800

By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Jan. 1, 2009 – The United States formally transferred the Republican Palace back to the Iraqi government today, a concrete symbol of the continuing improvement in the country.

The transfer came about as the status of forces agreement between the United States and Iraq took effect.

The agreement replaces the United Nations mandate under which the coalition went into Iraq and has conducted operations there since. Under the agreement, Iraqi forces are now in the lead with U.S. forces in a supporting role or in overwatch.

Officials said that American troops are still on duty at some of the checkpoints in Green Zone, but they are there to train their Iraqi counterparts rather than with operational control.

"When you come up to a checkpoint, the Iraqis will check your identification. They will make the decision if you come in or go out, " said Army Maj. Gen. Dave Perkins, U.S. spokesman in Iraq. As a colonel, Perkins led the 2nd Brigade of the 3rd Infantry Division that conducted the Thunder Run in April 2003 that first entered Baghdad.

"We will continue to be there to provide some technical capacity, to provide some mentoring, but you will see less and less American forces and more and more Iraqi forces – and they will have the majority of the responsibility for making those key decisions which determine the security of the capital," Perkins said.

The American effort has shifted down the river to the embassy. The new embassy – the largest U.S. embassy in the world – is open for business. Officials at the embassy are working with the Iraqis in detailing how other portions of the SOFA agreement will play out.

Iraqi security forces have made tremendous gains over the past 18 months, officials in Baghdad said. The U.S. surge of five brigades into Iraq announced in January 2006 brought security and stability to the country. Behind this, the Iraqi army and police were able to develop and train. The agreement recognizes this progress and now Iraqi forces have primary responsibility for security in the country.

The agreement also calls for all American combat troops to be out of cities and villages by June. Planning is underway for this move already, U.S. officials in Baghdad said. The agreement says all U.S. troops will be out of Iraq by the end of 2011.

The transfer of responsibility for security of the Green Zone is the most visible outcome of the agreement. The palace on the banks of the Tigris River was the seat of the Iraqi government under Saddam Hussein. U.S. servicemembers called the building the "three-headed palace" because of three huge busts of Saddam that decorated it.

Soon after American soldiers rolled into Baghdad, the palace became the headquarters of the coalition forces in the country. It also served as the U.S. embassy in the country.

While spared any direct attack in the "shock and awe" campaign in March 2003, the building still had no glass in the windows and American soldiers bunked in some of the rooms decorated with pictures of missiles and other portrayals of Saddam's might.

The palace became the hub of the Coalition Provisional Authority – the coalition group that ruled Iraq before the first government. U.S. Ambassador Paul Bremer transferred sovereignty back to the Iraqis in a ceremony at the palace in June 2004.

The grounds behind the palace was filled with hundreds of trailers that coalition officials lived in as they worked with Iraqi governmental departments.