Attorney General Todd Rokita sends out $8.8 million in next round of opioid settlement funds to Hoosier communities
Opioid settlements total over $925 million under Rokita Administration
Attorney General Todd Rokita is dispensing more than $8.8 million to Indiana cities, towns and counties in the next round of opioid settlement funds distributed under his leadership.
Attorney General Rokita and his team secured these settlements from companies that allegedly contributed to the state’s opioid epidemic through irresponsible and/or unlawful actions.
“Hoosiers have seen far too many of our loved ones suffer and even die from opioid addiction and overdose,” Attorney General Rokita said. “Misconduct by drug companies helped start this epidemic in the first place, and it has played a large role in perpetuating the crisis. We can’t bring back lost lives, but we can hold these companies accountable and enable communities to use settlement funds on prevention, treatment and enforcement programs.”
In total, Attorney General Rokita has reached settlements worth more than $925 million with companies involved in some aspects of making, selling, distributing or advertising opioids.
This round of distributions includes a one-time payment representing communities’ share of a settlement with Publicis Health to resolve investigations into the global marketing and communications firm’s role in the prescription opioid crisis. Publicis helped Purdue Pharma and other opioid manufacturers market and sell opioids.
In addition, this round of payments includes settlement funds from two distributors — AmerisourceBergen (now known as Cencora) and Cardinal Health. Additional distribution payments are expected in the fall of 2024 from AmerisourceBergen (now known as Cencora), Cardinal Health, McKesson, Teva, Janssen, CVS, and Allergan.
Besides the tragic personal toll on families, the opioid crisis has imposed significant costs on Indiana’s health care, child welfare, and criminal justice systems.
Local governments have discretion in choosing exactly how to use the opioid funds. Guidelines can be found on Attorney General Rokita’s website.
The settlement framework continues to be a 50-50 split between the state and local governments. A listing of the payments estimated for each community for the full 18 years can be found on the Office of Attorney General website.
The Robocall Reckoner: Attorney General Todd Rokita continues relentless takedown of illegal scam callers
Attorney General Todd Rokita and his team continue to rack up tens of millions of dollars in penalties from illegal robocallers, amassing court wins and settlements that stretch far beyond Indiana state lines.
Recently, Rokita’s office led 49 bipartisan attorneys general from the Anti-Robocall Multistate Litigation Task Force against Avid Telecom, a company which sent 24 billion problematic calls during a 4-year period. Avid Telecom even continued transmitting robocalls despite hundreds of warnings that illegal phone calls were being transmitted across their networks – a blatant disregard for telecom privacy that is common throughout the illegal industry.
After successful arguments from Rokita’s office, the Arizona District Court ruled against Avid Telecom’s motion to dismiss, setting up Indiana’s Data Privacy & ID Theft team to hold the company, owner Michael D. Lansky, and vice president Stacey S. Reeves, accountable in the courtroom.
But beating robocallers in court – or sometimes even locating them – is the result of innovation and dedication within the Indiana Attorney General’s office.
In the years leading up to Rokita’s tenure as attorney general, Consumer Reports and trade magazines described the billions of robocalls hitting Indiana as “an epidemic...no phone is safe.”
Rokita’s anti-robocaller attorneys pursued defendants who were responsible for hitting Hoosiers with more than 25 million scam calls in less than one year, taking advantage of everything from auto insurance claims to DirectTV payments. Defendants, like John Caldwell Spiller II, the owner of Texas-based Rising Eagle Capital Group LLC and JSquared Telecom LLC, spoofed phone numbers and bypassed both federal and Indiana “Do Not Call” lists to target their victims.
Rokita and his office’s Data Privacy and Identity Theft team declared war on robocallers in 2021, filing a first-of-its-kind lawsuit against Startel Communication LLC, a now-banned gateway operation that allowed robocallers from India, the Philippines and Singapore to freely harass Hoosier phone lines. That same year, Rokita dismantled the massive Associated Community Services (ACS) telefunding operation, which swindled $110 million from 67 million consumers nationwide who thought they were donating to charities.
Today, robocall tracking sites like Robokiller have removed Indiana entirely from their “top scammer target states,” revealing a reduction of tens of millions of scam calls since 2020.
“Everyone knows robocallers are a huge nuisance, but they pose dangers much worse than merely disturbing our peace," Attorney General Rokita said. "Quite often, these robocalls are part of criminal schemes aimed at stealing Hoosiers' identity and taking our hard-earned money. These annoying and illegal calls are the work of professional scammers looking to prey on unsuspecting victims. That's why we have fought robocallers so doggedly since my first day in office, issuing around $392 million in fines and settlements from robocalling operations.
In August of 2022, Attorney General Rokita announced that his team was co-leading (with North Carolina, and Ohio) the Anti-Robocall Litigation Task Force, a 51-member collective focused on actively investigating and pursuing enforcement actions against various entities in the robocall ecosystem. Attorney General Rokita has earned national praise from telecom outlets over the years for the innovative ways in which his team has investigated and prosecuted wrongdoers – and their ability to work in lockstep with attorneys general offices across the country.
Some of these robocallers are amorphous and slippery figures that claim to have all the answers for unsuspecting U.S. victims of all ages, regarding Medicare rewards, Social Security Administration information, auto warranty “updates,” or even posing as Amazon delivery personnel.
Many robocalling operations move frequently from state-to-state or even nation-to-nation, dissolving and then reappearing under new names. That makes pursuing individual robocallers a daunting, uphill task.
In response to their changing tactics, Rokita’s anti-robocall attorneys led the innovative approach of going after the telecom gatekeepers: Voice-Over-Internet-Protocol (VoIP) providers. The move allowed Indiana to curb millions of calls and block out foreign scammers who abuse the American phone system. In another novel approach, Rokita’s anti-robocall attorneys also targeted another key ally of robocallers – people like Michael T. Smith and Scott Shapiro – operators of the physical call centers that profit from these robocalls.WIN RUNDOWN BULLET POINTS:
- State of Indiana, et al. v. John Spiller II, et al.
- John Spiller: $122,339,320, suspended to $50,000. Injunctive terms to curb robocalling and telemarketing.
- Jakob Mears: $122,339,320, suspended to $10,000. Injunctive terms to curb robocalling and telemarketing.
- Scott Shapiro: $ 73,076,930, suspended to $250,000. Injunctive terms to curb robocalling and telemarketing.
- Michael T. Smith and Health Advisors of America: $ 73,076,930, suspended to $250,000. Injunctive terms to curb robocalling and telemarketing.
- State of Indiana v. Startel Communication LLC, et al.
- Startel and Wanda Hall: $1,338,100, suspended to $5,000, and total ban from industry.
- Piratel: $150,000, suspended to $50,000 and injunctive terms.
- VoIP Essential: $150,000, suspended to $25,000 and injunctive terms.
- State of Indiana v. Eric Simkin, et al.: $2,500 settlement and injunctive terms.
- State of Indiana v. Greg Sheppard, et al.: $30,000 settlement and injunctive terms
- Other actions:
- State of Indiana, v. One Eye LLC: Successful Civil Investigative Demand enforcement, with penalties.
- State of Indiana v. MV Realty LLC, et al.: Lawsuit
This past January, Rokita’s office successfully led 45 attorneys general in a comment to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), ensuring that a new FCC rule would not impact the states’ litigation into VoIP providers. Litigation against those that help and assist robocallers is important, as Rokita’s office has shown. Rokita’s office was able to secure an industry-wide ban against Startel Communication, and other injunctive terms against providers like VoIP Essential and Piratel, and callers like Eric Simkin and Greg Sheppard.
Through bans and injunctive action, Rokita's team has protected Hoosiers while winning millions in suspended settlements that ensure compliance and justice moving forward.
“Winning the war on robocallers requires constantly staying on offense and tracking the latest technologies the scammers are using to carry out their schemes,” Attorney General Rokita said in March 2023, following a string of large settlements and trial victories against multistate robocall operations. “We have pledged to do that since we first took office, and we continue to make good on that promise.”
“If you aid and abet lawbreakers in their commission of criminal acts, then you had best expect to be held accountable for your own role in those misdeeds,” Attorney General Rokita said this week, four years into his anti-scam caller crusade. “We have sent that message loud and clear to the culprits paving the way for illegal robocallers, and we’re going to keep going after them tooth and nail.”
Attorney General Todd Rokita warns college officials: Hateful antisemitic acts against Jewish students will not be tolerated on campus
Following months of campus protests sometimes featuring troubling anti-Jewish propaganda, Attorney General Todd Rokita warned college officials they are duty-bound to enforce Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by combating all forms of antisemitism on their campuses — or risk losing their federal funding.
"My team and I are deeply committed to ending antisemitism in all forms,” Attorney General Rokita wrote in a letter to college officials. “Some Indiana colleges and universities boast large populations of Jewish students. If these students face antisemitism on campus without corrective measures, they may bring an action under Title VI against your university by alleging a hostile environment or retaliation.”
Violent and disruptive protests have rocked campuses coast to coast following last year’s deadly attack on Israel by the terrorist group Hamas. Although the 2023-24 academic year is wrapping up, the potential persists for continued campus protests — and continued antisemitic agitation.
Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination based on “race, color, and national origin” in programs and activities that receive federal financial assistance. Indiana state-run higher educational institutions receive federal funding and are therefore subject to Title VI.
Attorney General Rokita also reminded college officials they must ensure that student groups do not materially support foreign terrorist organizations. House Enrolled Act 1179, which takes effect July 1, 2024, requires state educational institutions to adopt policies to prohibit providing funds or other resources to foreign terrorist organizations or state sponsors of terror.
Those who would incite violence or commit criminal acts may not hide behind the First Amendment to avoid culpability, Attorney General Rokita added.
“Protecting our Jewish students requires accountability on the university’s part. I strongly encourage them to enforce university codes of conduct and the law when necessary to put an end to antisemitism and the promotion of terrorism on your campuses,” Attorney General Rokita said. “That way we can ensure that all students, including our Jewish brothers and sisters, are safe and have an equal access to education.”
Attached is the letter sent to Indiana’s public higher educational institutions.
Watch for signs of human trafficking at Indy 500, Attorney General Todd Rokita warns race fans
As the Greatest Spectacle in Racing, the Indianapolis 500 is unparalleled as an international sporting event. Unfortunately, large events are known to create increased demand for trafficked individuals providing manual labor, sex for hire and other services. Attorney General Todd Rokita asks Hoosiers to know the signs, stay alert and report any suspicion to law enforcement.
“Spectator events of such grand scale are ripe for human traffickers looking for opportunities to carry out their heinous crimes,” Attorney General Rokita said. “As we excitedly participate in the greatest spectacle in racing, we need to keep our eyes and ears open for human trafficking as well. By reporting suspicions to local law enforcement, we can help authorities nab these predators and save victims.”
Following are signs that someone might be a victim of trafficking:
- They appear submissive or fearful.
- They are prohibited from speaking alone to strangers.
- They give answers that appear to be scripted or rehearsed.
- They show signs of physical abuse.
“Human traffickers can prey on anyone, regardless of their age, race or background,” Attorney General Rokita said. “It’s up to all of us to play a role in shutting down this devastating criminal enterprise.”
People in certain job roles — such as medical professionals, restaurant workers, and hotel employees — are particularly likely to come into contact with trafficking victims.
If you have suspicions that someone is being trafficked, call local law enforcement immediately. You may also report suspicions to the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-888-373-7888.
In addition to raising awareness, Attorney General Rokita and his team are engaged in other efforts to combat human trafficking.
The Office of the Attorney General operates the Address Confidentiality Program, which helps protect victims of certain crimes — including those who have been trafficked — by concealing their residential address from the public and thereby their victimizers. Learn more about the program at the Attorney General’s website.
In February, Attorney General Rokita announced all K-5 students in Indiana would receive a child ID kit in 2024 — free of charge to Indiana families. Child ID kits give parents a tool to provide detailed information, a photograph, fingerprint, and DNA to law enforcement quickly. Completed kits are kept in a safe place at home, out of a database, so parents are prepared if the unthinkable happens. Kits will be distributed by superintendents and school resource officers to students this fall.
As it happens, this year the Indianapolis 500 race weekend coincides with National Missing Children’s Day, which is May 25. The day is intended to encourage parents, guardians and communities to make child safety a priority — and as a reminder to continue our efforts to reunite missing children with their families.
Attorney General Todd Rokita springs into action to support consumers by raising awareness of harmful household products recalled in April
Attorney General Todd Rokita is alerting Hoosiers of important consumer protection concerns for products recalled in April. The office encourages consumers to take advantage of opportunities available for those who purchase recalled items that could be harmful to their families.
“Keeping children and Hoosiers safe is my top priority,” Attorney General Rokita said. “If you have one of the recalled products, stop using it immediately and pursue resolution from the manufacturer. If you have difficulty finding a solution for your recalled product, call my office immediately.”
According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the following consumer products were recalled in April:
If you believe you recently purchased a recalled product, stop using it, and check its recall notice (linked above for all products). Then follow the notice’s instructions, including where to return the product, how to get the product fixed, how to dispose of the product, how to receive a refund for the product, or what steps must be taken to receive a replacement product.
To view recalls issued prior to April visit the Consumer Protection Safety Commission website.
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