Mr. Newton has more than 30 years of experience investigating, prosecuting, litigating, and monitoring criminal, civil, and parallel financial and health care fraud allegations and addressing collateral compliance consequences nationally as a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Special Agent, Assistant United States Attorney (AUSA), independent corporate monitor, and as an attorney in private practice.
Litigation, Monitoring and Investigations
Mr. Newton's national defense practice focuses on government investigations and prosecutions, parallel criminal and civil health care fraud cases, independent monitorships, complex internal investigations, and "bet the company" commercial litigation. He represents global, public, and large private companies, including the leading global public financial services company and several subsidiaries; the oldest and largest health care company in the U.S.; the largest global health carrier (by revenue) and its global subsidiary; the largest military shipbuilding company in the U.S.; the largest physician-owned Medicare Advantage health maintenance organization (HMO) in the U.S.; a public pharmacy; and numerous others. He also served as the Independent Review Organization (IRO) monitor for the ninth largest public health system in the country.
Mr. Newton has 25 years of experience prosecuting and defending virtually every type of provider, including pharmaceutical manufacturers and distributors, hospital systems, managed care organizations (MCOs), HMOs, physician practices, and others in parallel criminal/civil/administrative False Claims Act (FCA) and qui tams, Stark and Anti-Kickback Statute (AKS)/FCA bootstrapped cases, which are considered the most complex of litigation matters. He also defended white collar crime cases involving the FBI, Securities Exchange Commission (SEC), Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), and Office of Inspectors General (OIG).
Mr. Newton provides guidance to boards of directors, audit committees, and C-suite management about the impact of fraud allegations on enterprise governance, compliance, and risk management. He regularly responds to grand jury investigations, including leading responsive internal investigations, addressing search warrants, subpoenas, seizure of assets, preparing witness testimony, production of records, leading litigation, negotiating settlements and/or pleas, trying cases, preparing and negotiating compliance programs, and other remedial administrative measures. Mr. Newton has extensive entity corporate integrity monitoring and systems review experience. He assists with managing risk in mergers and acquisitions by offering due diligence support, evaluation, and advice. Mr. Newton also assists with compliance issues, enforcement trends, regulatory issues, voluntary disclosures, Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) compliance, and medical staff issues. Mr. Newton is a frequent speaker regarding responding to government investigations and prosecutions.
Disaster Recovery and Government Services
Following Hurricane Katrina, Mr. Newton was appointed by Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour as Special Counsel to the Governor's Commission for Recovery to continue serving the impacted communities. He conceived, developed, and helped implement the $5.5 billion financial management oversight processes used by the state in its recovery, and initiated and led Baker Donelson's Disaster Recovery and Government Services Team. By including strategic partners, the Firm gained a national reputation as one of the only law firms in the country serving public clients in substantive project management and disaster recovery legal guidance.
Assistant United States Attorney, Southern District of Mississippi and Western District of Louisiana (1997 – 2003)
As an AUSA, Mr. Newton prosecuted violations of federal laws and led felony trials in narcotics trafficking and white collar crime cases, as well as misdemeanor trials in environmental and other cases. He tried and convicted Fidel Ayala, a Los Angeles County methamphetamine trafficker with a national network, which included Mississippi co-conspirators, obtaining the first life sentence in a narcotics case in the Southern District of Mississippi. Mississippi and California co-conspirators were also convicted. The case was the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics "2001 Case of the Year." Federal agencies involved included the DEA, United States Customs and Border Protection, and FBI in Mississippi and California.
Mr. Newton also initiated and, for more than a year, led a high-profile judicial bribery investigation that resulted in the convictions of two state trial court judges and nationally prominent plaintiff's attorneys.
As the AUSA for Health Care Fraud Enforcement, Mr. Newton successfully prosecuted more than 200 health care fraud cases, recovering more than $25 million for the Medicare Trust Fund. As part of a national Department of Justice (DOJ)/HHS Medicare initiative, he prosecuted 121 hospitals, including a national hospital chain, recovering more than $10 million. The settlement with the national hospital chain resulted in the largest health care fraud recovery in Mississippi's history. He is a two-time recipient of the HHS Inspector General's "Integrity Award," the highest honor bestowed on individuals outside the agency.
Mr. Newton has experience in civil trials defending Federal Torts Claims Act cases and was appointed as representative to the DOJ's Health Care Fraud Working Group. He has successfully defended numerous federal agencies in litigation.
Federal Bureau of Investigation, Salt Lake City Division (1991 – 1997)
Mr. Newton led Bonneville Pacific Corporation investigation, which was called "America's first corporate scandal case" by former DOJ senior officials – a successful, high profile case with estimated $1 billion in securities fraud, international money laundering (offshore bank accounts in Switzerland, Isle of Mann, and the Bahamas), tax evasion, and bank fraud investigation of a publicly traded alternative energy company and its nationally known accounting, investment banking, and law firms. The chairman of the board, CEO, and three managing directors, who inflated stock prices and diverted millions offshore, were convicted. The case was the lead story in The Wall Street Journal and Barron's due to its significance, complexity, novelty, and involvement of the then-mayor of Salt Lake City and two former Utah governors.
Mr. Newton was appointed as FBI representative to the U.S. Securities and Commodities Task Force. He initiated and directed the successful undercover case "Stamp Out," the first FBI effort aimed at electronic benefit card and food stamp fraud. He directed the successful "Fast Track" program, significantly deterring bank fraud in Salt Lake City. He also worked on the FBI's largest national undercover telemarketing case in a supporting undercover role, the Montana Freemen Standoff, and the Unabomber case. Mr. Newton made numerous arrests, executed search warrants, and worked on Title IIIs supporting the Violent Crimes Task Force. During his tenure with the FBI, he served as a Relief Supervisory Special Agent for two years.