MARYLAND (WBFF) — Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown announced Thursday that his office has reached a settlement with LifeBridge Health, Inc. that will provide nearly $2 million in restitution to certain patients who paid outpatient facility fees before new state notice requirements took effect.

AG Brown said the Consumer Protection Division entered into a settlement agreement with LifeBridge concerning hospital fees known as outpatient facility fees that were charged prior to July 1, 2021, when the Facility Fee Right-to-Know Act took effect and established standards for notices about such fees.

The Consumer Protection Division alleged that consumers were not adequately informed they would be subject to the facility fees. LifeBridge denied that patients had been inadequately informed, but agreed to pay $1,985,198.90 in restitution.

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The restitution is for patients who paid out-of-pocket for fees charged by certain LifeBridge hospital clinics for clinic services received before July 1, 2021, when those services also were available at a non-hospital facility owned or operated by a LifeBridge affiliate where the consumer would not have incurred a facility fee.

Eligible patients should expect to receive a refund check from LifeBridge over the next six months, according to AG office.

Consumers with questions about the settlement can call 410-576-6571.

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MARYLAND (WBFF) — A Maryland man and his California accomplice both pled guilty to drug trafficking charges involving the concealment of drugs within auto parts at a repair shop, the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office announced Wednesday.

Authorities reported that Norville Clarke, 56, of Clarksburg, Maryland, and Daniel Cruz, 39, of Los Angeles, California, were charged with conspiracy to distribute controlled substances.

In 2023, an investigation targeted a drug trafficking organization that was transporting and distributing large quantities of cocaine from California to Maryland.

The investigation began after police seized a parcel containing approximately two kilograms of cocaine that was mailed from Los Angeles with an intended delivery to Clarke’s auto-repair shop in District Heights, Maryland.

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During the investigation, Cruz was linked to the narcotics in the parcel, as well as to its source, authorities reported.

In January 2024, postal inspectors, along with other investigators, identified a freight shipment from Los Angeles intended for delivery at Clarke’s auto-repair shop, and officials said surveillance footage showed Cruz dropping off that shipment at a shipping company in California.

After that, authorities observed Cruz traveling to Maryland to track the shipment’s delivery.

Cruz and Clarke were then seen by investigators meeting at the auto-repair shop several days after the shipment occurred.

Investigators tracked the fright shipment to Dulles, Virginia, where authorities executed a search warrant and recovered two automobile transmissions inside, as well as 20 one-kilogram bricks secreted in both transmissions.

Officials reported that laboratory forensic tests confirmed that the bricks were over 16 kilograms of cocaine.

A search warrant was then also executed for Clarke’s District Heights auto-repair shop, Clarke’s Clarksburg residence, and Cruz’s hotel room in Capitol Heights, Maryland.

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At the auto repair shop, officials recovered 502.4 grams of cocaine, and then at Clarke’s residence, officers found two-kilogram bricks of cocaine and $45,730 in cash.

Furthermore, investigators later found another nine historical freight shipments that resembled the original shipment containing cocaine, which Cruz sent to Clarke’s auto repair shop.

In plea agreements, officials said both defendants agreed to have been involved in possessing around 22 kilograms of cocaine in furtherance of the drug trafficking conspiracy.

Both also face a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years and a maximum life in prison, followed by up to a lifetime of supervised release

Cruz’s sentencing is scheduled for Thursday, June 18, at 1 p.m., and the sentencing for Clarke is scheduled for Friday, July 24, at 10 a.m.