Opinion
Civil Action 1:22-cv-0101
06-01-2022
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff, v. STEPHON BROOKS, Defendant.
ORDER
CLAUDE M. HILTON UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
This matter comes before the Court on the Report and Recommendation of the Magistrate Judge dated April 15, 2022 in response to Plaintiff's Motion for Default Judgment.
Plaintiff filed a complaint against Defendant on January 31, 2022. Count I and II seek treble damages and civil penalties pursuant to the False Claims Act ("FCA"). Count III seeks civil penalties pursuant to the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act ("FIRREA"). Count IV seeks recovery for common law payment by mistake of fact. Defendant did not file any responsive pleadings to the complaint. Plaintiff filed a Motion for Default Judgment on March 11, 2022. On April 15, 2022 the Magistrate Judge issued a Report and Recommendation recommending that the Court grant Plaintiff's Motion for Default Judgment pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1)(C). Defendant did not respond to the Motion for Default Judgment or the Report and Recommendation.
Based on a de novo review of the evidence in this case, having reviewed the Report and Recommendations, it appears to the Court that the Magistrate Judge's Report and Recommendation is neither clearly erroneous nor contrary to law. Therefore, it is adopted and hereby
ORDERED that Plaintiff's Motion for Default Judgement is GRANTED; that judgment is entered in favor of Plaintiff against Defendant on Counts I in the amount of $223,314, Count II in the amount of $152,496 in treble damages and $70,818 in penalties, and Count III in the amount of $41,666 for Defendant's FIRREA violations. It is hereby ordered that Count IV of the complaint is DISMISSED without prejudice.