KANSAS CITY, Mo. & PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb 4, 2025--
Stuart N. Kaplan, P.A., along with Thomas J. Ali, P.A., successfully represented Berkley Equity Limited and Anthony Lyons in a federal court case filed by DRE Health Corporation.
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DRE Health Corporation, a Kansas-based company, sued Berkley Equity Limited and Anthony Lyons in a nine-count complaint, alleging breach of contract, fraud, negligent misrepresentation, fraudulent inducement, civil conspiracy, and other claims. After a three-week trial, the jury returned a verdict in favor of Berkley Equity and Lyons on all counts, finding no liability and awarding the plaintiff zero damages.
Stuart N. Kaplan, Esq., the lead attorney for the defense, expressed his satisfaction with the jury's verdict: "We were very fortunate to have a jury who was very engaging and who followed the law as instructed by the court and applied the evidence as presented to reach the just verdict."
Thomas J. Ali, Esq., co-counsel for the defendants, added, "This nightmare of three and a half years for Mr. Lyons has finally come to an end. We are pleased that the jury recognized the facts and the truth, clearing Mr. Lyons and Berkley Equity of all claims."
DRE Health Corporation, represented by Reed Smith LLP, initially sought over $250 million in damages, alleging various claims regarding a 2021 contract for the purchase of Covid masks. However, the jury found no merit to the claims, and the verdict conclusively cleared Berkley Equity and Lyons of any wrongdoing.
Stuart N. Kaplan, former FBI Special Agent and renowned legal expert, continues to advocate for justice and integrity in high-profile cases. With decades of experience in law enforcement and legal defense, Kaplan remains a trusted voice in the legal community. (Photo: Business Wire)
A federal judge ruled Friday that President Donald Trump's administration cannot block federal money for child care subsidies and other programs aimed at supporting low-income families with children from flowing to five Democratic-led states for now.
The states of California, Colorado, Illinois, Minnesota and New York argued that a policy announced Tuesday to freeze billions of dollars in funds for three grant programs is having an immediate impact on them and creating “operational chaos.” In court filings and a hearing earlier Friday, the states contended that the government did not have a legal reason for withholding the money from them.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said it was pausing the funding because it had “reason to believe” the states were granting benefits to people in the country illegally, though it did not provide evidence or explain why it was targeting those states and not others.
U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian, who was nominated to the bench by President Joe Biden, did not rule on the legality of the funding freeze but said the five states met a legal threshold “to protect the status quo” for at least 14 days while arguments are made in court.
Health department officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The affected programs are the Child Care and Development Fund, which subsidizes child care for 1.3 million children from low-income families; the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program, which provides cash assistance and job training; and the Social Services Block Grant, a smaller fund that provides money for a variety of programs.
The five states say they receive a total of more than $10 billion a year from the programs.
New York Attorney General Letitia James, who is leading the lawsuit, called the ruling a “critical victory for families whose lives have been upended by this administration’s cruelty.”
The government had requested reams of data from the five states, including the names and Social Security numbers of everyone who received benefits from some of the programs since 2022.
The states argue that the effort is unconstitutional and is intended to go after Trump’s political adversaries rather than to stamp out fraud in government programs — something the states say they already do.
Jessica Ranucci, a lawyer in James' office, said during the Friday hearing that at least four of the states had already had money delayed after requesting it. She said that if the states can’t get child care funds, there will be immediate uncertainty for providers and families who rely on the programs.
A lawyer for the federal government, Kamika Shaw, said it was her understanding that the money had not stopped flowing to states.
The other 45 states face a new requirement to check attendance at child care centers and submit “strong justification for the use of funds” that aligns with the program's purpose.
At about the same time the judge stopped the freeze on the child care subsidies, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins announced that the administration would freeze about $130 million a year in funding from her agency to Minnesota.
Rollins said the state’s inability to stop fraud schemes led to the decision. Seventy-eight people have been charged since 2022 — and 57 convicted — after federal prosecutors said the Minnesota nonprofit group Feeding Our Future stole $250 million from a program meant to feed children in need during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz's office did not immediately have a comment Friday evening. The state’s attorney general, Keith Ellison, said he’d fight the new freeze of funds in court.
In a letter to Walz that Rollins shared on social media, she suggested the state could restore its access to the funding by providing justification for how it spent federal dollars over the past year. All the state’s future transactions involving money from the agency will require the same justification, she said.
Walz and Minnesota have become a main target of the administration in Trump's second term.
Last month the president called the state’s Somali population “garbage” in the wake of the Feeding Our Futures investigation and other fraud cases involving Somali defendants.
And this week the administration launched the largest immigration enforcement operation in history in Minneapolis, leading to a fatal shooting of a woman by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent.
Gov. Tim Walz speaks during a news conference on Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026 at the Coliseum Building in Minneapolis. (Alex Kormann/Star Tribune via AP)
Children watch television at ABC Learning Center in Minneapolis, Minn., on Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Vancleave)
FILE = The Health and Human Services seal is seen before the news conference of Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. at the Hubert Humphrey Building Auditorium in Washington, Wednesday, April 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)
