Kazarian gets prison for Medicare fraud

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NEW YORK, Feb. 8 (UPI) -- Armenian-American mobster Armen "Pzo" Kazarian was sentenced to 37 months in prison Friday in New York for his role in a $100 million Medicare fraud enterprise.

"Armen Kazarian sat at the top of a criminal organization and now he will sit in a jail cell for a long time," U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said in a release. "International mobsters who think they can export their criminal enterprises to the United States and target our government programs and our citizens are in for a rude awakening -- they will face U.S. justice and be made to answer for their crimes."

Kazarian, 47, of Glendale, Calif., was a high-level player in the Mirzoyan-Terdjanian Organization, an Armenian-American organized crime organization engaged in a wide range of criminal activity. He pleaded guilty to racketeering conspiracy in July 2011.

Besides his prison therm, Kazarian is to serve three years of supervised release and pay a $60,000 fine.