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The Office of Public Affairs

Press Releases for January 2006
January 31, 2006

"Samuel Alito is one of our Nation's most outstanding judges, and I commend the Senate for confirming him as the 110th Justice of the Supreme Court. His reputation for fairness and integrity is well known, as is his commitment to the rule of law. I am confident that as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, he will continue to serve our Nation with the same dedication and excellence that has distinguished his nearly 30 years of public service." (Read more)

WASHINGTON, D.C. – A federal grand jury in Las Vegas has indicted two former managers of the Bank of China, their wives, and a relative of one of the couples on charges of racketeering, money laundering and fraud, Assistant Attorney General Alice S. Fisher of the Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Daniel G. Bogden of the District of Nevada announced today. (Read more)

WASHINGTON, D.C. – A California man has pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting others to violate the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 – a federal law designed to crack down on the transmission of bulk, unsolicited commercial electronic mail messages – Assistant Attorney General Alice S. Fisher of the Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Paul K. Charlton of the District of Arizona announced today. (Read more)

Washington, D.C. – David Race Bannon, who claims to have worked for Interpol as a “hit man,” was arrested on Friday, January 27, in Boulder, Colorado for criminal impersonation. Bannon is the author of Race Against Evil - - The Secret Missions of the Interpol Agent Who Tracked the World’s Most Sinister Criminals. (Read more)

WASHINGTON, D.C. – RSR Corporation and its subsidiaries, Quemetco, Inc. and QRI, Inc., (RSR) have agreed to pay $8.5 million to resolve RSR’s liability for cleanup costs relating to the contamination of Harbor Island, the Justice Department and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced today. (Read more)

January 30, 2006

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The Justice Department today announced a settlement agreement with the owner and managing agent of the Sulgrave Manor Apartments in Washington, D.C., resolving a lawsuit filed by the Justice Department alleging discrimination against persons with disabilities. According to the complaint, which was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, the defendants refused to rent an apartment to a visually-impaired man who used a guide dog. (Read more)

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Elpida Memory Inc. (Elpida), a Japanese manufacturer of dynamic random access memory (DRAM), has agreed to plead guilty and to pay an $84 million fine for participating in an international conspiracy to fix prices in the DRAM market, the Department of Justice announced. (Read more)

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Schlumberger Technology Corporation (Schlumberger), headquartered in Texas, has agreed to pay $11.8 million to federal and state agencies for injuries to natural resources caused by the presence of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB’s) in the Twelvemile Creek, Lake Hartwell and surrounding areas, the Justice Department announced today. Schlumberger will also spend an additional $8 to 10 million to purchase and remove two hydroelectric dams on Twelvemile Creek, and to conduct stream restoration activities. (Read more)

January 27, 2006

WASHINGTON D.C. – A Virginia man has pleaded guilty to multiple charges involving the sexual exploitation of minor boys and the operation of child pornography websites, Assistant Attorney General Alice S. Fisher of the Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney John L. Brownlee of the Western District of Virginia announced today. (Read more)

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Ten foreign nationals have been indicted by a federal grand jury in Miami on charges of attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization and alien smuggling, Assistant Attorney General Alice S. Fisher of the Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney R. Alexander Acosta of the Southern District of Florida and Julie L. Myers, Assistant Secretary for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced today. (Read more)

January 26, 2006

WASHINGTON, D.C. –Two former Wilson County, Tennessee corrections officers were convicted in federal court of violating the civil rights of detainees at the Wilson County Jail in Lebanon, Tennessee the Justice Department announced today. One defendant was acquitted. (Read more)

WASHINGTON, D.C.–The Justice Department today announced that it has reached a settlement agreement with the Nassau Health Care Corporation (NHCC), a New York public benefit corporation, resolving the Department’s investigation of conditions and services at the A. Holly Patterson Extended Care Facility, a 889-bed nursing home operated by NHCC in Uniondale, New York. (Read more)

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Six additional current and former U.S. soldiers and law enforcement officials and two civilians have agreed to plead guilty to participating in a widespread bribery and extortion conspiracy which operated from January 2002 through March 2004, Assistant Attorney General Alice S. Fisher of the Criminal Division announced today. (Read more)

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Nicanor Lotuaco—a Virginia business man—has been sentenced to five months in jail, followed by five months home detention and three years supervised release, for conspiracy to defraud the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the Small Business Administration (SBA), the Justice Department announced today. In addition, the Honorable Judge Jerome B. Friedman in Norfolk, Virginia, sentenced Lotuaco to a fine of $1 million. (Read more)

January 25, 2006

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Behzad Kahoolyzadeh, a west Los Angeles man, was sentenced to 37 months in jail and forced to pay $1.29 million in cleanup costs for conspiracy to improperly store and transport dangerous chemicals, primarily the dry cleaning solvent perchloroethylene (PERC), the Justice Department announced today. (Read more)

January 24, 2006

WASHINGTON, DC – Jack Thomas, former campaign manager for the Robert Lamutt for Congress Committee (RLCC), pleaded guilty to one count of mail fraud before U.S. District Judge Ricardo M. Urbina in the District of Columbia today, announced Alice Fisher, Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division of the Department of Justice. (Read more)

WASHINGTON, D.C. - David Alan Struckman, co-founder of the “Institute of Global Prosperity” (Global Prosperity)—an organization that sold audiotapes, CD’s and tickets to offshore seminars on “wealth-building” strategies—was deported from Panama and is in United States custody, the Justice Department announced today. Struckman was indicted in May 2004 for conspiring to defraud the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and has been in custody since January 10, 2006, when he was arrested by Panamanian authorities with the assistance of the Regional Security Office of the U.S. Department of State's Diplomatic Security Service (DSS) at the U.S. Embassy in Panama. (Read more)

January 23, 2006

WASHINGTON, D.C. – MBK Partnership—an Oregon general partnership of local real estate developers—along with its partners and related business entities (MBK), have entered into a consent decree to resolve a long-running dispute involving homeowners in Klamath Falls, Oregon, the Justice Department and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced today. (Read more)

January 20, 2006

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Eleven defendants have been indicted on charges including arson and destruction of an energy facility for allegedly participating in a campaign of domestic terrorism in five western states on behalf of the extremist Earth Liberation Front (ELF) and the Animal Liberation Front (ALF) movements. (Read more)

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Company (FENOC), has agreed to pay $28 million in penalties, restitution, and community service projects as part of an agreement to defer prosecution of the company, the Justice Department announced today. Under the terms of the deferred prosecution agreement, FENOC admits that the government can prove that its employees, acting on its behalf, knowingly made false representations to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) in the course of attempting to persuade the NRC that its Davis–Besse Nuclear Power Station was safe to operate beyond December 31, 2001. Prasoon Goyal, a design engineer, also accepted and entered into a deferred prosecution agreement with the government. (Read more)

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The filing deadline for any new property claims against the Government of Cuba is February 13, 2006, Mauricio Tamargo, Chairman of the Foreign Claims Settlement Commission, reminded the public today. Under the Second Cuban Claims Program, the Commission is authorized to receive claims of U.S. citizens or corporations against the Government of Cuba for the loss of real and personal property taken after May 1, 1967. (Read more)

January 19, 2006

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Hoang Nguyen, captain of the Galveston, Texas-based commercial fishing vessel Thanh Tam, pleaded guilty in federal court to illegally importing red snapper, the Justice Department announced today. Nguyen and his crewmembers had caught and retained the fish in violation of the Magnuson–Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson–Stevens Act). Both Nguyen and a crewmember were indicted by a grand jury in Houston, Texas on November 23, 2005 for offenses surrounding the illegal importation of red snapper in 2004 and 2005. The illegal importation charge carries a maximum penalty of five years imprisonment and a fine of $250,000. (Read more)

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Justice Department today announced a settlement agreement with past and current owners of Huntsville Speedway, resolving an investigation into allegations that the race track is inaccessible to spectators and racers with disabilities, in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act. (Read more)

January 18, 2006

WASHINGTON, D.C. - ConAgra Foods, Inc., the owner and operator of a food ingredient and flour mill in Hastings, Minnesota, was sentenced for violating the Clean Water Act, the Department of Justice announced today. U.S. District Court Judge Paul Magnuson sentenced ConAgra Foods, Inc., to pay a criminal fine of $138,513 and provide $55,000 in community service to the National Park Foundation as well as $55,000 in community service to the Friends of the Mississippi River. ConAgra was also sentenced to pay $1,487 in restitution to the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA). (Read more)

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Former Salvadoran Congressman William Eliu Martinez was sentenced today to 29 years in prison by U.S. District Court Judge Michael M. Mihm in the District of Columbia. (Read more)

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Tax fraud promoter Paul D. Harris was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Denver to five and one-half years in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, in connection with his role in an organization called Tower Executive Resources, the Department of Justice and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced today. Harris was also ordered to pay more than $10,000 towards the costs of prosecution. (Read more)

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Justice Department announced today that a federal court has permanently barred Guadalupe Valdez, of Rockford, Illinois, from preparing federal income tax returns for others. The permanent injunction, to which Valdez consented, was entered by Judge Philip G. Reinhard of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. (Read more)

WASHINGTON – Floyd Gary Thacker, 50, of Atlanta, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to engage in honest services mail and wire fraud before U.S. District Judge David Hittner in the Southern District of Texas, Assistant Attorney General Alice Fisher of the Justice Department's Criminal Division announced today. Thacker is the owner of Thacker Operating Company, an Atlanta-based construction and building services company which provided energy-related services for municipal governments in Houston and Atlanta. (Read more)

January 17, 2006

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Alaska Brokerage International Inc., a U.S.-based brokerage firm dealing in the purchase and sale of unprocessed fur pelts, and one of its auction representatives were indicted today by a federal grand jury for participating in a bid-rigging conspiracy involving the sale of otter pelts, the Department of Justice announced. (Read more)

"We are disappointed with the Supreme Court's decision today in Gonzales v. Oregon, which permits physicians in Oregon to use federally-controlled substances to aid their patient's suicide efforts. The Department of Justice remains committed to enforcing our Nation's laws and ensuring that drugs are not diverted to unlawful uses." (Read more)

January 13, 2006

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Department of Justice today announced the filing of a lawsuit against American Airlines, Inc., alleging violations of the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 (USERRA). This lawsuit represents the first class action complaint filed by the United States under USERRA. (Read more)

January 12, 2006

Domestic violence is a serious problem affecting women, men and children of all backgrounds. President Bush is committed to preventing domestic violence, and in order to address the effects of domestic violence on all Americans, he has secured historic levels of funding for the Violence Against Women programs at the Department of Justice. The Bush Administration is committed to zero tolerance towards domestic violence. (Read more)

January 11, 2006

WASHINGTON, D.C. – A federal jury in the Northern District of Alabama, Southern Division, convicted Jimmy Woodward, the former Jefferson County Sheriff, and Albert Jordan, a partner with the law firm of Wallace, Jordan, Ratliff & Brandt, L.L.C., on charges of conspiracy to defraud the United States and theft of government property, Assistant Attorney General Alice S. Fisher of the Criminal Division announced today. (Read more)

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Justice Department announced today that a federal court in Ft. Lauderdale has barred two Florida tax preparers, Jean-Marie Boucicaut and Marie Thelemarque, from preparing federal income tax returns for others. The government complaint alleges that while the two are from Orlando, their scheme is targeted at immigrants from Haiti in Broward and Miami-Dade Counties. (Read more)

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The Justice Department today announced the resolution of a lawsuit against American Multi-Cinema, Inc. and AMC Entertainment Inc., operators of one of the nation's largest chains of movie theaters, filed under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). On January 10, Judge Florence-Marie Cooper of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California ordered AMC to remedy violations at AMC movie theaters that do not provide access to the stadium section for seating for individuals who use wheelchairs. (Read more)

WASHINGTON, D.C. – A former legislative assistant to a member of the U.S. Congress pleaded guilty in Alexandria, Virginia today to a two-count criminal information charging him with conspiracy to commit bribery and aiding and abetting the solicitation of bribes by a member of Congress, U.S. Attorney Paul J. McNulty of the Eastern District of Virginia and Assistant Attorney General Alice S. Fisher of the Criminal Division announced today. (Read more)

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- A federal grand jury in Puerto Rico today indicted a San Juan attorney for interfering with federal investigations into kickback schemes used to defraud a Puerto Rico restaurant company, the Department of Justice announced. (Read more)

January 5, 2006

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Noel Abrogar, Chief Engineer of the M/V Magellan Phoenix, was sentenced to imprisonment for one year and one day, and three years of probation for falsifying records that attempted to conceal repeated overboard discharges of oil waste from the ship, the Justice Department announced today. Abrogar pleaded guilty on September 7, 2005 to violating the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships, based on his role in discharging oil sludge and oil-contaminated bilge waste directly into the ocean from the M/V Magellan Phoenix and then falsifying the ship’s records to cover up the discharges between December 2004 and March 2005. (Read more)

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- A federal grand jury returned an indictment today against four individuals for participating in self-dealing schemes that netted them more than $2 million while acting as executives and purchasing representatives of the Archdiocese of New York, the Department of Justice announced. (Read more)

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales today announced the appointment of an Intellectual Property Law Enforcement Coordinator (IPLEC) to serve in Bangkok, Thailand and coordinate enforcement efforts in key areas of Asia. (Read more)

January 4, 2006

WASHINGTON, D.C. – A New Orleans man previously convicted in a multi-state public corruption probe has pleaded guilty in Louisiana to a charge of tax evasion, Assistant Attorney General Alice S. Fisher of the Criminal Division announced today. (Read more)

January 3, 2006

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Former lobbyist Jack A. Abramoff has pleaded guilty to a three-count information charging him with conspiracy, aiding and abetting honest services mail fraud, and tax evasion, Assistant Attorney General Alice S. Fisher of the Criminal Division announced today. (Read more)




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