Former Olive Branch, Mississippi Police Officer Pleads Guilty in Civil Rights-related Case (08-081)

Grace Chung Becker, Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, together with Jim M. Greenlee, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Mississippi, and Frederick T. Brink, Special Agent in Charge of the Jackson, Miss., Division of the FBI, announced today that a former major with the Olive Branch Police Department (OBPD) has pled guilty in federal court to conspiring with an assistant police chief to obstruct a federal investigation into a civil rights offense. (Read more)

Fact Sheet: Department of Justice Funding Request for Southwest Border Enforcement Initiative (08-080)

As part of the Southwest Border Enforcement Initiative, the following information provides a breakdown of the $100 million in additional funding that the Administration seeks for the Department of Justice to fight criminal activity on the Southwest Border. (Read more)

Department of Justice Announces New Funding Request for Southwest Border Enforcement (08-079)

Today, Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey announced $100 million in new funding as part of the fiscal year 2009 budget request for the Administration’s Southwest Border Enforcement Initiative. If funded by Congress, the new resources will better enable the United States to combat the flow of illegal immigration, drugs, and weapons across our Southwest Border, and to arrest, detain, prosecute, and incarcerate violent criminals, drug offenders, and immigration violators along the Southwest Border. (Read more)

Former Los Angeles Police Officer and Former Long Beach Police Officer Found Guilty of Conspiracy to Violate Civil Rights (08-078)

A Los Angeles, Calif., jury today found former Los Angeles Police Department Officer William Ferguson and his brother, former Long Beach Police Department Officer Joseph Ferguson, guilty of conspiring to violate civil rights, conspiring to possess narcotics with intent to distribute, and possession of narcotics with intent to distribute, the Justice Department announced. William Ferguson was also found guilty of several firearm offenses and deprivation of rights under color of law. (Read more)

Justice Department Reaches Agreement to Protect Rights of Military and Overseas Voters in Tennessee Presidential Primary Elections (08-077)

The Justice Department today announced that it has reached an agreement with Tennessee officials to help ensure that military service members and other U.S. citizens living overseas have an opportunity to participate fully in the state’s Feb. 5, 2008, federal primary election. (Read more)

Two Haitians Sentenced to Long Prison Terms for Plot to Take Hostage a Five-Year-Old American Boy in Haiti (08-076)

Two Haitian men were sentenced today for the hostage-taking in Haiti in the fall of 2005 of a five-year-old boy who was a U.S. citizen, announced U.S. Attorney Jeffrey A. Taylor, Assistant Attorney General Kenneth L. Wainstein, National Security Division, U.S. Department of Justice, and Jonathan I. Solomon, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Miami Field Office. (Read more)

Three Defendants Plead Guilty in "Advance-Fee" Fraud Scheme (08-075)

Three defendants pleaded guilty to federal charges of running an “advance-fee” scheme that targeted U.S. victims with promises of millions of dollars, including money from an estate and a lottery, Assistant Attorney General Alice S. Fisher of the Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Benton J. Campbell of the Eastern District of New York announced today. (Read more)

Department of Justice Launches Project Safe Neighborhoods Anti-Gang Training (08-082)

The Department of Justice announced today the launch of the Project Safe Neighborhoods Anti-Gang Training. The training is being held in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, beginning today through Thursday, Jan. 31 for more than 550 attendees. The regional training will focus on anti-gang training for North Carolina and South Carolina law enforcement, prosecutors, prevention and re-entry representatives. The conference opened this morning with comments from U.S. Attorney Anna Mills Wagoner, of the Middle District of North Carolina and Assistant U.S. Attorney Stacey Haynes of the District of South Carolina. U.S. Attorney George Holding of the Eastern District of North Carolina is scheduled to provide comments at the close of the training. (Read more)

Two More Plead Guilty in Turtle Smuggling Case (08-074)

Jorge Caraveo of El Paso, Texas, and Carlos Leal Barragan of Jalisco, Mexico, pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Denver to felony charges in connection with the smuggling of sea turtle and other exotic skins and skin products into the United States from Mexico, the Justice Department announced today. Caraveo pleaded guilty to three counts of smuggling, and Leal Barragan pleaded guilty to one count of smuggling and one count of money laundering. (Read more)

Department Of Justice And Federal Trade Commission To Host Workshop On International Technical Assistance (08-073)

The Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) today announced that they will host a joint workshop entitled, “2008 International Technical Assistance Workshop: Charting the Future Course of International Technical Assistance at the U.S. Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission.” (Read more)

Tacoma Woman Sentenced for Holding Domestic Servant in Forced Labor (08-072)

The Department of Justice announced today that a Tacoma, Wash., woman was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles for holding a woman in forced labor as a domestic servant. Elizabeth Jackson was sentenced today to three years imprisonment. Jackson previously pleaded guilty to holding a Filipino domestic worker in forced labor. (Read more)

Former Department of Defense Employees are Sentenced for Defrauding the United States (08-071)

Two former civilian employees of the Department of Defense (DOD) were sentenced in El Paso, Tex., for defrauding the United States of tens of thousands of dollars, Assistant Attorney General Alice S. Fisher of the Criminal Division announced today. (Read more)

Defense Contractor and a Former Manager Charged in Conspiracy to Bribe a Military Contracting Officer in Iraq (08-070)

A federal grand jury in Oklahoma City returned an indictment against a U.S. Department of Defense contractor and one of its former managers for conspiring to bribe a military contracting officer in Iraq, the Department of Justice announced today. (Read more)

Senior Member of FARC Narco-Terrorist Organization Sentenced to Sixty Years for Hostage-Taking Conspiracy (08-069)

Juvenal Ovidio Ricardo Palmera Pineda, a/k/a Simon Trinidad, 56, a senior member of the designated Foreign Terrorist Organization Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia, or FARC, was sentenced to 60 years’ incarceration by a federal judge in Washington, D.C. today for his role in a conspiracy to engage in the hostage-taking of three American citizens in the Republic of Colombia, Assistant Attorney General for National Security Kenneth L. Wainstein and District of Columbia U.S. Attorney Jeffrey A. Taylor announced today. (Read more)

Sigue Corporation and Sigue LLC Enter into Deferred Prosecution Agreement and Forfeit $15 Million to Resolve Bank Secrecy Act Violations (08-068)

Assistant Attorney General Alice S. Fisher of the Criminal Division, joined by U.S. Attorney Catherine Hanaway, Eastern District of Missouri, Michele Leonhart, Acting Administrator, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and Eileen C. Mayer, Chief, Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Criminal Investigation, announced today that Sigue Corporation and Sigue, LLC (“Sigue”), San Fernando, California-based money service businesses, entered into a deferred prosecution agreement on charges of failing to maintain an effective anti-money laundering program and will forfeit $15 million to the U.S. government. (Read more)

Justice Department to Monitor Election in Florida (08-067)

The Justice Department today announced that on Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2008, it will monitor the presidential primary election in Broward County, Fla., to ensure compliance with the Voting Rights Act. (Read more)

Interpol Enters Search for Fugitive Marine ()

The Interpol-United States National Central Bureau (USNCB), a component of the U.S. Department of Justice, has requested the issuance of an Interpol Red Notice seeking the world-wide location, apprehension, and extradition of Cesar Armando Laurean-Ramirez. Laurean-Ramirez is the North Carolina Marine wanted for 1st Degree Murder of a missing Marine from Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. Working closely with the investigating agencies, the Onslow County Sheriff’s Department and the Onslow County District Attorney’s Office, as well as the FBI, the USNCB broadcasted an international “All Points Bulletin” to law enforcement agencies in 185 countries and the Interpol General Secretariat, located in Lyon, France on January 26, 2008. (Read more)

Former KBR Employee Pleads Guilty in Scheme to Defraud the Department of Defense (08-066)

Wallace A. Ward, 26, of Spring Lake, NC, a former employee of Kellogg, Brown & Root (KBR) who worked at the Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan, pled guilty today in U.S. District Court to conspiracy to receive bribes, make false statements, and file false claims announced Assistant Attorney General Alice S. Fisher of the Criminal Division, and U.S. Attorney Chuck Rosenberg of the Eastern District of Virginia. Judge T.S. Ellis III set sentencing for April 11, 2008. Ward faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison, a fine of $250,000 and three years of supervised release. (Read more)

Former Congressional Office Manager Pleads Guilty to Submitting Nearly $200,000 in Fraudulent Expense Vouchers (08-065)

A former office manager for three members of the U.S. House of Representatives, Laura I. Flores, 47, of Arlington, Va, pled guilty today in Alexandria in the Eastern District of Virginia to a one-count criminal information charging her with wire fraud, announced Assistant Attorney General Alice S. Fisher of the Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Chuck Rosenberg for the Eastern District of Virginia. (Read more)

Two Houston Developers Indicted for Bribery, Honest Services Wire Fraud (08-064)

A federal grand jury in the Southern District of Texas, Houston Division, has returned an indictment charging two developers with bribing a former official of the city of Houston, Assistant Attorney General Alice Fisher of the Criminal Division announced today. The grand jury indicted Houston residents Andrew A. Schatte, 54, and Michael D. Surface, 44, for conspiring to bribe and to deprive the citizens of Houston of the honest services of Monique McGilbra, then-Director of the city’s Building Services Department (BSD). In addition, Schatte and Surface were charged with substantive counts of honest services wire fraud, and Surface was also charged with making false statements to FBI agents investigating their relationship with McGilbra. (Read more)

Florida Man Sentenced for Conspiracy to Produce Child Pornography (08-063)

Leonard Addison Parks Jr., 24, of Indiantown, Fla., was sentenced today in the Southern District of Florida to serve 90 months years in prison for his involvement in child pornography in which video clips of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct were produced, Assistant Attorney General Alice S. Fisher of the Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney R. Alexander Acosta for the Southern District of Florida announced today. (Read more)

Federal Court Bars Charlotte Man from Preparing Tax Returns (08-062)

A federal court in Charlotte, N.C., entered a preliminary injunction against Kodjovi Raphael Totou, a Charlotte-based tax preparer who operates Queen City Tax Services, the Justice Department announced today. (Read more)

Foreign National Pleads Guilty to Being Illegal Agent of a Foreign Government (08-061)

Defendant Moises Maionica, 36, one of five foreign nationals accused of acting and conspiring to act as an agent of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela (“Venezuela”) within the United States without prior notification to the Attorney General of the United States, pled guilty this morning before U.S. District Court Judge Joan Lenard, announced R. Alexander Acosta, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Kenneth L. Wainstein, Assistant Attorney General for National Security, and Jonathan I. Solomon, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Miami Field Office. Sentencing has been scheduled for April 4, 2008, at 3:00p.m. before Judge Lenard. (Read more)

Three Defendants Plead Guilty in $20 Million Tax Fraud Conspiracy (08-060)

Three defendants, whose trial was scheduled to begin in U.S. District Court in Salt Lake City next week, have pleaded guilty to conspiring to defraud the United States, the Department of Justice and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced today. (Read more)

Three Grant County, Kentucky, Detention Center Officials Indicted for Civil Rights Violation (08-059)

Grace C. Becker, Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division, together with James A. Zerhusen, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky, and Tracy Reinhold, Special Agent in Charge of the Louisville Division of the FBI, announced today the indictment of three former officials at the Grant County Detention Center in Williamstown, Ky. (Read more)

Georgia Man Sentenced to 15 Years on Sex Trafficking and Mann Act Charges (08-058)

Grace Chung Becker, Acting Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights; David E. Nahmias, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia; Gregory Jones, FBI Special Agent in Charge; and Richard Pennington, Chief, Atlanta Police Department (APD), today announced that Jimmie Lee Jones, also known as “Mike Spade,” 32, of Stone Mountain, Ga., was sentenced to serve 15 years on federal charges of conspiring to engage in sex trafficking and transporting young women across state lines for purposes of prostitution. (Read more)

United States Joins False Claims Act Cases Against Three New Jersey Hospitals (08-057)

The United States has intervened against three New Jersey hospitals in two whistleblower lawsuits alleging that the hospitals defrauded Medicare, the Justice Department announced today. The three hospitals are Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital at Hamilton, Barnert Hospital in Paterson, and Bayonne Hospital. (Read more)

Tamarack Resort Pays $185,000 Penalty to Settle Storm Water Violations (08-056)

The Tamarack Resort, located approximately 100 miles north of Boise, Idaho, has agreed to pay the United States a $185,000 penalty to resolve violations of the Clean Water Act arising from storm water violations discovered on the resort’s property in 2005 and 2006, the Justice Department and Environmental Protection Agency announced. (Read more)

Justice Department Requires Divestitures in Pearson's Acquisition of Harcourt Assessment (08-055)

The Department of Justice said today that it will require Pearson Plc to divest assets relating to three clinical testing markets in order to proceed with Pearson’s proposed $950 million acquisition of Harcourt Assessment. (Read more)

Louisiana Man Indicted for Federal Civil Rights Violations for Nooses Targeting “Jena Six” Marchers (08-054)

Grace Chung Becker, Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division, and Donald W. Washington, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Louisiana, today announced the indictment of Jeremiah Munsen, 18, on federal hate crime and conspiracy charges for his role in threatening and intimidating marchers who participated in a civil rights rally in Jena, Louisiana, by displaying two hangman’s nooses from the back of a pickup truck. (Read more)

Attorney General Mukasey Announces $200 Million Initiative Targeted to Fight Violent Crime (08-052)

In a speech before the U.S. Conference of Mayors, Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey today announced the President is seeking $200 million in funding for a new Violent Crime Reduction Partnership Initiative for Fiscal Year 2009. The funding is part of the Department’s strategy to support state and local law enforcement efforts in communities that are experiencing increases in violent crime and to keep crime down in others. (Read more)

Former American Samoan Prison Warden and Corrections Officer Sentenced for Civil Rights Violations (08-051)

The Justice Department today announced Mika Kelemete, the former warden at the Tafuna Correctional Facility in Pago Pago, American Samoa, and Siaumau Mapu, a former corrections officer at the same prison, were sentenced today in federal court in Honolulu for their roles in separate incidents involving the physical assaults of inmates in 2003. Kelemete was sentenced to 24 months imprisonment. Mapu received a sentence of 39 months. After their release from prison, both will be on federal supervised release for three years. (Read more)

Nine Miami Defendants in Strike Force Cases Sentenced for $56.5 Million in Medicare Fraud (08-049)

Assistant Attorney General Alice S. Fisher of the Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney R. Alexander Acosta of the Southern District of Florida announced today that owners of nine separate Miami-based health care corporations have been sentenced to prison terms within the past two weeks. Collectively, the nine defendants filed fraudulent claims with Medicare for $56,599,832 worth of unnecessary durable medical equipment (DME) and infusion therapy. (Read more)

Bechtel Infrastructure Corp., Pb Americas Inc., and Consultants Agree to Pay $458 Million to Settle Federal & State Claims (08-048)

A joint venture between Bechtel Infrastructure Corp. and PB Americas Inc., known as B/PB, and certain design consultants have agreed to pay the United States and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts a total of $458 million to settle allegations that B/PB violated federal and state criminal and civil laws by failing to provide adequate construction management and quality assurance services to the Central Artery Tunnel, known as the Big Dig, in Boston and that the design consultants caused excess costs to be incurred on the project. (Read more)

Federal Court Rules Port Chester, New York's System of Election Discriminates Against Hispanic Voters in Violation of the Voting Rights Act (08-047)

A federal judge has ruled that the at-large system of election used by the Village of Port Chester, N.Y, to elect its trustees violates the Voting Rights Act because it discriminates against Hispanics, Grace Chung Becker, Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division, and Michael J. Garcia, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced today. (Read more)

Jose Padilla and Co-defendants Sentenced on Terrorism Charges (08-046)

A federal Judge in the Southern District of Florida has sentenced Jose Padilla, Adham Amin Hassoun, and Kifah Wael Jayyousi on charges of conspiracy to murder, kidnap and maim individuals in a foreign country, conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists, and providing material support to terrorists, Assistant Attorney General for National Security, Kenneth L. Wainstein, and U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, R. Alexander Acosta, announced today. (Read more)

Operation Home Sweet Home: Justice Department Settles Massachusetts Discrimination Case on Behalf of Asian-americans (08-044)

The Justice Department today announced that it has reached a settlement in the first lawsuit ever filed by the Department alleging discrimination against Asian-American victims based upon its fair housing testing program. Under the consent decree filed today in federal court in Boston, defendant Pine Properties Inc. and six affiliated entities will pay up to $158,000 in monetary relief to victims and the United States. (Read more)

Fact Sheet: Safeguarding Civil Rights During 2007 (08-043)

This week, the nation will celebrate the birthday of the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. As we reflect on the life and legacy of Dr. King, the Civil Rights Division remembers the cases it has brought to safeguard the civil rights of all Americans in the last year. (Read more)

Justice Department Settles Muslim Corrections Officer Religious Liberty Case (08-042)

The Justice Department announced today that a federal court in Manhattan approved a settlement between the Justice Department and the New York State Department of Correctional Services (DOCS). (Read more)

Former U.S. Deputy Marshal Sentenced to 24 Months on Civil Rights-Related Charges (08-041)

Former Deputy U.S. Marshal Stephen Cook was sentenced today in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on civil rights charges arising out of his August 2005 assault on a detainee at the District of Columbia Superior Court, announced Acting Assistant Attorney General Grace Chung Becker of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. (Read more)

Texas Man Pleads Guilty to Smuggling Protected Sea Turtles (08-040)

Oscar Cueva of McAllen, Texas pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Denver to a felony count of conspiracy to smuggle protected sea turtle and other exotic skins and skin products into the United States and to launder funds in support of that smuggling, the Justice Department announced. (Read more)

Justice Department Settles Housing Discrimination Lawsuit with Albany, New York, Developers (08-039)

The Justice Department today reached a Fair Housing Act settlement with New York developers Bruce Tanski, the Bruce Tanski Construction and Development Company, Michael Dennis, and the Mountain Ledge Development Corporation. (Read more)

Operation Home Sweet Home Results in Discrimination Lawsuit Against Roseville, Michigan Apartment Owner and Manager (08-038)

The Justice Department announced today that it has filed a lawsuit alleging that the owner and operator of Regent Court Apartments, in Roseville, Mich., has engaged in a pattern or practice of discrimination against African-American home-seekers, in violation of the federal Fair Housing Act. The lawsuit is based in part on evidence generated by the Department’s Fair Housing testing program, which has been an integral part of the Department’s recent fair housing initiative, Operation Home Sweet Home. (Read more)

Justice Department Seeks to Bar Two Connecticut Residents from Preparing Federal Tax Returns for Others (08-037)

The United States has brought suit against Deowraj Buddhu and his daughter, Sunita Buddhu, seeking to bar them from preparing federal tax returns for others, the Justice Department announced today. (Read more)

Three Indicted and Arrested in One of the Largest Counterfeit Goods Prosecutions in U.S. History (08-035)

Assistant Attorney General Alice S. Fisher of the Criminal Division and United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia Chuck Rosenberg announced today that a federal court in Richmond unsealed an indictment of three defendants involved in one of the largest ever counterfeit luxury goods operations in the United States. All three defendants were arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents. Arraignments will be held in Richmond on a date to be scheduled. (Read more)

Immokalee, Florida, Family Charged with Forcing Immigrants into Farm Labor (08-034)

Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division Grace Chung Becker and U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Florida Robert E. O’Neill today announced the indictment of six Immokalee, Fla., family members for enslaving Mexican and Guatemalan immigrants and forcing them into agricultural labor. (Read more)

Former Kentucky State Trooper Sentenced for Civil Rights Violations and Witness Tampering (08-033)

Jason O’Bannon, a former Kentucky State Trooper assigned to the London Post, was sentenced today in federal court in Lexington, Ky., to 10 months imprisonment for tampering with a witness and for violating the civil rights of a female victim. After his release from prison, O’Bannon will be on federal supervised release for two years. (Read more)

Film Executive and Spouse Indicted for Paying Bribes to a Thai Tourism Official to Obtain Lucrative Film Festival Management Contracts (08-032)

Assistant Attorney General Alice S. Fisher of the Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Thomas P. O’Brien for the Central District of California announced that a Los Angeles-area film executive and his spouse were indicted late yesterday on allegations of making corrupt payments to a Thai government official in order to obtain lucrative contracts to run an international film festival held annually in Bangkok, in violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). (Read more)

Massey Energy to Pay Largest Civil Penalty Ever for Water Permit Violations (08-031)

Massey Energy Company, Inc. has agreed to pay a $20 million civil penalty in a corporate-wide settlement to resolve Clean Water Act violations at coal mines in West Virginia and Kentucky, the Justice Department and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced. This is the largest civil penalty in EPA’s history levied against a company for wastewater discharge permit violations. (Read more)

Three Parties Agree to Pay for Cleanup of Iron Horse Park Superfund Site in Massachusetts (08-030)

Boston and Maine Corp., BNZ Materials Inc., and the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA), have agreed to perform environmental cleanup work expected to cost $23.53 million at the 553-acre Iron Horse Park Superfund Site located in Massachusetts, the Justice Department and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced today. (Read more)

Islamic Charity Charged with Terrorist Financing; Former U.S. Congressman Indicted for Money Laundering (08-029)

A federal grand jury in the Western District of Missouri has returned a superseding indictment that charges the Islamic American Relief Agency (IARA) and several of its former officers with eight new counts of engaging in prohibited financial transactions for the benefit of U.S.-designated terrorist Gulbuddin Hekmatyar. The indictment also charges former U.S. Congressman Mark Deli Siljander with money laundering, conspiracy and obstruction of justice in the case. (Read more)

Sinclair Oil Agrees to Improved Refinery Pollution Controls (08-028)

Sinclair Oil Corp. will pay a $2.45 million civil penalty and spend more than $72 million for new and upgraded pollution controls to reduce air pollution from the company's three refineries, the Justice Department and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced today. The settlement resolves alleged violations of the Clean Air Act at the company's facilities in Casper and Sinclair, Wyo., and in Tulsa, Okla. (Read more)

Illinois Resident Pleads Guilty to Illegally Dealing in Falsely Labeled Fish from Vietnam (08-026)

David S. Wong, a resident of Elk Grove Village, Ill., pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles to violating the Lacey Act for purchasing and re-selling a specific species of fish in the catfish family when he reasonably should have known that the fish had been imported illegally, the Justice Department announced. (Read more)

John Doe # 13 Indicted in Child Pornography Case (08-025)

Alice S. Fisher, Assistant Attorney General of the Criminal Division, and David Capp, Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Indiana, announced today that “John Doe 13,” a white male with balding brown hair, approximately 180-200 pounds, was indicted by a federal grand jury on January 2, 2008 for transporting child pornography via the Internet on or about September 23, 2005.  Upon conviction, the defendant faces between 5 to 20 years imprisonment and up to a $250,000 fine. (Read more)

Justice Department to Monitor Election in Mississippi (08-024)

The Justice Department today announced that on Jan. 15, 2008, it will monitor a special election in Jefferson Davis County, Miss., to ensure compliance with the Voting Rights Act. (Read more)

Branko Lazic Sentenced for Clean Air Violation (08-023)

Branko Lazic, owner of Bilaz, Inc., was sentenced today in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania to six months home confinement for a Clean Air Act violation for improper removal of asbestos, the Justice Department announced. (Read more)

Previously Convicted Indianapolis Sex Offender Sentenced to Prison in Child Pornography Case (08-022)

Sean Osborne, 26, of Martinsville, Indiana was sentenced to serve 15 years in federal prison and a lifetime term of supervised release, after pleading guilty today to one count of distributing child pornography and one count of attempting to receive child pornography, Assistant Attorney General Alice S. Fisher of the Criminal Division and Acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana Timothy M. Morrison announced today. (Read more)

Former Officers of a Muslim Charity, Care International, Inc., Convicted (08-021)

Three men, a Libyan national and two Lebanese nationals, were convicted today in federal court of conspiring to defraud the United States and engaging in a scheme to conceal information from the United States government. (Read more)

Federal Court Bars Illinois Man from Promoting Fraudulent Tax Scam (08-020)

A federal court in Chicago has permanently barred William J. Benson, of South Holland, Ill., from selling a fraudulent tax scheme. The permanent injunction order was signed by U.S. District Judge Samuel Der-Yeghiayan. (Read more)

Ship’s Chief Engineer Sentenced in Vessel Pollution Case (08-019)

Mark Humphries, the former chief engineer of the M/V Tanabata, an American-flagged car-carrier ship based in Baltimore, was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Baltimore to six months in prison for conspiracy to make illegal discharges of oily waste and lying to the Coast Guard, announced Ronald J. Tenpas, Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division and Rod J. Rosenstein, U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland. (Read more)

Second Chinese National Pleads Guilty to Smuggling Protected Sea Turtles (08-018)

Fu Yiner, a Chinese national, pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado to a felony count of smuggling in connection with his sale and shipment of internationally protected sea turtle shell and sea turtle shell products from China to the United States, the Justice Department announced. (Read more)

Environmental Supervisor Sentenced for Violations at Patuxent River Naval Air Station (08-017)

Robert Langill of Woburn, Mass., was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Greenbelt, Md., to 60 days in prison, 10 months home detention, and 2 years of supervised release for violating the Clean Air Act in connection with asbestos abatement at the U.S. Naval Air Station, Patuxent River, announced Ronald J. Tenpas, Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division and Rod J. Rosenstein, U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland. (Read more)

Foreign National Pleads Guilty in Complex Computer Fraud Scheme Victimizing Hundreds of Individuals (08-016)

A Colombian citizen pled guilty today to a 16-count indictment involving a complex computer fraud scheme victimizing over 600 people, Assistant Attorney General Alice S. Fisher of the Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Alex Acosta for the Southern District of Florida and U.S. Department of Defense, Defense Criminal Investigative Service and the United States Postal Inspection Service announced today. (Read more)

Insurance Company Agrees to Pay $42.5 Million for Environmental Cleanup at Former Fruit of the Loom Facilities (08-015)

The American International Specialty Lines Insurance Company, Inc. (AISLIC), has agreed to pay $42.5 million to clean up contamination at four industrial facilities in a suit in which the Department of Justice intervened on behalf of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and other agencies. The four sites, formerly owned by Fruit of the Loom, are located in Michigan, New Jersey and Tennessee. (Read more)

Former American Samoan Government Official Sentenced for Obstruction of Federal Sex Trafficking Investigation (08-014)

Iona Uiagalelei, former Assistant Chief of the Department of Property Management for the American Samoan government, was sentenced Monday, Jan. 7, 2008, in federal court in Hawaii for obstructing a federal sex trafficking investigation. In August 2007, Uiagalelei pleaded guilty to witness tampering for instructing two Chinese women to provide false and misleading information to a federal grand jury, the federal prosecutor, and Federal Bureau of Investigation agents. (Read more)

Florida Men Sentenced for Production and Receipt of Child Pornography (08-013)

Randy Charles Harris, 37, and Salvador Pascual Aguirre, 23, both of Indiantown, Fla., were sentenced today in the Southern District of Florida to serve prison sentences for their involvement in a child pornography case in which video clips of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct between January 2005 and June 2007 were produced, Assistant Attorney General Alice S. Fisher of the Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney R. Alexander Acosta for the Southern District of Florida announced today. Harris and Leonard Addison Parks, 24, also of Indiantown, Fla., were previously charged in a superseding indictment for conspiring to produce the illegal video clips. The superseding indictment also charged Aguirre with receiving or attempting to receive child pornography from Harris during that same time period. (Read more)

U.S. Court Bars St. Louis Man from Preparing Tax Returns for Others (08-012)

David O’Bryant of St. Louis has been permanently barred from preparing federal income tax returns for others, the Justice Department announced today. Judge Donald J. Stohr of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri found that O’Bryant repeatedly had engaged in misconduct subject to various penalties under federal tax laws. (Read more)

North Carolina Man is Sentenced to 192 Months Following Conviction on Numerous Child Exploitation Charges (08-011)

Marques Bynum, 27, of Charlotte, NC was sentenced on Jan. 3, 2008 to 192 months imprisonment after being convicted on April 18, 2007 on multiple counts of transportation and possession of child pornography, Assistant Attorney General Alice Fisher of the Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Gretchen C.F. Shappert of the Western District of North Carolina announced today. After his release from prison, Bynum must register as a sex offender and will be supervised by the United States Probation Office for 15 years. (Read more)

Department of Defense Contractors Arrested and Charged with Conspiring to Steal Information on Fuel Supply Contracts (08-010)

Two Department of Defense contractors were arrested in New York City on Jan. 6, 2008, and charged with conspiring to steal information relating to U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) contracts to supply fuel to DOD aircraft worldwide. Two contractor firms and a third individual are also charged with participating in the conspiracies. (Read more)

Two Chinese Nationals Sentenced for Sex Trafficking Charges in American Samoa (08-009)

Shengji Wang and Fu Sheng Kuo, both Chinese nationals, were sentenced today in federal court in Hawaii for their roles in conspiring to force women into prostitution in American Samoa, announced Grace Chung Becker, Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. Wang was sentenced to 62 months imprisonment. Kuo was sentenced to 63 months imprisonment. Wang and Kuo will be deported after serving their sentences. Both defendants previously pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to violate the civil rights of their victims. (Read more)

Justice Department Settles Housing Discrimination Case with Orange County, California, Landlords (08-008)

The Justice Department today announced that it has reached an agreement resolving a housing discrimination lawsuit against Gary Luke, Mary Ngo and Hoa Ngo concerning alleged discrimination on the basis of national origin. Under the consent decree filed today in federal court in Santa Ana, Calif., the defendants will pay $270,844 in monetary relief to the complainants and the United States. (Read more)

Indiana Man Sentenced for Role in Cross-burning (08-007)

A federal judge today sentenced Kyle Shroyer of Muncie, Ind., to serve 15 months in prison for his role in burning an eight-foot cross in front of a biracial family’s home, announced Grace Chung Becker, Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, Susan Brooks, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana, and Michael Welch, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Indianapolis office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. (Read more)

Former Public Official Sentenced for Participating in Bribery and Extortion Conspiracy (08-006)

Assistant Attorney General Alice S. Fisher of the Criminal Division announced that a former public official was sentenced Thursday for his role in a widespread bribery and extortion conspiracy, which operated from January 2002 through March 2004. The defendant, Barnum Haitshan, 35, was sentenced in the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona (Tucson Division) by the Honorable Honorable Cindy K. Jorgenson. (Read more)

Individual Sentenced for Poisoning Migratory Birds (08-005)

WASHINGTON – Lyle Ravenkamp of Hugo, Colo., pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado and was sentenced for his role in the poisoning deaths of over 2,200 migratory birds on agricultural land, the Justice Department announced. (Read more)

Chinese National Pleads Guilty to Smuggling Protected Sea Turtles (08-004)

Wang Hong, a Chinese national, pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado to a felony count of smuggling in connection with his sale and shipment of internationally protected sea turtle shell and sea turtle shell products from China to the United States, the Justice Department announced. (Read more)

Alan Ralsky, Ten Others, Indicted in International Illegal Spamming and Stock Fraud Scheme (08-003)

WASHINGTON - A federal grand jury indictment was unsealed today in Detroit charging 11 persons, including Alan M. Ralsky, his son-in-law Scott K. Bradley, and Judy M. Devenow, of Michigan, and eight others, including a dual national of Canada and Hong Kong and individuals from Russia, California, and Arizona, in a wide-ranging international fraud scheme involving the illegal use of bulk commercial e-mailing, or "spamming." (Read more)

Attorney General Mukasey Appoints Four New Members to Attorney General's Advisory Committee (08-002)

Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey today announced the appointment of four new members of his 2008 Attorney General’s Advisory Committee of United States Attorneys. The Advisory Committee plays a vital role in furthering the Department's law enforcement efforts. Together, in partnership with state, local and federal authorities, the Advisory Committee will be crucial in advancing the Department's law enforcement mission in areas such as terrorism, violent crime, public corruption, and civil rights. (Read more)

Statement by Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey Regarding the Opening of an Investigation Into the Destruction of Videotapes by CIA Personnel (08-001)

“Following a preliminary inquiry into the destruction by CIA personnel of videotapes of detainee interrogations, the Department’s National Security Division has recommended, and I have concluded, that there is a basis for initiating a criminal investigation of this matter, and I have taken steps to begin that investigation as outlined below." (Read more)