The United States has filed a lawsuit against New York attorney Thomas B. Pruzan, d/b/a the Pruzan Law Firm, seeking to put an end to Mr. Pruzan’s repeated failure to timely deposit and pay the employment and unemployment taxes due from his law firm, as well as his failure to timely file employment and unemployment tax returns with the Internal Revenue Service. (Read more)

“The President’s budget request demonstrates both a dedication to protecting our national security as the Department of Justice’s top priority and a renewed commitment to the Department’s traditional missions,” Attorney General Holder said. “In these tough economic times, it’s more important than ever that we remain vigilant in the fight against crime while never relaxing our guard in the battle against global terrorism.” (Read more)

Anadarko Petroleum Co., and two related oil production companies have agreed to pay a civil penalty of more than $1 million and implement injunctive relief, develop facility response plans, and revise spill prevention as well as containment plans at a cost of more than $8 million during the term of the settlement in order to resolve violations of the Clean Water Act. (Read more)

A 23-count indictment unsealed today alleges that a civilian contractor paid more than $2.8 million in bribes to a U.S. Army contracting official stationed at Camp Arifjan, an Army base in Kuwait, and the official’s wife, and that the three individuals committed honest services fraud and money laundering offenses in connection with the same conduct. (Read more)

A former jail administrator at the Cibola County Detention Center in Grants, N.M., was sentenced today to 97 months in prison, two years of supervised release and a $400 special assessment for violating the rights of inmates in his custody at two separate New Mexico jails. (Read more)

Two former managers of the Bank of China and their wives were sentenced today after their convictions on Aug. 29, 2008, by a federal jury in Las Vegas on charges of racketeering, money laundering, international transportation of stolen property as well as passport and visa fraud. (Read more)

A South Korean businessman was indicted today for his alleged role in a bribery conspiracy for a $206 million telecommunications contract involving employees of the Army and Air Force Exchange Service (AAFES). (Read more)

The Justice Department filed a lawsuit today against Equity Homes Inc, PBR LLC, BBR LLC and Shane Hartung in U.S. District Court in South Dakota for failing to provide accessible features required by the Fair Housing Act at multi-family housing developments in Sioux Falls. (Read more)

Frank P. DiMartino, an accountant from Orange, Conn., pleaded guilty today to charges of tax evasion. (Read more)

Carmelo Oria, a Spanish citizen who was the chief engineer on the Cyprus-flagged M/T Nautilus, was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Massachusetts for maintaining inaccurate records that concealed a discharge of oil-contaminated water from the bilges of the M/T Nautilus. Oria was sentenced to one month in prison, to be followed by supervised release for a term of two years and a $3,000 fine. (Read more)

A federal judge in Seattle, Wash., has permanently barred a District of Columbia man, William H. Camp, Jr., from preparing tax returns for others and from promoting a scheme involving bogus gold mining tax deductions. The permanent injunction order was entered by Judge Ricardo S. Martinez of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington, where a substantial number of Camp’s customers reside. (Read more)

Philip Gabriel Pettersson, aka "Stakkato," 21, a Swedish national, was indicted today on intrusion and trade secret theft charges. (Read more)

Patrick Cochran, 47, of Lake Jackson, Texas, pleaded guilty today to one count of travel with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct with a minor, and one count of possession of child pornography. (Read more)

The Department filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Sacramento, Calif., against the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR), alleging that the CDCR failed to promptly reemploy U.S. Air Force reservist Dany Felix in violation of the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 (USERRA). (Read more)

A federal court in Savannah, Ga., today permanently barred Ophelia Kelley, of Vidalia, Ga., from preparing federal income tax returns for others. According to the government complaint, Kelley operated two return preparation firms in Vidalia – Kelley Tax Service and City and Country Girl Tax Service. Kelley agreed to the civil injunction order. (Read more)

A federal court in Tampa, Fla., has permanently barred Daniel Prewett from preparing tax returns for others. The court also barred Prewett from helping customers hide income offshore to avoid taxes, and from promoting other tax-dodging schemes. The court has also enjoined Prewett’s wife, Elizabeth George; former Prewett employees Frances Carlson, Elsie Chouinard and Natalie Swaney; and Prewett’s three tax preparation businesses, listed below. The individual defendants agreed to the injunctions. (Read more)

U.S. District Judge Deborah K. Chasanow today sentenced Victor Ramirez, a/k/a “Mousey,” age 30, a native of El Salvador who resided in Hyattsville, Md., to 60 years in prison, followed by five years of supervised release. (Read more)

Timothy Lantz, 57, of Columbus, Ohio, pleaded guilty today in Columbus to one count of transportation of child pornography and one count of failing to update his sex offender registration. (Read more)

Todd Gongwer of Dublin, Ohio; Lance Parker of Dublin, Ohio; and Joel Lee, of Galena, Ohio, pleaded guilty today to conspiracy to commit bank fraud. Gongwer, a licensed real estate agent, also pleaded guilty to tax evasion in the hearing before Judge Michael H. Watson in Columbus, Ohio. Parker also pleaded guilty to illegally structuring cash transactions. (Read more)

Marsha K. Parenteau of Columbus, Ohio, pleaded guilty today to conspiracy to commit money laundering. Parenteau appeared before Judge Michael H. Watson in Columbus. (Read more)

The Department has reached a proposed settlement with Consolidated Multiple Listing Service Inc. (CMLS) that requires CMLS to change its rules to allow low-priced and innovative brokers to compete with traditional brokers in the Columbia, S.C., area. The Department said the rules caused consumers to pay more for residential real estate brokerage services in the Columbia area. (Read more)

The Department announced that on May 5, 2009, it will monitor municipal elections in the towns of Cleveland, Como, Meridian and Sardis, Miss., to ensure compliance with the Voting Rights Act of 1965. (Read more)

A former officer and two employees of Teamsters Local 743 (Local 743) were convicted today in federal court in Chicago of federal labor fraud and theft charges in connection with stealing union ballots in an effort to rig two elections in favor of an incumbent slate of officers in 2004. A federal jury returned guilty verdicts today, after deliberating since April 29, 2009, against the three defendants whose trial began on April 6, 2009. (Read more)

The United States has intervened in a civil lawsuit against two former suppliers to the National School Lunch Program – Hallmark Meat Packing Company and Westland Meat Company Inc. – for submitting false and fraudulent claims to the Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS), a division of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). All ground beef containing defendants’ products was recalled by USDA as of Feb. 16, 2008, and defendants no longer supply beef to the National School Lunch Program or AMS. (Read more)

A Miami federal grand jury has charged two South Florida men with conspiracy, mail and wire fraud in connection with the operation of a fraudulent ATM business opportunity. The criminal charges are part of the government’s continued nationwide crackdown on business opportunity fraud. (Read more)

Style Craft Furniture Co. Ltd., pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Camden, N.J., to one count of smuggling cribs containing internationally protected wood known as “ramin.” (Read more)

The Department today filed suit against the Fitchburg Housing Authority in Fitchburg, Mass., and its Executive Director Robert W. Hill alleging that they violated the Fair Housing Act when they refused to allow a tenant to transfer to a different apartment as a reasonable accommodation for her disabilities. (Read more)

The owner and president of a Ronkonkoma, N.Y., designing and manufacturing company pleaded guilty to conspiring to allocate a U.S. Navy contract for Navy straps. Navy straps are a type of tiedown equipment used by the U.S. Navy to secure munitions and other supplies for transport on ships and airplanes. (Read more)

Former Tippah County, Miss., Deputy Sheriff William Rogers and his son, former Tippah County Deputy Sheriff Jeffrey Rogers, were sentenced in federal court on April 30, 2009, for violating the civil rights of an arrestee by shooting him with a taser unnecessarily. (Read more)

A federal grand jury in Fort Smith, Ark., has indicted five men from the Donaldson, Ark., area on federal civil rights charges as well as charges of making false statements to the FBI. (Read more)