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Justice Department Files Lawsuit Against Texas Bus Company Alleging Employment Discrimination Against U.S. Citizens and Other Individuals

The Justice Department announced today the filing of a lawsuit with the Executive Office of Immigration Review’s Office of the Chief Administrative Hearing Officer (OCAHO), against Autobuses Ejecutivos LLC, d/b/a Omnibus Express, a bus company based in Houston.



  • OPA Press Releases

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Texas Businessman Agrees to Settle False Claims Allegations Involving the E-Rate Program

Larry Lehmann of Giddings, Texas has agreed to pay $400,000 to settle allegations that he violated the False Claims Act in connection with the Federal Communications Commission’s E-rate Program, the Department of Justice announced today. The E-rate Program, created by Congress in the Telecommunications Act of 1996, subsidizes eligible equipment and services to make Internet access and internal networking more affordable for public schools and libraries.



  • OPA Press Releases

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Former Sevierville, Tenn. Resident Convicted of Tax Evasion

The Justice Department and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced today that Jimmie Duane Ross of Lehi, Utah, and formerly of Sevierville, Tenn., was convicted today of five counts of tax evasion following a jury trial in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee.



  • OPA Press Releases

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Five Puerto Rico Police Department Officers Indicted on Federal Civil Rights, Obstruction of Justice and Perjury Charges

A second superseding indictment against five Puerto Rico Police Department (PRPD) officers was announced today by Jocelyn Samuels, Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division; Rosa Emilia Rodriguez-Velez, U.S. Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico; and Carlos Cases, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI San Juan Field Office.



  • OPA Press Releases

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Justice Department Signs Agreement with the City of Fort Morgan, Colo. to Ensure Civic Access for People with Disabilities

The Justice Department announced today an agreement with the city of Fort Morgan, Colo., to improve access to all aspects of civic life for persons with disabilities.



  • OPA Press Releases

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California Businessman Pleads Guilty to Conspiracy to Defraud the Internal Revenue Service

The Justice Department announced today that Gary Mach, a Palm Desert, Calif. resident who operated Crystal Springs Pool Service (CSPS), pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).



  • OPA Press Releases

vi

Shipping Corporation and Two Engineers Convicted in ‘Magic Pipe’ Case in Norfolk, Va.

Diana Shipping Services S.A., a Panamanian corporation headquartered in Greece, Ioannis Prokakis and Antonios Boumpoutelos, both citizens of Greece, were convicted today after an 12-day bench trial on charges related to the illegal discharge of waste oil and oil-contaminated waste water from the M/V Thetis, a cargo vessel operated by Diana Shipping Services, announced Robert G. Dreher, Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division, Neil H. MacBride, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, Otis E. Harris, Jr., Special Agent in Charge, Coast Guard Investigative Service, Chesapeake Region, and David G. McLeod, Jr., Special Agent in Charge of EPA’s criminal enforcement program for the Middle Atlantic States.



  • OPA Press Releases

vi

Massachusetts Man Charged with Making Hoax Emergency Services Calls to Elicit Swat Team Response

An Athol, Mass., man has been charged in a criminal information with engaging in a practice known as “swatting,” which involves making hoax emergency telephone calls in order to elicit an armed police response (from a SWAT team) for the purpose of harassing someone believed to be at a specific location.



  • OPA Press Releases

vi

United States Files Lawsuit Against PharMerica Corporation for Violations of the False Claims Act and the Controlled Substances Act

The United States has filed suit against PharMerica Corp. in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin. The lawsuit alleges that PharMerica violated the False Claims Act and the Controlled Substances Act by dispensing controlled drugs without valid prescriptions and causing claims for illegally dispensed drugs to be submitted to the Medicare program.



  • OPA Press Releases

vi

Ninth Individual Sentenced in Connection with Costa Rica-based Business Opportunity Ventures That Defrauded Americans

Michael Kerry Deevy, a Canadian citizen, was sentenced today in connection with a series of business opportunity fraud ventures based in Costa Rica, the Justice Department and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service announced. Beginning in 2006, Deevy and his co-conspirators in Costa Rica are alleged to have fraudulently induced purchasers in the U.S. to buy business opportunities from companies known as Cards-R-Us Inc., Premier Cards Inc. and Nation West. The business opportunities cost purchasers thousands of dollars each, with most paying at least $10,000. Today’s sentencing forms part of the government’s continued nationwide crackdown on business opportunity fraud.



  • OPA Press Releases

vi

Justice Department Reaches Settlement with Homeowners Association and Property Management Company in Fair Housing Lawsuit Involving Occupancy Limits

The Justice Department announced today that the Townhomes of Kings Lake HOA Inc. (HOA) and Vanguard Management Group Inc. have agreed to pay $150,000 to settle a lawsuit alleging violations of the Fair Housing Act (FHA).



  • OPA Press Releases

vi

Individual Arrested in Florida in Connection with a Lottery Scam in Jamaica

Jamaican citizen charged in connection with the operation of a fraudulent lottery was arrested Tuesday in Orlando, Fla., following his indictment by a federal grand jury in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., on Aug. 9, 2012, the Justice Department, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations and U.S. Marshals Service announced today.



  • OPA Press Releases

vi

Two Idaho Men Sentenced to Prison for Asbestos Violations

Bradley Eberhart, 51, of Garden Valley, Idaho, and Douglas Greiner, 53, of Eagle, Idaho, were sentenced this week in federal court for violating the asbestos work practice standards of the Clean Air Act, announced Robert G. Dreher, Acting Assistant Attorney General for Environment and Natural Resources Division, and Wendy J. Olson, U.S. Attorney for the District of Idaho.



  • OPA Press Releases

vi

Pulaski County Sheriff’s Deputy Indicted for Federal Civil Rights Violation

U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Kentucky David J. Hale and Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division Jocelyn Samuels announced that Steven Molen, a Sheriff’s Deputy with the Pulaski County Sheriff’s Office, was indicted yesterday by a federal grand jury on one count of violating the civil rights of a victim by using excessive force in August 2008.



  • OPA Press Releases

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Three Members and One Associate of Violent North Carolina Latin Kings Gang Sentenced to Prison

Three members and one associate of the North Carolina Almighty Latin King/Queen Nation (ALKQN) have been sentenced this week in federal court in the Middle District of North Carolina.



  • OPA Press Releases

vi

Federal Court Permanently Bars Indiana Instant Tax Service Franchisee from Tax Preparation

A federal court in Indianapolis permanently barred David Franklin and his company, Instant Refund Tax Service (IRTS), from preparing tax returns and from operating a tax-preparation business, the Justice Department announced today.



  • OPA Press Releases

vi

Justice Department Settles Fair Housing Lawsuit with Multi/Tech Engineering Services Inc.

The Justice Department announced today that Multi/Tech Engineering Services Inc., an engineering firm based in Salem, Ore., has agreed to pay more than $60,000 to settle a lawsuit alleging that it had violated the Fair Housing Act by designing Gateway Village Apartments with steps and other features that made it inaccessible to people with disabilities.



  • OPA Press Releases

vi

United States and the Commonwealth of Kentucky Reach Agreement with AK Steel Corporation to Resolve Clean Air Act Violations

The United States and the Commonwealth of Kentucky have reached a settlement with the AK Steel Corporation (AK Steel) in Ashland, Ky., resolving alleged violations of the Clean Air Act, AK Steel’s title V permit, and the Kentucky State Implementation Plan, announced the Department of Justice and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).



  • OPA Press Releases

vi

Justice and Education Departments Announce New Research Showing Prison Education Reduces Recidivism, Saves Money, Improves Employment

Attorney General Eric Holder and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan today announced research findings showing that, on average, inmates who participated in correctional education programs had 43 percent lower odds of returning to prison than inmates who did not.



  • OPA Press Releases

vi

Statement of the Attorney General on Resignation of U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia Neil H. MacBride

Attorney General Eric Holder issued the following statement today on the resignation of U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia Neil H. MacBride:



  • OPA Press Releases

vi

Alleged Members of Violent Loan Sharking and Illegal Gambling Organization Charged in Philadelphia

An indictment was unsealed today charging nine people in a loan sharking and illegal gambling ring allegedly run out of several Philadelphia businesses.



  • OPA Press Releases

vi

Big West Oil to Pay Penalty and Spend $18 Million on Emission Controls to Resolve Clean Air Act Violations at North Salt Lake Refinery

Big West Oil LLC has agreed to pay a $175,000 penalty and to spend approximately $18 million to install emission controls at its refinery in North Salt Lake, Utah, announced the Department of Justice and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today. Big West Oil will also invest $253,000 to improve the monitoring and management of potential releases of hydrofluoric acid at the facility.



  • OPA Press Releases

vi

Man Who Threatened Synagogue in Fargo, North Dakota, Charged with Civil Rights Violation

Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division Jocelyn Samuels and U.S. Attorney for the District of North Dakota Timothy Q. Purdon announced that Dominique Jason Flanigan was arraigned today on civil rights and threats charges.



  • OPA Press Releases

vi

Three Missourians Sentenced for Defrauding Consumers Seeking Immigration Services

Three defendants who previously pleaded guilty in connection with an immigration services fraud scheme were sentenced in federal court.



  • OPA Press Releases

vi

RPM International Inc. and Tremco Inc. Pay Nearly $61 Million for Failing to Provide Government Discounts Provided to Others

Ohio-based RPM International Inc. and its subsidiary, Tremco Inc., have paid $60.9 million to resolve allegations that Tremco filed false claims in connection with two multiple award schedule (MAS) contracts with the General Services Administration (GSA) for roofing supplies and services.



  • OPA Press Releases

vi

Independence, Mo., Man and Woman Plead Guilty to Violating Civil Rights of Family by Torching Their Home

Tammy Dickinson, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, and Jocelyn Samuels, Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, announced that an Independence, Mo., man and woman pleaded guilty in federal court today to violating the civil rights of an African-American family by setting fire to their residence.



  • OPA Press Releases

vi

Conax Flordia Corp. Settles Allegations It Provided Improperly Tested Equipment and Non-Conforming Electronic Parts for Use by the Military and NASA

Conax Florida Corp. and related companies have agreed to resolve allegations under the False Claims Act that the company submitted false claims to the government for improperly tested inertia reels and non-conforming voltage references.



  • OPA Press Releases

vi

Two California Firms and Owner Agree to Settle Clean Air Act Violations Stemming from Illegal Import of Vehicles

Two Los Angeles-based consulting firms, MotorScience Inc., and MotorScience Enterprise Inc., (MotorScience) and their owner, Chi Zheng, have agreed to settle alleged Clean Air Act (CAA) violations stemming from the illegal import of 24,478 all-terrain, recreational vehicles into the U.S. from China without testing to ensure emissions would meet applicable limits on harmful air pollution, announced the Department of Justice, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the California Air Resources Board (ARB).



  • OPA Press Releases

vi

Truck Broker Sentenced for Dumping Thousands of Tons of Asbestos Contaminated Debris in Violation of the Clean Water Act

Jonathan Deck, 59, of Norwood, N.J., was sentenced today in federal court in Utica, N.Y., to 15 months in prison for conspiring to commit wire fraud in connection with the illegal dumping of thousands of tons of asbestos-contaminated construction debris on a 28-acre piece of property on the Mohawk River in upstate New York, the Justice Department announced.



  • OPA Press Releases

vi

United States, Utah, Juab County and Environmental Groups Reach Settlement Over Use of Public Roads on Federal Lands

The U.S. District Court in Utah has concluded proceedings and approved a settlement of a lawsuit involving three claimed highway rights-of-way on Bureau of Land Management (BLM) administered public land adjacent to and within the Deep Creek Mountains Wilderness Study Area (WSA.



  • OPA Press Releases

vi

Department of Justice Reaches Settlement with Virginia School District to Ensure Equal Opportunites for English Language Learner Students

The Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division has reached a comprehensive settlement agreement with the Prince William County School District in Virginia to improve services for approximately 13,000 students who are English Language Learners (ELLs) and provide language access for Limited English Proficient (LEP) parents district-wide.



  • OPA Press Releases

vi

Former Navy Reservist Sentenced to 25 Years in Prison for Sexual Exploitation of Multiple Minors to Produce Child Pornography

Anthony K. Mastrogiovanni, 30, of Crofton, Md., was sentenced today to serve 25 years in prison for sexually exploiting more than 30 male juveniles – ranging from 9 to 16 years of age – in Maryland and Louisiana to produce child pornography.



  • OPA Press Releases

vi

Six Individuals, Three Corporations Charged in Indiana-based Biofuels Fraud Scheme

The Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Indiana announced today the return of two indictments against six individuals and three companies for offenses involving federal renewable fuel programs, allegedly creating losses to victims totaling more than $100 million. The 88 counts included in the three charging documents include allegations of conspiracy, wire fraud, false tax claims, false statements under the Clean Air Act, obstruction of justice, money laundering and securities fraud.



  • OPA Press Releases

vi

Maine Resident Pleads Guilty to Engaging in Cyber “Sextortion” of New Hampshire Victim

A Maine resident pleaded guilty today in federal court to engaging in a type of cyberstalking known as “sextortion.”



  • OPA Press Releases

vi

Halliburton Pleads Guilty to Destruction of Evidence in Connection with Deepwater Horizon Disaster and Is Sentenced to Statutory Maximum Fine

Halliburton Energy Services Inc. (Halliburton) pleaded guilty today to destroying evidence pertaining to the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster and was sentenced to the statutory maximum fine, the Justice Department announced.



  • OPA Press Releases

vi

Citgo Agrees to Reduce Air Pollution and Pay Penalty to Resolve Clean Air Act Violations at Two Refineries

The Department of Justice and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that Houston-based CITGO Petroleum Corp. (CITGO) has agreed to pay a $737,000 civil penalty and to implement projects to reduce harmful air pollution, resolving alleged violations of the Clean Air Act (CAA) at its petroleum refining facilities located in Lemont, Ill., and Lake Charles (Westlake), La.



  • OPA Press Releases

vi

Massachusetts Man Indicted in Providence for Tax Fraud

The Justice Department and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced that a federal grand jury in Providence, R.I., returned a five-count indictment yesterday charging John Fall of Milton, Mass., with one count of corruptly endeavoring to obstruct and impede the IRS, one count of tax evasion and three counts of aiding and assisting in the preparation and filing of false corporate and individual tax returns.



  • OPA Press Releases

vi

Texas Refinery Will Pay $8.75 Million for Failing to Comply with Enforcement Settlement to Resolve Air Violations

Total Petrochemical USA Inc. (Total) will pay an $8.75 million penalty for failing to comply with the terms of a 2007 settlement with the United States that resolved alleged violations of the Clean Air Act at its Port Arthur, Texas, refinery, the Department of Justice and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced today.



  • OPA Press Releases

vi

Alabama State Employee Sentenced for Providing Names in Identity Theft Scheme

Lea’Tice Phillips, of Montgomery County, Ala., was sentenced to serve 94 months of incarceration today, announced Assistant Attorney General Kathryn Keneally of the Justice Department's Tax Division and U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Alabama George L. Beck Jr.



  • OPA Press Releases

vi

Justice Department Announces Enhanced Online Resource for U.S. Victims of Overseas Terrorism

The Justice Department today announced an enhanced online resource designed to support American victims of overseas terrorism.



  • OPA Press Releases

vi

California Mobile Lab and X-ray Provider, Diagnostic Laboratories and Radiology, to Pay $17.5 Million for Falsely Billing Medicare and Medi-CAL

Kan-Di-Ki LLC, formerly known as Kan-Di-Ki Inc., doing business as Diagnostic Laboratories and Radiology (Diagnostic Labs), will pay $17.5 million to settle allegations that the California-based company violated the federal and California False Claims Acts by paying kickbacks for referral of mobile lab and radiology services subsequently billed to Medicare and Medi-Cal (the state of California’s Medicaid program), the Justice Department announced today.



  • OPA Press Releases

vi

Attorney General Eric Holder Delivers Remarks at the Summit for Preventing Youth Violence

Clearly, the consequences of inaction in the face of such trauma would be too great to ignore. And the associated costs – in human, moral, and even economic terms – are far too much to bear. In fact, the cost of failing to intervene in the life of a young person who’s at risk of becoming delinquent could add up to more than $3 million over the course of his or her lifetime.




vi

Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Justice Programs Karol V. Mason Delivers Remarks at the National Summit on Preventing Youth Violence

The impact of this violence, and of our acquiescence, is greater than it appears on the surface. We can see the immediate physical damage it does, and we know it causes emotional trauma in the kids it touches.




vi

Scott D. Hammond, Assistant Attorney General of the Antitrust Division’s Criminal Enforcement Program, Delivers Remarks at Auto Parts Press Conference

There were more than a dozen separate conspiracies each operating independently but all targeting the U.S. automotive industry. Some of the price-fixing conspiracies lasted for a decade or longer, and many car models were fitted with multiple parts that were fixed by the auto parts suppliers.




vi

Attorney General Eric Holder, Justice Department and Other Officials, Cities Work to Break Cycle of Violence

Justice Department officials along with other senior officials from the Administration yesterday convened the third annual National Summit on Preventing Youth Violence to share strategies on how to prevent and reduce violence and gang activity and improve opportunities for young people.



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Attorney General Eric Holder Delivers Remarks on Justice Department’s Efforts to Provide Law Enforcement Assistance to City of Detroit

Today, I am pleased to be in Detroit to announce that – in addition to our ongoing enforcement of antitrust and consumer protection laws – as part of the Obama Administration’s commitment to supporting the City of Detroit, the Justice Department will take a variety of actions to provide direct assistance to city leaders and local law enforcement authorities in order to improve public safety throughout the metropolitan area.




vi

Former Project Manager Convicted for Role in Conspiracy Schemes Involving Two EPA Superfund Sites in New Jersey

A New Jersey jury convicted a former project manager for his central role in conspiracies that spanned seven years and involved kickbacks in excess of $1.5 million at two Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Superfund sites in New Jersey, the Department of Justice announced today. The jury returned guilty verdicts on 10 counts charged in the indictment against Gordon D. McDonald, which was filed on Aug. 31, 2009.



  • OPA Press Releases

vi

Boston Scientific and Subsidiaries to Pay $30 Million for Guidant’s Sale of Defective Heart Devices for Use in Medicare Patients

Boston Scientific Corp. and its subsidiaries, Guidant LLC, Guidant Sales LLC and Cardiac Pacemakers Inc. (Guidant), have agreed to pay $30 million to settle allegations that, between 2002 and 2005, Guidant knowingly sold defective heart devices to health care facilities that in turn implanted the devices into Medicare patients.



  • OPA Press Releases

vi

Additional Charges Brought Against Tax Return Preparers Previously Charged with Helping Clients Hide Millions in Offshore Israeli Banks

David Kalai and Nadav Kalai face additional charges after a federal grand jury in the Central District of California returned a second superseding indictment yesterday.



  • OPA Press Releases

vi

Vietnamese National Charged in Widespread International Scheme to Steal and Sell Hundreds of Thousands of U.s. Persons’ Personally Identifiable Information

A Vietnamese national has been indicted in the District of New Hampshire for allegedly participating in an international scheme to steal and sell hundreds of thousands of Americans’ personally identifiable information (PII) through various underground websites that he operated.



  • OPA Press Releases