"The Department of Justice is committed to using all available tools in our effort to combat fraud and corruption in the public and private sectors," said Assistant Attorney General Breuer.

Former Memphis Police Officer sentenced to 18 months in prison, two years supervised release and a $4,000 fine.

A federal court in Los Angeles has permanently barred three Huntington Beach men from preparing federal tax returns for customers.

The Justice Department today announced settlement agreements with the city of Muskegon, Mich., and the city of Cheyenne, Wyo., to improve access to public programs and facilities for persons with disabilities.

ABB Ltd’s U.S. subsidiary, ABB Inc., pleaded guilty to one count of violating the anti-bribery provisions of the FCPA and one count of conspiracy to violating these provisions of the FCPA. The court imposed a sentence that included a criminal fine of $17.1 million.

Panasonic Corporation and a Whirlpool Corporation subsidiary, Embraco North America Inc., have agreed to plead guilty and to pay a total of $140.9 million in criminal fines for their role in an international conspiracy to fix the prices of refrigerant compressors, which are used in refrigerators and freezers in ho mes and businesses.

The Department of Justice announced today $298 million in grants to fund the hiring and retaining of 1,388 state, local and tribal law enforcement officers by 379 police and sheriffs departments in 49 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.

BP Products North America Inc. has agreed to pay a $15 million penalty to resolve federal Clean Air Act violations at its Texas City, Texas, petroleum refinery.

Six international freight forwarders have agreed to plead guilty and to pay criminal fines totaling $50.27 million for their roles in several conspiracies to fix a variety of fees and charges in connection with the provision of freight forwarding services for international air cargo shipments.

The Justice Department today announced agreements with the cities of Fort Myers, Fla., and Newport, R.I., to improve access to all aspects of civic life for individuals with disabilities.

Today, the Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division, and the Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights, reached a settlement agreement with the Boston School Committee, the governing body of the Boston Public Schools, and its superintendent.

CSI Engineering and CSI Design Build, located in Beltsville, Md., and their president, Debdas Ghosal, have agreed to pay the United States $200,000 to settle claims that they used false statements to obtain contracts from several government agencies.

It is a privilege to be part of this year’s conference and to join you all in discussing the responsibilities that we share – responsibilities to ourselves and our society; to our profession and our predecessors; to America’s next generation of law students, attorneys, and jurists.

Eleven individuals, including four current Alabama state legislators, three lobbyists, two business owners and one of their employees, and an employee of the Alabama legislature have been charged for their roles in a conspiracy to offer to and to bribe legislators for their votes and influence on proposed legislation.

A New Orleans-area medical doctor and the owner and operator of a medical equipment company each pleaded guilty today for their roles in a Baton Rouge-area durable medical equipment (DME) health care fraud scheme.

The owner and operator of a Los Angeles durable medical equipment company was sentenced to 46 months in prison in connection with a power wheelchair scheme to defraud Medicare.

Elden Ray Cibart, 61, of Redding, Calif., was sentenced today to 60 months in prison and a lifetime term of supervised release for possession and receipt of child pornography.

"This morning, federal agents began arresting 11 individuals on charges that they conspired over an approximately 19-month period to corrupt the legislative process in Alabama," said Assistant Attorney General Breuer.

At the direction of President Obama, the Departments of Justice and Education officially launched the National Forum on Youth Violence Prevention (the forum) along with participating localities and other federal agencies.

Eighty-nine law enforcement officers and 44 others in Puerto Rico have been charged in 26 indictments unsealed today and returned by a grand jury in San Juan, Puerto Rico, during the month of September 2010.

Jay Lee (aka Michael Smith; John Marks; Ricky Marks; and Anthony Romero) was sentenced today in connection with an odometer tampering scheme that defrauded numerous victims in Wyoming, Colorado and other places, the Justice Department announced.

A federal grand jury returned an indictment charging former Fresno, Calif., Police Department (FPD) Officers Christopher Coleman, 42; Paul Van Dalen, 44; and Sean Plymale, 41; and current FPD Sergeant Michael Manfredi, 50, with civil rights and obstruction of justice offenses related to the assault of a man in their custody in October 2005.

Speaking at the European Offenders Employment Forum today, Attorney General Eric Holder announced $110 million in Fiscal Year (FY) 2010 funding for the Second Chance Act reentry grants and the Justice Reinvestment Initiative.

A Bulgarian national was sentenced today to 15 months in prison for his role as a money launderer for a transnational criminal group based in Eastern Europe, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division.

U.S. Army Major Charles E. Sublett, 46, of Huntsville, Ala., was sentenced today to 21 months in prison for making false statements to a federal agency, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division.

"Today, we have a unique, and critically important, opportunity – the chance to identify and to advance some of the world’s most effective public safety and prisoner reentry strategies."

Former U.S. Marshals Service employee, Sno H. Rush, pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Washington to stealing $104,000 in government funds.

The Department of Justice, the Environmental Protection Agency and the United States Attorney’s Office announced today, the settlement of claims against ConocoPhillips Company and Sasol North America Inc. to resolve their liability to EPA under CERCLA for contamination in the Calcasieu Estuary of Louisiana.

Seventy-three defendants, including a number of alleged members and associates of an Armenian-American organized crime enterprise, were charged in indictments unsealed today in five judicial districts with various health care fraud-related crimes involving more than $163 million in fraudulent billing.

A federal grand jury in Alexandria, Va., returned an indictment against a married couple from Fairfax Station, Va., for conspiracy, bank fraud and tax evasion.

Curtis Keith Cooper of Princeville, Hawaii, was sentenced today to 97 months in prison for molesting a minor while aboard a flight from Hawaii to California in July 2003, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney for the District of Hawaii Florence T. Nakakuni.

A federal grand jury in San Francisco returned an indictment against a former executive of a Taiwan thin-film transistor liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD) producer for participating in a global conspiracy to fix prices of TFT-LCD panels.

A patient recruiter and operator of a Detroit-area home health agency was sentenced to 63 months in prison for his role in a conspiracy to defraud the Medicare program.

"I am proud to be a part of this celebration. And I am honored to gather with so many partners, public servants, and distinguished guests as we break ground on a center that will become a place of learning and healing, of reflection and inspiration."

A Colorado couple has been sentenced in U.S. District Court in Denver on charges related to the illegal trapping and interstate sale of bobcats.

Rodney K. Justin, a medical doctor from Woodleaf, N.C., was sentenced to three years in prison and ordered to pay over $600,000 in restitution to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for obstructing the internal revenue laws and for failing to file tax returns for several years.

Hosam Maher Husein Smadi was sentenced today by U.S. District Court Judge Barbara M. G. Lynn to 24 years in prison for his attempted bombing of a downtown Dallas skyscraper in September 2009.

"Over the last quarter century, asset forfeiture and money laundering prosecutions have become integral to our country’s law enforcement strategy," said Assistant Attorney General Breuer.

Zachary Adam Chesser, 20, of Fairfax County, Va., pleaded guilty today before U.S. District Court Judge Liam O’Grady to a three-count criminal information that included charges of communicating threats against the writers of the South Park television show, soliciting violent jihadists to desensitize law enforcement, and attempting to provide material support to Al-Shabaab, a designated foreign terrorist organization.

California-based companies Quicksort Inc., Quicksort LA Inc. and Quicksort Sacramento Inc. have agreed to pay the United States $4.2 million to settle allegations that Quicksort violated the False Claims Act by falsely representing the level to which it had pre-sorted mailings in order to obtain discounted postage rates from the U.S. Postal Service.

"I’m enormously pleased that we at the Justice Department are supporting your important work through the Office of Justice Programs and are thereby helping you expand the reach of the holistic community oriented model to defender agencies across the country through the Center for Holistic Defense."

Two Miami health care companies and four owners and senior managers of the companies were indicted today for their alleged participation in a fraud scheme involving approximately $200 million in Medicare billing for purported mental health services.

Lindsey Manufacturing Company, an Azusa, Calif., company and two of its executives were indicted today for their alleged roles in a conspiracy to pay bribes to Mexican government officials at the Comisión Federal de Electricidad, a state-owned utility company.

A citizen of Uzbekistan residing in Mission, Kan., pleaded guilty late yesterday to charges for his role as the leader of a criminal enterprise that engaged in forced labor, fraud in foreign labor contracting, visa fraud, mail fraud, identity theft, tax evasion and money laundering.

"Today’s charges mark the first time that HEAT’s Medicare Fraud Strike Force has indicted a corporate entity for Medicare fraud," said Assistant Attorney General Breuer.

"In addition to the arrests and criminal charges that Assistant Attorney General Breuer announced, we are also announcing that we have obtained a Temporary Restraining Order freezing the assets of four corporate entities," said Assistant Attorney General West.

Craig Shaber, a practicing attorney from San Diego County, Calif., pleaded guilty Thursday in federal court before U.S. Magistrate Judge Anthony J. Battaglia to one count of tax evasion for the 2000 tax year.

Ademola Ismaila Adegoke, 43, of Accra, Ghana, was sentenced today to 102 months in prison for using stolen credit card numbers to steal more than $400,000 from U.S. citizens.

A Virginia man was sentenced today to 18 months in prison in connection with a scheme to defraud the U.S. Department of Defense of more than $450,000.

Glenn Duffie Shriver, 28, of Detroit, Mich., pleaded guilty today before U.S. District Court Judge Liam O’Grady to conspiring to provide national defense information to intelligence officers of the People’s Republic of China (PRC).