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Indiana Man Sentenced to 20 Years in Prison for Transporting and Possessing Child Pornography

A federal jury in Indianapolis convicted William Travis Brown on July 23, 2009, of one count of transportation and one count of possession of child pornography.



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Former General Manager of Texas Business Arrested for Role in Alleged Scheme to Bribe Officials at Mexican State-Owned Electrical Utility

The former general manager of a Sugar Land, Texas-based business was arrested on Nov. 18, 2009, for his alleged role in a conspiracy to bribe Mexican government officials to secure contracts with the Comisión Federal de Electridad (CFE), a Mexican state-owned utility company.



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Terror Charges Unsealed in Minneapolis Against Eight Men, Justice Department Announces

According to the charging documents, the offenses include providing financial support to those who traveled to Somalia to fight on behalf of al-Shabaab, a designated foreign terrorist organization; attending terrorist training camps operated by al-Shabaab; and fighting on behalf of al-Shabaab.



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Tennessee Man Sentenced to 14 Years in Prison for Burning Islamic Center

“The right to worship without fear of this kind of violent interference is among our most fundamental civil rights,” said Thomas E. Perez, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division.



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Arizona Man Sentenced to Five Years in Prison for Mailing Child Pornography

Robert Restuch, 70, of Bullhead City, Ariz., was sentenced today to five years in prison for mailing child pornography.



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Colombian National Pleads Guilty to Role in Defrauding the Export-Import Bank of the United States of More Than $1 Million

Febe Durango-Rueda, 52, a Colombian national, pleaded guilty on Nov. 20, 2009, to participating in a scheme to defraud the Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank) of more than $1 million.



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Detroit Spammer and Three Co-Conspirators Sentenced for Multi-Million Dollar E-Mail Stock Fraud Scheme

Four individuals were sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Marianne O. Battani in federal court in Detroit for their roles in a wide-ranging international stock fraud scheme involving the illegal use of bulk commercial e-mails, or "spamming."



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Federal Court Shuts Down Los Angeles Tax Preparer

The government complaint in the civil injunction case alleged that Jacqueline Cornejo promoted a tax fraud scheme designed to siphon millions of dollars from the U.S. Treasury.



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Four Indicted for Conspiring to Support Hizballah; Six Others Charged with Related Crimes

Ten individuals were indicted today, charged with, among other things, conspiring to export weapons from Philadelphia to the Port of Latakia, Syria.



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Six Individuals Sentenced for Multi-Million Dollar E-Mail Stock Fraud Scheme

Six individuals were sentenced today in federal court in Detroit for their roles in a wide-ranging international stock fraud scheme involving the illegal use of bulk commercial e-mails, or "spamming."



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Former Memphis Police Officer Convicted of Excessive Force

Isaac White, formerly an officer with the Memphis Police Department, pleaded guilty today to using excessive force and causing bodily injury. White faces up to 10 years in prison for the civil rights violation.



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Federal Court Shuts Down Kansas City Tax Preparer

A federal court in Kansas City, Kan., has permanently barred Carlos Cruz, also known as Carlos Ruano-Cruz, from preparing tax returns for others.



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Justice Department Requires Divestitures in Stericycle Inc.’s Acquisition of MedServe Inc.

The department said the transaction, as originally proposed, would substantially lessen competition in infectious waste collection and treatment services to hospitals and other critical healthcare facilities.



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United States Transfers Two Guantanamo Bay Detainees to Italy

Both detainees are the subject of outstanding arrest warrants in Italy and will be prosecuted there.



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Justice Department Files Lawsuit Against MasTec Advanced Technologies to Enforce the Employment Rights of Army Reserve Member

The department filed a lawsuit in federal court in West Virginia alleging that MasTec Advanced Technologies willfully violated the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 by discriminating against a U.S. Army Reserve member on the basis of his military service and by failing to offer Burress an appropriate reemployment position when he returned from military service.



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North Carolina Poultry Processing Plant and Manager Indicted for Violations of Clean Water Act

A federal grand jury in Greensboro, N.C., returned an indictment today charging a poultry processor and a plant manager with multiple violations of the Clean Water Act for illegally discharging wastewater from its Raeford, N.C., based facility



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United States Transfers a Guantanamo Bay Detainee to France

Late last night, Sabir Lahmar, a native of Algeria, was transferred to the government of France.



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United States Transfers a Guantanamo Bay Detainee to Hungary

Late last night, a detainee originally from the West Bank was transferred to the government of Hungary.



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Los Angeles’ Kerlan Jobe Orthopaedic Clinic Pays $3 Million to Settle Kickback Allegations

The Kerlan Jobe Orthopaedic Clinic, a sports medicine clinic in Los Angeles, has agreed to pay the United States $3 million to settle allegations that it received illegal kickbacks from HealthSouth Corporation.



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Army Officer, Wife and Relatives Sentenced in Bribery and Money Laundering Scheme Related to DOD Contracts in Support of Iraq War

John L. Cockerham, 43, a major in the U.S. Army, was sentenced to 210 months in prison.



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Two Foreign Nationals Sentenced for Roles in International Money Laundering Scheme Involving Online Sales

Two Bulgarian nationals have been sentenced in U.S. District Court in the District of Columbia for their roles as money launderers for a transnational criminal group based in Eastern Europe, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division.



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Birmingham Man Sentenced to Prison for False Tax Refund Scheme

Cardale Leon Bates of Birmingham, Ala., was sentenced to 57 months in prison today by U.S. District Court Judge L. Scott Coogler.



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Tewksbury, Mass., Health Care Provider and Its CEO Permanently Enjoined Relating to Failure to Comply with Federal Employment Tax Requirements

A federal court in Boston issued a judgment against Excel Home Care Inc. in the amount of $473,510.76 for unpaid federal employment and unemployment taxes after its owner Diane E. Porter consented to the entry of an order of permanent injunction that prohibits her or anyone else from operating this Tewksbury, Mass., home health care provider.



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Chicagoan Charged with Conspiracy in 2008 Mumbai Attacks in Addition to Foreign Terror Plot in Denmark

A Chicago man who was arrested in October for planning terrorist attacks against a Danish newspaper and two of its employees is alleged to have also conducted extensive surveillance of targets in Mumbai for more than two years preceding the November 2008 terrorist attack on India’s largest city that killed approximately 170 people, including six Americans, and injured hundreds more.



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Justice Department Releases Video Explaining Federal Protections Against Immigration-Related Discrimination in the Workplace

The Department released a new video aimed at educating employers about worker rights and employer responsibilities under the anti-discrimination provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act.



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Three South Carolina Men Plead Guilty to Federal Civil Rights and Carjacking Charges

Thomas Howard Blue Sr., Thomas Howard Blue Jr. and Judson Hartley Talbert pleaded guilty today in federal court in Florence, S.C., to charges relating to the assault of an African-American man and two white men in December 2007.



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Two Florida Executives, One Florida Intermediary and Two Former Haitian Government Officials Indicted for Their Alleged Participation in Foreign Bribery Scheme

Two Florida executives of a Miami-Dade County-based telecommunications company, the president of Florida-based Telecom Consulting Services Corp., and two former Haitian government officials were charged in an indictment unsealed today for their alleged roles in a foreign bribery, wire fraud and money laundering scheme.



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District of Columbia Seafood Company, Two Employees Charged with Purchasing Illegally Harvested Striped Bass

A Washington, D.C., fish wholesaler and two of its employees have been charged in U.S. District Court in Maryland for the purchase of illegally harvested striped bass, commonly referred to as rockfish, from the Potomac River from 1995 through 2007.



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Four Arkansas Men Sentenced on Civil Rights Charges in Cross Burning Conspiracy

Jacob Wingo, Clayton Morrison, Darren McKim and Richard Robins were sentenced today and yesterday in federal court in Hot Springs, Ark., on federal civil rights and obstruction of justice charges related to a conspiracy to drive a woman and her children from their home in Donaldson, Ark., because the victims associated with African-Americans.



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Former U.S. Army Officer Sentenced to Five Years in Prison for Role in Bribery Conspiracy in Al-hillah, Iraq

Curtis Whiteford, a former colonel in the U.S. Army Reserves, was sentenced today to five years in prison for his participation in a wide-ranging bribery conspiracy in Al-Hillah, Iraq.



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Syracuse Mortgage Underwriter to Pay United States Nearly $679,000 to Resolve Mortgage Fraud Allegations

Robert Corp, a mortgage underwriter in Syracuse, N.Y., has agreed to pay the United States close to $679,000 to settle allegations that he defrauded the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).



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State Department Employee Sentenced for Illegally Accessing Confidential Passport Files

Kevin M. Young, 42, was sentenced today to 12 months of probation for illegally accessing more than 125 confidential passport application files. Young was also ordered by U.S. Magistrate Judge Alan Kay in the District of Columbia to perform 100 hours of community service.



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Polembros Shipping Ltd. Sentenced for Crimes Related to Pollution from Cargo Ship Traveling to New Orleans

Polembros Shipping LTD., a ship management company headquartered in Greece, was sentenced today in federal court in New Orleans to pay a $2.7 million criminal fine for violating anti-pollution laws, ship safety laws, and making false statements during a U.S. Coast Guard investigation of the M/V Theotokos, the Justice Department announced.



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Georgia Couple Charged with Human Trafficking and Immigration Violations for Exploiting Woman from Swaziland

A federal grand jury in Atlanta has indicted an Ellenwood, Ga., husband and wife, Juna Gwendolyn Babb, 54, and Michael J. Babb, 53, on charges of conspiracy, forced labor, document servitude, which is confiscating someone’s passport and visa, and harboring an alien for financial gain, the Justice Department announced.



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United States Transfers One Guantanamo Bay Detainee to Kuwait

Fouad Mahmoud al-Rabiah, a Kuwaiti national, has been transferred from the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay to the control of the government of Kuwait.



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Ft. Worth, Texas, Couple Charged with Holding Nigerian Woman in Domestic Servitude

A federal grand jury has indicted a Ft. Worth, Texas, husband and wife, Emmanuel and Ngozi Nnaji, on charges of engaging in a nine-year scheme to compel the labor of a Nigerian victim as their domestic servant.



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Former DOD Contracting Officer Sentenced to 110 Months in Prison for Filing False Tax Returns

Tijani Ahmed Saani was also ordered to pay a $1.6 million fine and serve one year of supervised release following his prison term.



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Woonsocket, Rhode Island, Police Officer Indicted on Federal Civil Rights Charges

A federal grand jury in Providence, R.I., has indicted an officer with the Woonsocket Police Department, charging him with violating the civil rights of a 16 year-old juvenile by physically assaulting him, as well as obstruction of justice.



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Statement by Attorney General Eric Holder and Education Secretary Arne Duncan on Joint Study on School Crime and Safety

“Eradicating youth violence is a priority of this administration and a priority of both these agencies," said Attorney General Holder and Education Secretary Duncan.



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Statement of Associate Attorney General Thomas J. Perrelli Before the U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee of Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security Entitled "H.r. 1924, the Tribal Law and Order Act of 2009"

"The challenges facing law enforcement in tribal communities are enormous. The basic level of police protection that most Americans take for granted simply does not exist in many parts of Indian Country. We have a duty to change that."




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Former Navy Master Chief Petty Officer Sentenced to Four Years in Prison for Participating in Scheme to Steal Large Quantities of Fuel from U.S. Army in Iraq

Robert Jeffery, 55, a former master chief petty officer in the U.S. Navy, was sentenced today to four years in prison for his participation in a scheme to steal approximately 10 million gallons of fuel from the U.S. Army in Iraq, announced Assistant Attorney General of the Criminal Division Lanny A. Breuer and U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia Neil H. MacBride.



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North Dakota Executive Sentenced to Prison for Tax Fraud

Micheal Fisher, a former co-owner of Fisher Sand & Gravel Co. Inc. (FSG) based in Dickinson, N.D., was sentenced to 37 months in prison.



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Terrorism Defendants Sentenced in Atlanta

Ehsanul Islam Sadequee, 23, of Roswell, Ga., and Syed Haris Ahmed, 25, of Atlanta, were sentenced today in federal court following their convictions earlier this year in separate but related criminal trials.



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Presidential Task Force on Controlled Unclassified Information Releases Report and Recommendations

Attorney General Holder and Secretary Janet Napolitano announced two major steps in their efforts to implement reforms to enhance information sharing among federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies and safeguard sensitive information used by the government—designed to expand joint capabilities to protect the United States from terrorist activity, violent crime and other threats to the homeland.



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Two Shenandoah, Pennsylvania, Men and Four Police Officers Indicted for Hate Crime and Related Corruption

A federal grand jury has returned multiple indictments arising out of a fatal racially motivated beating and related police corruption in Shenandoah, Pa.



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Los Angeles Area Tax Preparer Sentenced to Six Months in Prison for Violating Injunction

James A. Mattatall of Torrance, Calif., was sentenced to six months in prison for violating a permanent injunction.



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Medicare Fraud Strike Force Expands Operations into Brooklyn, N.Y.; Tampa, Fla.; and Baton Rouge, La.

Thirty people have been charged in three cities for their alleged roles in schemes to submit more than $61 million in false Medicare claims as part of the continuing operation of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force.



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Michigan Tax Preparers Permanently Barred from Preparing Returns for Others

Chief District Judge Paul L. Maloney has permanently barred Joyce M. Stone and Charles J. Freed, both of Tipton, Mich., from preparing income tax returns for others.



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Former Senate Employee Charged with $75,000 Wire Fraud Scheme

Ngozi T. Pole, 39, a former office manager in the U.S. Senate, was charged today in a six-count indictment for an alleged scheme to defraud the U.S. Senate of more than $75,000, Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division announced today.



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Former State Department Employee Sentenced for Illegally Accessing Confidential Passport Files

Karal Busch, 28, of District Heights, Md., was sentenced today to 24 months of probation for illegally accessing more than 65 confidential passport application files.



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