The Justice Department announced today that two Mexican nationals, Israel Cortes-Morales, 31, and Alberto Cortes-Castro, 30, pleaded guilty in federal district court in Miami to charges of conspiring to commit sex trafficking of Mexican women.

The Justice Department announced today that former Contract Security Officer Edwin Rodriguez, 30, pleaded guilty to engaging in sexual abuse of a female detainee under his supervision and control.

A Peace Corps volunteer was arrested today and charged in a federal criminal complaint with traveling from the United States to South Africa to engage in illicit sexual conduct with multiple children who were all younger than six years of age.

A federal jury today convicted five officers from the New Orleans Police Department on 25 counts in connection with the federal prosecution of a police-involved shooting on the Danziger Bridge in the days after Hurricane Katrina and an extensive cover-up of those shootings.

Attorney General Eric Holder, Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Department of the Interior Secretary Ken Salazar today announced a new federal framework to assist American Indian and Alaska Native communities in achieving their goals in the prevention, intervention and treatment of alcohol and substance abuse.

Shaoxiong Zhou and Shaoxia Huang, both of Shantou, Guangdong, China, have pleaded guilty to trafficking in counterfeit perfume.

The Department of Justice today announced that it has entered into a settlement agreement with private plaintiffs and the Pickens County, Ala., Board of Education that requires the board to institute a series of educational reforms designed to eliminate the remaining vestiges of its formerly segregated school system.

The United States has intervened and filed a complaint in a whistleblower suit pending under the False Claims Act against Education Management Corp. (EDMC) and several affiliated entities.

Emerson Winfield Begolly, 22, of New Bethlehem, Pa., pleaded guilty today in Pittsburgh to soliciting others to engage in acts of terrorism within the United States and to using a firearm during and in relation to an assault on FBI agents.

Eric Bernard Caldwell, a resident of Montgomery County, Ala., was sentenced today to 30 months in prison.

Eric Scott Hamilton, 40, of Pelzer, S.C., pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge J. Michelle Childs in the District of South Carolina to a criminal information charging him with two counts of conspiracy to steal public property.

The Justice Department today reached a settlement agreement with Summit Steel Fabricators Inc. in Houston resolving allegations that the company engaged in a pattern or practice of discrimination against non-citizens in the employment eligibility verification process.

Under the terms of a settlement filed today in federal court, the city of Newport has agreed to eliminate illegal discharges of sewage into Narragansett Bay from its wastewater treatment plant and wastewater collection system.

Kirby Dollar, 37, a former detective with the Russell County Sheriff’s Office, pleaded guilty in federal court in Montgomery, Ala., for his role in the assault of a handcuffed man.

Donald Johnson, a former managing director of the NASDAQ Stock Market, was sentenced today to 42 months in prison for engaging in insider trading on multiple occasions based on material, non-public information he obtained in his capacity as a NASDAQ executive.

Phillip A. Hamilton, a former member of the Virginia House of Delegates, was sentenced today to 114 months in prison after he was previously convicted of soliciting employees of Old Dominion University (ODU) for a paid position in exchange for introducing a budget amendment to fund the position, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Neil H. MacBride for the Eastern District of Virginia.

A former owner and operator of a Florida-based airline fuel supply service company and a former owner and operator of an Indiana-based flight management services company pleaded guilty today to participating in separate schemes to defraud Ryan International Airlines, a charter airline company located in Rockford, Ill.

A former Rochester, Ill., firefighter was sentenced today to 30 years in prison and lifetime supervised release for child exploitation charges, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney for the Central District of Illinois James A. Lewis.

The United States has reached agreement with the owners and a former operator of an inks and paint products manufacturing facility in Danvers, Mass., that exploded and burned in 2006 the day before Thanksgiving.

In a settlement valued at more than $1.7 million, Clean Harbors of Braintree Inc. has agreed to pay a significant penalty and perform additional projects, to settle a complaint filed by the U.S. Department of Justice on behalf of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), regarding numerous violations of hazardous waste management and emergency planning laws at the company’s Braintree, Mass., facility.

Nautilus Hyosung Holdings Inc. has agreed to plead guilty and pay a $200,000 criminal fine for obstruction of justice in connection with a premerger filing and investigation by the Antitrust Division.

Jacinda Jones, 31, of Ypsilanti, Mich., also was ordered by U.S. District Court Judge David M. Lawson in Detroit to serve three years of supervised release following her prison term and to pay $441,035 in restitution.

Taleo Corp. has agreed to pay the United States $6.49 million to resolve allegations that it knowingly caused false claims to be submitted to the Transportation Security Administration of the Department of Homeland Security, the Justice Department announced today.

The United States has filed a lawsuit in an Iowa federal court against a Des Moines, Iowa, metro area company, Advanced Underground Construction LLC and its principal, William David Ward II, the Justice Department announced today.

A 15-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Camden, N.J., was unsealed today following the arrest of six individuals from New Jersey and Maryland, and the seizure or restraint of 10 oyster fishing boats in New Jersey, announced Ignacia S. Moreno, Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division, and Paul J. Fishman, U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey.

Levonda J. Selph, 57, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton of the District of Columbia.

“Companies which make false statements to win Coast Guard contracts do a disservice to the men and women securing our borders,” said Tony West, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division of the Department of Justice.

Donald H. Cone, 48, of Frederick, Md., was sentenced today in Alexandria, Va., to 30 months in prison for his role in a sophisticated conspiracy to import and sell counterfeit Cisco-branded computer networking equipment.

David Chui, a resident of Queens, N.Y., pleaded guilty to failing to pay employment taxes in connection with his former ownership of a garment assembly business.

Epps Shipping Company, a Liberian corporation doing business out of Carolina, Puerto Rico, was sentenced in federal court for violating the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships (APPS) and making false statements to U.S. Coast Guard inspectors.

"Regrettably, as we have seen here in New Mexico and across the nation, the need for aggressive enforcement remains," said Assistant Attorney General Perez.

The Justice Department today reached a settlement agreement with Farmland Foods Inc., a major producer of pork products in the United States, resolving allegations that it engaged in a pattern or practice of discrimination by imposing unnecessary and excessive documentary requirements on non-U.S. citizens and foreign-born U.S. citizens when establishing their authority to work in the United States.

Jihan S. Cover, 33, of Arden, N.C., pleaded guilty before Magistrate Judge Dennis L. Howell in the Western District of North Carolina to a one-count criminal information charging her with theft of government property.

Obel Martinez, 39, and Damaris Gil, 30, previously pleaded guilty on May 24, 2010, before U.S. District Judge Donald M. Middlebrooks in Miami to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud.

Three financial investors who purchased municipal tax liens at auctions in New Jersey pleaded guilty today for their roles in a conspiracy to rig bids at tax liens auctions held by municipalities.

Abby Beard Hogan, 50, was charged with two counts of making false statements to federal law enforcement officials, one count of witness tampering and four counts of obstruction of justice.

Minnesota Transit Constructors Inc. (MnTC), a joint venture comprised of Granite Construction, C.S. McCrossan Inc. and Parsons Transportation Group, as well as a number of subcontractors, have agreed to pay the United States $4.6 million to resolve allegations that they knowingly submitted false claims related to a federally-funded transit construction project in Minneapolis.

A federal jury has convicted three Vice Lord gang members for their various roles in the murder of two individuals, and attempted murders of additional victims.

Tyrone L. Ellis, 56, of Columbus, Ga., was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Clay D. Land of the Middle District of Georgia.

Jose Rosario, 54, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Gerald E. Rosen in the Eastern District of Michigan.

Karl Herrington of Parma, Mich., was convicted of corruptly endeavoring to obstruct the administration of the Internal Revenue laws, of filing false tax forms with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and of being a felon in possession of six different firearms.

Richard Rosaire Routhier of Lake Worth, Fla., was sentenced to 60 months in prison and ordered to pay $1,243,574 in restitution to the Internal Revenue Service.

The Department of Justice announced today that it will not challenge the Producers Guild of America’s proposed use of a voluntary certification system for film producers.

The Justice Department today reached a settlement agreement with Kinro Manufacturing Inc. in Goshen, Ind., resolving allegations that the company engaged in a pattern or practice of discrimination against work-authorized non-citizens in the employment eligibility verification process.

Jason Walter Barnwell, 37, of Evening Shade, Ark., pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Little Rock, Ark., to charges related to his involvement in the Jan. 14, 2011, racially motivated firebombing of the home of a mixed-race couple in Hardy, Ark.

The Justice Department today settled a lawsuit with the Puerto Rico Department of Justice to protect the rights of employees with disabilities under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Thomas E. Parenteau of Hilliard, Ohio, was sentenced today to 22 years in prison for conspiring with his wife, his mistress and their accountant, to commit tax fraud and money laundering.

Following a comprehensive investigation, the Justice Department has announced its findings that the Miami-Dade County Corrections and Rehabilitation Department (MDCR) has engaged in a pattern or practice of constitutional violations in the jail facilities operated by MDCR.

New Orleans landlords Betty Bouchon, the Bouchon Limited Family Partnership and Sapphire Corp., have agreed to pay $70,000 in damages and civil penalties to settle a lawsuit alleging they unlawfully denied housing to African-American prospective renters at a 16-unit apartment building located in New Orleans.

The Department of Justice today announced the appointments of U.S. Attorney for the District of Minnesota B. Todd Jones to serve as Acting Director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and ATF Acting Director Kenneth Melson to become Senior Advisor on forensic science in the Office of Legal Policy.