David R. Lewalski, formerly of Gainesville, Fla., was arrested today in Manhattan on a wire fraud charge related to his alleged participation in a $30 million investment fraud scheme.

"One concrete and very direct result of the Justice Department’s participation in the Task Force is that we have forged and fostered strong relationships with our partners in the fight against financial fraud," said Assistant Attorney General Breuer.

Robert Jackson, 37, of Ruston, La., was sentenced to 12 months in federal prison for placing a hangman’s noose under the carport of the home of a Honduran immigrant who moved to Ruston from New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

Gary Lee Rimmer, 56, was indicted in June 2010 and charged with one count of possession of child pornography and one count of distribution of child pornography.

Harold James Nicholson, 59, appeared before U.S. District Judge Anna J. Brown and pleaded guilty to the crimes of conspiracy to act as an agent of a foreign government and conspiracy to commit international money laundering.

Steven W. Allen, a practicing attorney from Mesa, Ariz., and Allen Goodmansen, a certified public accountant, also from Mesa, were sentenced to prison for tax fraud by Phoenix federal district court Judge Roslyn O. Silver.

A federal judge in Providence, R.I., entered a preliminary injunction against Michael Brier, individually, and doing business as Refunds Now Inc., RNTS Inc., FTIRS Inc., POTIRS Inc. and IHIRS Inc. from preparing federal tax returns for others.

The Department of Justice, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the state of Indiana have reached an agreement with the city of Indianapolis on important modifications to a 2006 consent decree that will make Indianapolis’ sewer system more efficient, leading to major reductions in sewage contaminated water at a savings to the city of approximately $444 million.

The Justice Department today announced a settlement of its lawsuit alleging that Lee Enterprises Inc. and its subsidiary, Lee Publications Inc., violated the Fair Housing Act (FHA) by publishing an advertisement that discriminated on the basis of familial status in the Elko Daily Free Press.

A federal grand jury in San Francisco today returned an indictment against three former executives from two color display tube (CDT) manufacturing companies for their participation in a global conspiracy to fix prices of CDTs.

The Justice Department announced today that it has sued the owners and managers of Park Towers Apartments, a federally-subsidized apartment complex in Waterloo, Iowa, alleging a pattern or practice of sexual harassment in violation of the Fair Housing Act.

Todd M. Gongwer, of Columbus, Ohio, was sentenced today to two years in prison for conspiring with convicted Columbus area home builder Thomas Parenteau to commit a mortgage fraud scheme in which the pair defrauded banks into lending more than $10 million to Gongwer, his nominees and unqualified borrowers.

The Justice Department today announced that it has reached a settlement agreement with Hoover Inc., a leading manufacturer of vacuum and carpet cleaners with facilities in Ohio and Texas, to resolve allegations that Hoover engaged in a pattern or practice of employment discrimination by imposing unnecessary and discriminatory hurdles in the I-9 process upon lawful permanent residents.

Brent Oncale, 36, of Houston, pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Richmond, Va., to conspiracy charges in connection with his role as a principal of the A&O entities, a group of businesses that acquired and marketed over $100 million of investments in life settlements to more than 800 victims across the United States and Canada.

The Department of Justice announced today that it has reached a settlement agreement with Essex County, N.J., that, will resolve the department’s lawsuit against Essex County for refusing to permit a corrections officer to wear a religiously-mandated headscarf.

U.S. District Court Judge Ellis sentenced Eric Jon Eisenhower, a resident of Fairfax Station, Va., to 19 months in prison and ordered him to pay $88,826.79 in restitution to the IRS.

A federal grand jury indicted three men in Albuquerque, N.M., on federal hate crime charges related to a racially-motivated assault of a 22-year-old man of Navajo descent who has a significant cognitive impairment.

According to court testimony and documents, Dennis G. Sartain of Hilliard, Ohio, was the accountant for convicted Columbus-area home builder, Thomas Parenteau.

The Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) today announced additional details for the Dec. 8, 2010, public workshop in Washington, which will examine the issue of margins at various levels of the agricultural supply chain.

"I am deeply honored by your invitation to be with you today and to share with you some of the work in which we have been engaged at the Department of Justice to improve life in Indian Country," said Assistant Attorney General West.

John Michael Carter, 42, pleaded guilty on Aug. 5, 2010, in U.S. District Court in the Western District of Virginia to one count of transportation of child pornography, one count of receipt of child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography.

"The Justice Department is firmly committed to investigating and prosecuting foreign bribery wherever it occurs – because rooting out foreign bribery matters," said Assistant Attorney General Breuer.

After more than two years of legal proceedings, alleged international arms dealer Viktor Bout has been extradited to the Southern District of New York from Thailand to stand trial on terrorism charges.

Fang Ping Ding was sentenced in federal court late yesterday to 37 months in prison for confiscating the passport, visa and other documents of a woman from the People’s Republic of China in order to maintain control over the victim and force her to work as an unpaid, live-in domestic servant.

Juan Javier Cardenas of Miami was sentenced today in the Southern District of Florida to 121 months in prison for buying, trafficking and possessing stolen credit card information.

Attorney General Eric Holder today announced the establishment of the Office of Tribal Justice as a separate component within the organizational structure of the Department of Justice.

Mohammed El-Fallal was also sentenced by U.S. District Judge Denise Page Hood in the Eastern District of Michigan to two years of supervised release following his prison term and was ordered to pay $2.8 million in restitution.

"We’re now seeing a convergence of opportunity and innovative thinking in the correctional health care arena," said Assistant Attorney General Robinson.

"The Criminal Division, along with our partners in the U.S. Attorneys Offices, is firmly committed to supporting you in our collective mission to prevent and deter any attempts to defraud the American people of the money invested in our future through the Recovery Act," said Assistant Attorney General Breuer.

“DNA evidence is one of the most powerful tools available to the criminal justice system, and these new steps will ensure the department can use DNA to the greatest extent possible to solve crimes and ensure the guilty are convicted,” Attorney General Holder said.

Jose Garcia, 55, was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Miami to 57 months in prison for his participation in a Medicare fraud scheme involving a Miami-area HIV clinic.

Jeffrey Chatfield of San Diego pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge Nita Stormes to a criminal information charging him with filing a false tax return related to a Swiss bank account that he maintained at UBS.

Two defendants were sentenced to prison today for their participation in an online child pornography conspiracy and for child pornography production charges.

Senior U.S. District Judge Jack T. Camp Jr., pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Atlanta to possession of controlled substances and conversion of government property.

A former Consolidated Edison of New York (Con Edison) manager pleaded guilty today to charges that he accepted and agreed to accept approximately $807,000 in bribes from two Con Edison industrial pipe supply vendors.

The Department of Justice secured $3 billion in civil settlements and judgments in cases involving fraud against the government in the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2010.

The Justice Department has reached an agreement with Stonecleave Village Association, Inc. to resolve allegations that Stonecleave engaged in a pattern or practice of familial status discrimination by imposing excessive fines on residents with children for alleged violations of Stonecleave’s rules.

Attorney General Eric Holder today named 18 experts – scholars and practitioners in criminology, statistics, sociology and practitioners in the criminal and juvenile justice fields – to the newly created Office of Justice Programs (OJP) Science Advisory Board.

James White, 46, of Wilmington, Del., was sentenced today to 60 months in prison and five years of supervised release for receiving child pornography.

Russell Mackert, 51, of Spring, Texas, pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Richmond, Va., to conspiracy charges in connection with his role as a lawyer for the A&O entities, a group of businesses that acquired and marketed more than $100 million of fraudulent investments in life settlements to more than 800 victims across the United States and Canada.

The settlement declares the entire Isabella Reservation to be Indian Country, resolving longstanding disputes over the boundaries and existence of the Isabella Reservation in south central Michigan.

The Department of Justice Federal Bureau of Prisons today implemented a key provision of the Tribal Law and Order Act of 2010 by launching a four-year pilot program to begin accepting certain tribal offenders sentenced in tribal courts for placement in Bureau of Prisons institutions.

Mohamed Osman Mohamud, 19, a naturalized U.S. citizen from Somalia and resident of Corvallis, Ore., has been arrested on charges of attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction (explosives) in connection with a plot to detonate a vehicle bomb at an annual Christmas tree lighting ceremony earlier this evening in Portland, Ore., the Justice Department announced.

Ocean Pro Ltd. dba Profish, one of the District of Columbia’s largest seafood wholesalers, as well as its vice-president and its fish buyer, were sentenced on Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Greenbelt, Md., for their roles in a more than decade-long conspiracy to illegally harvest striped bass from the Potomac River.

The Department of Justice has reached a settlement that will require GrafTech International Ltd., a major producer of graphite electrodes, to make significant modifications to its supply agreement with ConocoPhillips Company, along with reporting and firewall obligations, in order to proceed with its proposed acquisition of Seadrift Coke LP.

On March 1, 2010, Linda Eteimo Ere Kendabie, 29, of Nigeria, pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit health care fraud.

Houston-area residents Oliver Nkuku and Callistus Edozie were sentenced to 120 months in prison and 41 months in prison, respectively, for their roles in a durable medical equipment (DME) Medicare fraud scheme.

"Attorney General Eric Holder, backed by this strong commitment from President Obama, has made Tribal justice and safety a top priority for the Justice Department," said Assistant Attorney General Perez.

Francisco Ortiz, aka “Francis Gabriel Ortis,” “Pone,” and “King Pone,” 26, of Rockville, Md., was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Alexander Williams Jr. in Greenbelt, Md., to 262 months in prison, followed by five years of supervised release, for conspiracy to participate in a racketeering enterprise, in connection with his gang activities as a member and leader of the Almighty Latin King and Queen Nation (Latin Kings).

The Kaua‘i Island Utility Cooperative (KIUC) entered a plea agreement today in federal court in Honolulu to resolve violations of the Endangered Species Act and Migratory Bird Treaty Act.