Attorney General Eric Holder and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan will hold a press conference to announce a major law enforcement action to protect military servicemembers from unfair lending practices today, Tuesday, May 13, 2014, at 1:15 p.m. EDT.

The Department of Justice today announced the federal government’s first lawsuit filed against owners and servicers of student loans for violating the rights of servicemembers eligible for benefits and protections under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA).

Attorney General Eric Holder and Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced today that a nationwide takedown by Medicare Fraud Strike Force operations in six cities has resulted in charges against 90 individuals.

Late yesterday, a federal jury in the Northern District of Texas convicted a physician and a home health agency manager for their participation in a $3 million Medicare fraud conspiracy.

"By requiring Sallie Mae to compensate its victims, we are sending a clear message to all lenders and servicers who would deprive our servicemembers of the basic benefits and protections to which they are entitled: this type of conduct is more than just inappropriate; it is inexcusable. And it will not be tolerated."

In today’s nationwide takedown, scores of defendants were arrested across the country for engaging in health care fraud – to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars in fraudulent bills to Medicare. Among the defendants charged today were doctors, home health care providers, doctor’s assistants, pharmacy owners and medical supply company executives.

As difficult as times may be – and as wrenching as every loss we mark this evening – we affirm this week that our work must go on. Each of us is called to serve, to protect, and to help forge a society worthy of the passion, the dedication, and the sacrifices made by each of our fallen heroes. To create not merely a monument to their stories, but a living memorial. And to build a country dedicated to preserving and perpetuating their memories by reaching for the better and brighter future that all of our citizens deserve.

“For 27 years, Gina Talamona has been a tremendous asset to the Department of Justice and an exceptionally dedicated public servant. She’s been the backbone of our dedicated Office of Public Affairs team, providing leadership and sound guidance to Attorneys General and other leaders from administrations of both parties."

Today, the Department of Justice and Office of the Director of National Intelligence released, in redacted form, a previously classified series of Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court filings and orders from 2009-2010 concerning the collection of bulk telephony metadata under Section 215 of the USA Patriot Act. These documents relate to a robust interaction that occurred between the Department of Justice and a telecommunications service provider that included the provider’s review of prior FISC applications, orders and opinions, regarding lawful compliance with those orders.

Speaking in a video message posted on the Justice Department’s website, Attorney General Eric Holder on Wednesday called for an end to the excessive use of solitary confinement for youth that suffer from mental illness. Attorney General Holder said the practices can have lasting, substantial effects on young people that could result in self-harm or, in some cases, even suicide.

Louisiana-Pacific Corp. (LP) abandoned its plan to acquire Ainsworth Lumber Co. Ltd., its close competitor in the sale of a type of manufactured wood-based panel called oriented strand board (OSB), after the Department of Justice expressed concerns about the transaction’s likely anticompetitive effects.

A patient recruiter who participated in a Medicare fraud scheme that totaled almost $14.5 million was sentenced in Detroit yesterday to serve 86 months in prison.

Jonathan Lynn Henery, 28, and Beau Edward Hansen, 30, both of Boise, Idaho, were indicted May 13, 2014, on federal hate crime charges for their racially motivated assault of an African-American man, the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division and U.S. Attorney Wendy J. Olson for the District of Idaho announced.

A federal grand jury returned a two count indictment against Brice Johnson, 19, of Springtown, Texas, charging him with willfully causing bodily injury to a person because of the actual or perceived sexual orientation of that person and with kidnapping.

U.S. District Judge James K. Bredar sentenced Reginald Martin, formerly an officer at Roxbury Correctional Institution in Hagerstown, Maryland, to serve 12 months and one day in prison for his role in the assault of inmate Kenneth Davis.

The United States filed a complaint today to bar Laquanda O. Gilmore (aka Laquanda Garrott) and her company, L&g Associates LLC, from preparing federal tax returns for others, the Justice Department announced.

Steven Joshua Dinkle, 28, former Exalted Cyclops of the Ozark, Alabama, chapter of the International Keystone Knights of the Ku Klux Klan (KKK), was sentenced today by Chief U.S. District Judge W. Keith Watkins to serve 24 months in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release for his role in a cross burning in 2009.

James Everett Dutschke, 41, of Tupelo, Mississippi., was sentenced today by United States District Judge Sharion Aycock, in Aberdeen, Mississippi., to a 300 month prison sentence for developing and possessing the biological agent ricin and subsequently mailing ricin-laced, threatening letters.

Attorney General Eric Holder, Deputy Attorney General James Cole, Assistant Attorney General for the Tax Division Kathryn Keneally and IRS Commissioner John Koskinen will hold a press conference to announce a major law enforcement action.

Attorney General Eric Holder issued the following statement today in response to a federal jury in Manhattan’s unanimously reaching a guilty verdict against Abu Hamza al-Masri.

When a foreign nation uses military or intelligence resources and tools against an American executive or corporation to obtain trade secrets or sensitive business information for the benefit of its state-owned companies, we must say, ‘enough is enough.’

"This case shows that no financial institution, no matter its size or global reach, is above the law. When the Department of Justice conducts investigations, we will always follow the law and the facts wherever they lead."

The Department of Justice will require ConAgra Foods Inc., Cargill Inc., CHS Inc. and Horizon Milling LLC to divest four competitively significant flour mills in order to proceed with the formation of Ardent Mills, a flour milling joint venture.

The Justice Department filed a joint motion today for entry of a landmark consent decree to resolve allegations that the Law School Admission Council engaged in widespread and systemic discrimination in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

U.S. Navy Petty Officer First Class Daniel Layug pleaded guilty in the Southern District of California today to accepting more than $10,000 in cash, consumer electronics and travel expenses from a foreign defense contractor in exchange for classified and internal Navy information.

Today a federal grand jury in Milwaukee returned a two count indictment charging Paul Carter, aka Pimpin’ Paul, with sex trafficking offenses dating from 2012 through 2013, the Justice Department announced.

A Texas man pleaded guilty today to conspiring to smuggle and to traffic in counterfeit and misbranded pharmaceuticals, including Viagra tablets, from China.

Today, we pay tribute to this remarkable leader. We thank her for bearing these burdens, and leading these efforts, with grace and with poise.

Sixteen current and former Puerto Rico police officers have been indicted for their alleged participation in a criminal organization, run out of the police department, that used their affiliation with law enforcement to make money through robbery, extortion, manipulating court records and selling illegal narcotics.

Following a collaborative and thorough review, Attorney General Eric Holder on Thursday announced a new policy for the Department of Justice that creates a presumption that statements made by individuals in federal custody, following arrest but prior to their first appearance in court, will be electronically recorded. Attorney General Holder said that the new policy will help to ensure accountability and promote public confidence in the institutions and processes that guide the nation’s law enforcement efforts.

A federal grand jury in Nashville, Tennessee, returned a three count indictment yesterday against Timothy Flanagan, 33, formerly of Giles County, Tennessee, currently residing in Hudson, Florida, charging him with federal offenses for his role in a cross-burning in front of an interracial family’s home in Minor Hill, Tennessee.

Tracy Mitchell, Dameisha Mitchell, Latasha Mitchell, Keisha Lanier, Tameka Hoskins, Sharondra Johnson, Cynthia Johnson, Mequetta Snell-Quick, Talarious Paige and Patrice Taylor were indicted for their roles in a $20 million stolen identity refund fraud (SIRF) conspiracy.

Zahir Yousafzai, 44, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Gerald E. Rosen in the Eastern District of Michigan. In addition to his prison term, Yousafzai was sentenced to three years of supervised release and was ordered to pay $4,131,135 in restitution, jointly and severally with his co-defendants.

A Detroit federal grand jury returned a two-count indictment against an executive of a Japanese manufacturer of automotive parts for his participation in a conspiracy to fix prices of heater control panels and for obstruction of justice for ordering the destruction of evidence related to the conspiracy.

An owner and operator of community mental health centers in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, as well as a patient recruiter for a related facility in Houston, Texas, were convicted on Wednesday, May 21, 2014, for their roles in a $258 million Medicare fraud scheme.

Two Florida men were sentenced today in the Middle District of Florida for their roles in a fraud scheme involving the submission of more than $10 million in fraudulent claims to Medicare for physical therapy.

The Justice Department and Internal Revenue Service announced today that a federal grand jury in Anchorage, Alaska, returned a superseding indictment yesterday charging Michael D. Brandner, an Anchorage physician specializing in plastic surgery, on three counts of tax evasion.

Scott B. Miserendino, Sr., 55, a former government contractor who performed work for the United States Navy Military Sealift Command, and Timothy S. Miller, 57, a businessman whose company sought contracting business from the Military Sealift Command, were indicted today on charges including conspiracy and bribery.

The Justice Department filed a lawsuit today against Mississippi-based developer Dawn Properties Inc. and its affiliated companies for violating the Fair Housing Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act., alleging that the defendants violated these laws when they designed and constructed five or more residential properties with barriers that make them inaccessible to persons with disabilities

Kathryn Keneally, Assistant Attorney General for the Tax Division, will leave her post at the Department of Justice effective June 5, 2014, she announced today.

Zhifei Li, the owner of an antique business in China, was sentenced today to serve 70 months in prison for heading an illegal wildlife smuggling conspiracy in which 30 rhinoceros horns and numerous objects made from rhino horn and elephant ivory worth more than $4.5 million were smuggled from the United States to China.

Ashland Hospital Corp. d/b/a King’s Daughters Medical Center (KDMC) has agreed to pay $40.9 million to resolve allegations that it submitted false claims to the Medicare and Kentucky Medicaid programs for medically unnecessary coronary stents and diagnostic catheterizations.

Deputy Attorney General James M. Cole and Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Justice Programs Mary Lou Leary announced today that the vast majority of U.S. states and territories have informed the Department of Justice that they intend to take steps to reduce sexual assaults in prisons, in accordance with federal law.

Medtronic Inc., of Fridley, Minnesota, has agreed to pay the United States $9.9 million to resolve allegations under the False Claims Act that the company used various types of payments to induce physicians to implant pacemakers and defibrillators manufactured and sold by Medtronic.

John Cote, formerly of Danielson, Connecticut, was sentenced today to serve 46 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Vanessa Bryant, the Justice Department and the Internal Revenue Service announced.

A current Puerto Rico Superior Court Judge and Puerto Rico businessman were charged with orchestrating a criminal scheme in which the businessman paid bribes to the judge presiding over the criminal case against the businessman according to an indictment unsealed today.

James Webb Baker Jr., of Seattle, pleaded guilty to one count of voter intimidation and one count of identification fraud in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida.

Federal inmate James Ninete Leon Guerrero, 48, of Guam, was sentenced today to serve life in prison for the murder of United States Correctional Officer Jose Rivera, announced Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Benjamin Wagner of the Eastern District of California. Guerrero was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Phillip Pro of the District of Nevada.

Deputy Attorney General James M. Cole, Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney for Western District of Pennsylvania David Hickton, FBI Executive Associate Director Robert Anderson and Deputy Under Secretary Dr. Phyllis Schneck of the Department of Homeland Security will hold a news conference to announce criminal charges and two global cyber fraud disruptions.

The Justice Department announced today that it will monitor elections on June 3, 2014, in Alameda and Napa Counties, California, and Cibola County, N.M., to ensure compliance with the Voting Rights Act and other federal voting rights statutes.