"The Trafficking Victims Protection Act was a landmark piece of legislation," said Assistant Attorney General Breuer.

"Human trafficking is a grave affront to human rights and to our nation’s core values, and there can be no higher calling in our commitment to vindicating the individual rights of all people than eradicating this form of modern-day slavery," said Assistant Attorney General Perez.

Benjamin Haskell was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Michael A. Ponsor in Springfield, Mass., to nine years in prison and three years of supervised release for his role in the 2008 burning of the Macedonia Church of God in Christ, a predominately African-American Church, on the morning after President Barack Obama was elected as the first African-American President of the United States.

An Atlanta grand jury returned an indictment today against the former president and chief executive officer of a Lakewood, N.J.-based manufacturer and distributor of food service equipment hardware, for conspiring to allocate customers for the sale of commercial and institutional food service equipment hardware.

Oddie Tribble, a former police officer with the Kershaw County, S.C., Sherriff’s Office, was charged today with violating the civil rights of an arrestee on Aug. 5, 2010.

James Bradley Branscum, Tony Branscum, both of Salado, Ark., and Curtis Coffee of Batesville, Ark., were indicted this week by a federal grand jury on charges related to their roles in burning a cross in the yard of an African-American resident in Salado on Aug. 28, 2010.

The Department of Justice has scheduled three public hearings on its regulatory proposals concerning the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

The United States has asked a federal court in Chicago to permanently bar John E. Rogers, a Chicago tax lawyer and former partner at Seyfarth Shaw LLP, from promoting tax shelters that allegedly use distressed Brazilian debt to illegally lower customers’ reported income.

A federal court Tuesday issued a memorandum opinion and a preliminary injunction against Arthur Piner Grider, III; Asgard Avionics Corp. of Florida; and 14 other corporate defendants who operate as employee leasing companies, from violating the Internal Revenue Code.

Gregory Mussmacher was convicted by a jury in May 2010 for physically abusing a juvenile in his custody and for obstructing justice to cover up what he had done.

David Chiaradio, 28, of Westerly, R.I., was convicted today by a federal jury in Providence, R.I., of one count of distribution of child pornography and two counts of possession of child pornography.

Tyrone L. Ellis, a former civilian employee of the Department of Defense (DoD), was arrested yesterday and has been charged with conspiracy, conversion and false statements related to his alleged theft of Army Emergency Relief (AER) funds while he was employed at Camp Humphreys in the Republic of Korea.

Today, Department of Justice Attorney General Eric Holder and Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius visited Brooklyn, N.Y., where they participated in the third Regional Health Care Fraud Prevention Summit.

Brooke E. Reyna, 28, of Barrington, N.H., pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Joseph N. Laplante in U.S. District Court for the District of New Hampshire to making false statements.

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.

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.

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.

Daniel Lee Jones, a Portland, Ore., white supremacist, was sentenced today to 18 months in prison and three years supervised release for threatening the president of the Lima, Ohio, chapter of the NAACP by mailing him a noose. Jones entered a guilty plea on May 17, 2010, to using the U.S. Postal Service to send a threatening communication.

“In January 2008, Attorney General Michael Mukasey appointed Assistant United States Attorney John Durham to investigate the destruction by CIA personnel of videotapes of detainee interrogations," said Matthew Miller, Director, Office of Public Affairs.

The Justice Department and Hilton Worldwide Inc. today announced a comprehensive, precedent-setting agreement under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) that will make state-of-the-art accessibility changes to approximately 900 hotels nationwide.

Remy Heath, aka “Remy,” “King Remy,” and “King Mellow,” 26, of Hyattsville, Md., pleaded guilty today to 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.

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.

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.

The Justice Department reached a settlement agreement with the University of South Carolina to resolve an investigation into the university’s policies and procedures related to discrimination and harassment.

CFP Group, located in McLean, Va., and its president, Roberto Clark, have agreed to pay the United States $150,000 to settle claims that they used false statements to obtain a contract from the Department of Veterans Affairs.

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.

"Tonight, it is clear that the spirit of justice that motivated Justice Ortique still burns brightly," said Attorney General Holder.

The United States has filed a lawsuit seeking to stop Aurelia Sanderson Johnson of Montgomery, Ala., from preparing tax returns for others.

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.

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.

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.

Rico Rodrigus Williams, a former Air Force senior airman, was convicted today of second degree murder and witness tampering charges in connection with the death of Army Sergeant Juwan Johnson in Hohenecken, Germany, in 2005.

The Justice Department today made available online the 2010 ADA Standards for Accessible Design (2010 Standards or Standards).

Jeffery Leon Ceaser, a resident of Montgomery, Ala., pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring to defraud the United States and one count of identity theft.

Four student aid lenders have paid the United States a total of $57.75 million to resolve allegations that they improperly inflated their entitlement to certain interest rate subsidies from the U.S. Department of Education in violation of the False Claims Act.

The Department of Justice joined representatives from across the federal government to mark the progress made in modernizing the federal workforce hiring process over the past six months.

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.

“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.

The Justice Department today announced a settlement agreement with AMC Entertainment Inc. to resolve a lawsuit filed under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

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

"It is fitting that we’ve gathered today – exactly one week after Veterans Day and one week before Thanksgiving – to honor the 19,000 veterans who serve our nation’s Justice Department," said Attorney General Holder.

Attorney General Eric Holder and the Department of Justice’s Access to Justice Initiative co-hosted a Middle Class Task Force event today with Vice President Joe Biden, announcing a series of steps designed to help middle class and low-income families secure their legal rights.

"It is an honor to stand with you – and with so many committed leaders, advocates, and partners – as we take a critical step forward in fulfilling our nation’s promise of equal opportunity and equal justice."

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 today announced that it has filed a lawsuit alleging that Titan Laboratories Inc., and its owner Harvey Berger willfully violated the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 by discriminating against and failing to reemploy U.S. Army reservist Miguel Orozco Garduño.

On Monday, after a one-week trial in federal court in Los Angeles, a jury found Donna K. Wells, 52, guilty of one count of health care fraud.

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.

"Each November, we come together to honor the history and cultural traditions of America’s indigenous peoples," said Attorney General Holder.