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.

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

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.

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.

"Justice is, quite simply, the cornerstone of American democracy. The most profound aspirations of our nation’s founding could not be satisfied, nor its audacious hopes realized, without meaningful access to justice for all."

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.

Under a global bankruptcy settlement lodged in federal bankruptcy court in Manhattan today, Tronox Inc. and its affiliated debtors will pay $270 million into trusts and to federal and state agencies that will fund the cleanup of contaminated sites in 22 states.

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.

A federal jury today convicted Amador Cortes-Meza, 36, of Mexico, of multiple charges of sex trafficking and human smuggling offenses related to a scheme to force women and juveniles into prostitution.

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

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.

Seizure orders have been executed against 82 domain names of commercial websites engaged in the illegal sale and distribution of counterfeit goods and copyrighted works as part of Operation In Our Sites v. 2.0, Attorney General Eric Holder and Director John Morton of the Department of Homeland Security’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced today.

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.

"We are pleased to announce an important step in our ongoing efforts to protect the interests and safety of consumers, to ensure the strength of our markets, and to safeguard the intellectual property rights of innovators and entrepreneurs."

The Department of Justice announced today the filing of a lawsuit against the Policía de Puerto Rico alleging the PRPD retaliated against Agent Investigator Sofía Figueroa Rossy for complaining about a hostile work environment based on sex, in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended.

A former employee of a subsidiary of a financial institution pleaded guilty today for his participation in bid-rigging and fraud conspiracies related to contracts for the investment of municipal bond proceeds and other municipal finance contracts.

A former officer with the New Orleans Police Department (NOPD), was sentenced today to eight years in prison for conspiracy to obstruct justice and for misprision of a felony (for concealing a known crime), in connection with a federal investigation of two police-involved shootings that left two civilians dead and four others seriously wounded in the area of the Danziger Bridge in the days after Hurricane Katrina.

A former purchasing official at Mount Sinai Medical Center and School of Medicine in New York pleaded guilty to participating in bid rigging and fraud conspiracies related to contracts for maintenance and insulation work performed at Mount Sinai.

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.

A former employee of a subsidiary of a financial institution was arrested on a criminal complaint at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York yesterday after entering the United States.

The Justice Department today announced that it has entered into an agreement with Lake County, Ind., and the Lake County Sheriff to resolve its complaint concerning conditions of confinement at the Lake County Jail (LCJ). LCJ is located in Crown Point, Ind., and houses approximately 1,050 adult male and female inmates.

Wojciech J. Chodan, a former commercial vice president and consultant to a United Kingdom subsidiary of Kellogg, Brown & Root Inc. (KBR), pleaded guilty today to conspiring to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act for his participation in a decade-long scheme to bribe Nigerian government officials to obtain engineering, procurement and construction contracts.

Four Detroit-area residents were arrested today by federal agents from the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Inspector General (HHS-OIG) and FBI as part of an ongoing investigation into a $14.5 million home health care fraud scheme, announced the Departments of Justice and HHS.

Bank of America entities have agreed to pay a total of $137.3 million in restitution to federal and state agencies for its participation in a conspiracy to rig bids in the municipal bond derivatives market and as a condition of its admission into the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Corporate Leniency Program.

"Over the last two years, the Justice Department—in close collaboration with the Department of Health and Human Services—has made cracking down on health care fraud a top priority. Today, we announce the latest results of those efforts."

The Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) today held the fifth of five joint public workshops to explore the appropriate role for antitrust and regulatory enforcement in American agriculture.

PrimeLending, a national mortgage lender with 168 offices in 32 states at the end of 2009, has agreed to pay $2 million to resolve allegations that it engaged in a pattern or practice of discrimination against African-American borrowers between 2006 and 2009.

United Water Services Inc., the former contract operator of the Gary Sanitary District wastewater treatment works in Gary, Ind., and two of its employees, were charged today with conspiracy and felony violations of the Clean Water Act in a 26-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury.

The proposed consent decree resolves claims of the United States and the commonwealth under the Clean Air Act and related provisions of the laws of the commonwealth.

"The Department of Justice and the USDA share the strong conviction that a healthy, competitive agricultural sector is not only vitally important to our nation’s economy but also a matter of national security and public health," said Assistant Attorney General Varney.

Attorney General Eric Holder wrote to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell today in opposition to language in the proposed 2011 Full-Year Continuing Appropriations Act.

A federal grand jury in Springfield, Ill., returned a 23-count felony indictment today charging Jeffrey B. Foiles with conspiracy, wildlife trafficking, and making false writings in connection with the illegal sale of guided waterfowl hunts, the Department of Justice announced today.

Christian Fernando Borda and Alvaro Alvaran-Velez, two narcotics traffickers aligned with the Autodefenses Unidas de Colombia (AUC), were found guilty today in U.S. District Court of conspiring to import ton-quantities of cocaine into the United States.

"We have gathered here on International Anti-Corruption Day in part to raise awareness about corruption across the globe, and in part to celebrate how far we’ve come in the last seven years," said Assistant Attorney General Breuer.

Attorney General Eric Holder served as the keynote speaker at the 12th National Indian Nations Conference in Palm Springs, Calif., during a week of outreach events organized by the Department of Justice that brought together tribal leaders and youth, law enforcement officers, lawyers and judges, policy experts and health and social services providers, and representatives from federal, state, local and tribal governments.

Restitution trust funds for the benefit of two minor victims of sex tourism in the Philippines were executed and implemented yesterday through the signing of trust documents by Filipino social welfare authorities and a U.S. based trustee.

The Justice Department today announced that it has reached an agreement with Virginia officials to help ensure that military service members and U.S. citizens living overseas have an opportunity to participate fully in future federal general elections.

Sophia Manuel and Alfonso Baldonado Jr., owners of Quality Staffing Services Corporation, a labor contracting service, were sentenced for conspiring to hold approximately 39 Filipino nationals in forced service to work in country clubs and hotels in Southeast Florida.

"It is clear – from the record of achievement that you just shared – that great progress is being made here in Northern California. And I believe that the discussions we're beginning today provide a unique and important opportunity to build on all that is being achieved."

DeKalb County, Ga. has agreed to make major improvements to its sanitary sewer systems in an effort to eliminate unauthorized overflows of untreated sewage.

The Justice Department today announced it has filed a lawsuit against Berkeley School District, Berkeley, Ill., alleging that the school district violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by failing to reasonably accommodate the religious practices of Safoorah Khan, a Muslim teacher at McArthur Middle School.

The Department of Justice today has reached a settlement that will require Pittsburgh-based L.B. Foster Company to divest a West Virginia plant used in the development, manufacture and sale of certain railroad joints to Koppers Inc., in order to proceed with Foster’s acquisition of Portec Rail Products Inc.

Fifteen individuals have been extradited over the past week from Mexico to the United States to stand trial, to be sentenced or to serve sentences.

The owner and the vice president of a Detroit-area physical therapy clinic were sentenced to 151 months and 108 months in prison, respectively, for their leading roles in a $23 million Medicare fraud scheme.

"This summit provides a unique and important opportunity to build on the progress that we have achieved over the last year in combating intellectual property crimes and protecting consumer health and safety."

Attorney General Holder announced today that the Justice Department has filed a civil lawsuit against nine defendants in the matter of the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill.