The Department of Justice announced today that it has reached a settlement with six high technology companies–Adobe Systems Inc., Apple Inc., Google Inc., Intel Corp., Intuit Inc. and Pixar–that prevents them from entering into no solicitation agreements for employees.

Paul Magliocchetti, the founder and president of PMA Group Inc., a lobbying firm, pleaded guilty today in federal court in Arlington, Va., to making hundreds of thousands of dollars in illegal campaign contributions and making false statements to a federal agency.

"It’s a special honor for me to address the American College of Trial Lawyers, and to share the stage today with such impressive and distinguished speakers as Justice Cromwell, Justice Kirby, Judge Sparks, and Professor Coffee."

The Justice Department and the Department of Transportation announced $55,000 in fines against Tornado Bus Company Inc., of Dallas, for violating passenger carrier accessibility requirements under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

Detroit-area resident Hassan Akhtar pleaded guilty today for his role in managing a home health care fraud scheme.

Paul Edward Pavulak, 66, of New Castle, Del., was convicted today by a federal jury in Wilmington of child exploitation offenses.

Murphy Oil USA has agreed to spend more than $142 million to install new and upgraded pollution reduction equipment at its two petroleum refineries in Wisconsin and Louisiana as part of a comprehensive Clean Air Act settlement.

"The Department of Justice is committed to using all available tools in our effort to combat fraud and corruption in the public and private sectors," said Assistant Attorney General Breuer.

A federal court in Miami has permanently barred Alberto Camejo and his business, ABCY Star Service LLC, from claiming the First-Time Homebuyer Credit on returns they prepare unless ensuring that the taxpayer is entitled to claim the credit.

A federal court in Los Angeles has permanently barred three Huntington Beach men from preparing federal tax returns for customers.

Three Colombian nationals pleaded guilty today to conspiracy to smuggle aliens for profit and conspiracy to commit visa fraud in connection with their roles in an extensive and sophisticated visa fraud scheme through which they fraudulently procured visas from the U.S. Embassy in Bogotá, Colombia.

ABB Ltd’s U.S. subsidiary, ABB Inc., pleaded guilty to one count of violating the anti-bribery provisions of the FCPA and one count of conspiracy to violating these provisions of the FCPA. The court imposed a sentence that included a criminal fine of $17.1 million.

An owner of two Houston health care companies pleaded guilty today in connection with a $6.3 million Medicare fraud scheme, announced the Departments of Justice and Health and Human Services (HHS).

Panasonic Corporation and a Whirlpool Corporation subsidiary, Embraco North America Inc., have agreed to plead guilty and to pay a total of $140.9 million in criminal fines for their role in an international conspiracy to fix the prices of refrigerant compressors, which are used in refrigerators and freezers in ho mes and businesses.

Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation has agreed to pay $422.5 million to resolve criminal and civil liability arising from the illegal marketing of certain pharmaceutical products.

Six international freight forwarders have agreed to plead guilty and to pay criminal fines totaling $50.27 million for their roles in several conspiracies to fix a variety of fees and charges in connection with the provision of freight forwarding services for international air cargo shipments.

Today we are here talking about community policing – that’s a term that is used a lot and captures much of what the Houston Police Department has done for decades, but is not often explained.

Today, the Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division, and the Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights, reached a settlement agreement with the Boston School Committee, the governing body of the Boston Public Schools, and its superintendent.

A federal district judge in Shreveport, La., has found that Reggie Collier, a Louisiana landowner, violated the Fair Housing Act by interfering with the sale of a home based on the perceived race of the buyer.

CSI Engineering and CSI Design Build, located in Beltsville, Md., and their president, Debdas Ghosal, have agreed to pay the United States $200,000 to settle claims that they used false statements to obtain contracts from several government agencies.

Eleven individuals, including four current Alabama state legislators, three lobbyists, two business owners and one of their employees, and an employee of the Alabama legislature have been charged for their roles in a conspiracy to offer to and to bribe legislators for their votes and influence on proposed legislation.

The Department of Justice announced today that it filed a civil antitrust lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York challenging rules that American Express, MasterCard and Visa have in place that prevent merchants from offering consumers discounts, rewards and information about card costs, ultimately resulting in consumers paying more for their purchases.

A New Orleans-area medical doctor and the owner and operator of a medical equipment company each pleaded guilty today for their roles in a Baton Rouge-area durable medical equipment (DME) health care fraud scheme.

"This morning, federal agents began arresting 11 individuals on charges that they conspired over an approximately 19-month period to corrupt the legislative process in Alabama," said Assistant Attorney General Breuer.

"Today, the Department of Justice, along with seven state attorneys general, filed a civil antitrust lawsuit in the Eastern District of New York challenging rules that Visa, MasterCard and American Express have put in place that prevent merchants from providing discounts to consumers."

Eighty-nine law enforcement officers and 44 others in Puerto Rico have been charged in 26 indictments unsealed today and returned by a grand jury in San Juan, Puerto Rico, during the month of September 2010.

Mamadou Sadio Barry and Moussa Baradji were convicted today for their involvement in a counterfeit DVD and CD ring.

"Today I’m pleased to be joined by the United States Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico, Rosa Emilia Rodriguez-Velez, and FBI Executive Assistant Director, Shawn Henry, to announce the results of Operation Guard Shack – the largest police corruption investigation in FBI history."

Speaking at the European Offenders Employment Forum today, Attorney General Eric Holder announced $110 million in Fiscal Year (FY) 2010 funding for the Second Chance Act reentry grants and the Justice Reinvestment Initiative.

Doe Run Resources Corp. of St. Louis, North America’s largest lead producer, has agreed to spend approximately $65 million to correct violations of several environmental laws at 10 of its lead mining, milling and smelting facilities in southeast Missouri, the Justice Department, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Missouri Department of Natural Resources announced today.

Princewill Njoku, 51, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Court Judge Gray Miller in Houston to conspiracy to commit health care fraud.

The Justice Department today announced that it has reached an agreement with New Mexico officials to help ensure that military service members and other U.S. citizens living overseas have an opportunity to participate fully in the Nov. 2, 2010, federal general election.

The Department of Justice, the Environmental Protection Agency and the United States Attorney’s Office announced today, the settlement of claims against ConocoPhillips Company and Sasol North America Inc. to resolve their liability to EPA under CERCLA for contamination in the Calcasieu Estuary of Louisiana.

The Justice Department announced today that the evidence does not reveal a violation of the applicable federal criminal civil rights statute or warrant further federal criminal investigation in the death of Imam Luqman Ameen Abdullah, a Detroit Muslim cleric, who was shot during an Oct. 28, 2009, arrest by FBI agents in Dearborn, Mich.

A federal jury in Utica, N.Y. has found Certified Environmental Services Inc. (CES); two of its managers, Nicole Copeland and Elisa Dunn; and one of its employees, Sandy Allen, guilty of conspiring to aid and abet Clean Air Act violations, commit mail fraud, and defraud the United States.

A federal grand jury in Alexandria, Va., returned an indictment against a married couple from Fairfax Station, Va., for conspiracy, bank fraud and tax evasion.

The Justice Department today filed a lawsuit against the owner and manager of Royal Arms Apartments, a 26-unit apartment building in Ravenna, Ohio, for violating the Fair Housing Act by discriminating on the basis of familial status in the rental of apartments.

The Department of Justice’s Environment and Natural Resources Division announced the filing of a major lawsuit today against 10 companies and two municipalities to require continued environmental cleanup work at Wisconsin’s Lower Fox River and Green Bay Site.

A federal grand jury in San Francisco returned an indictment against a former executive of a Taiwan thin-film transistor liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD) producer for participating in a global conspiracy to fix prices of TFT-LCD panels.

A federal jury in Scranton, Pa., has convicted Brandon Piekarsky and Derrick Donchak, both of Shenandoah, Pa., of a hate crime arising out of the fatal beating of Luis Ramirez.

A foreign national employed at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, Iraq, was charged today with theft of public money and acts affecting a personal financial interest in connection with $237,236 in U.S. Government funds.

A Colorado couple has been sentenced in U.S. District Court in Denver on charges related to the illegal trapping and interstate sale of bobcats.

The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division today filed an amicus brief in support of a mosque in Murfreesboro, Tenn., that has met with community opposition and a lawsuit.

The Justice Department today announced that it has entered into a comprehensive settlement agreement that will transform the state of Georgia’s mental health and developmental disability system and resolve a lawsuit the United States brought against the state.

"Over the last quarter century, asset forfeiture and money laundering prosecutions have become integral to our country’s law enforcement strategy," said Assistant Attorney General Breuer.

Zachary Adam Chesser, 20, of Fairfax County, Va., pleaded guilty today before U.S. District Court Judge Liam O’Grady to a three-count criminal information that included charges of communicating threats against the writers of the South Park television show, soliciting violent jihadists to desensitize law enforcement, and attempting to provide material support to Al-Shabaab, a designated foreign terrorist organization.

"I’m enormously pleased that we at the Justice Department are supporting your important work through the Office of Justice Programs and are thereby helping you expand the reach of the holistic community oriented model to defender agencies across the country through the Center for Holistic Defense."

Two Miami health care companies and four owners and senior managers of the companies were indicted today for their alleged participation in a fraud scheme involving approximately $200 million in Medicare billing for purported mental health services.

The city of Toledo, Ohio, has agreed to make extensive improvements to its sewer system that will significantly reduce the city’s longstanding sewage overflows into Swan Creek and the Maumee and Ottawa Rivers, the city’s main waterways.

A federal grand jury in Nashville, Tenn., today returned an indictment charging Hickman County, Tenn., Deputy Sheriff Kenneth H. Smith with federal civil rights violations, as well as charges of lying to federal investigators.