Aristotle R. Matsa, an attorney in Columbus, Ohio, was charged with tax offenses, obstruction of justice and additional charges in a 20-count indictment unsealed today.

Cristina Andres Perfecto of Nashville, Tenn., was sentenced late yesterday in federal court in Memphis to 190 months in prison for sex trafficking by force, fraud and coercion, sex trafficking of a juvenile and conspiracy.

Albert Gonzalez pleaded guilty to conspiracy to gain unauthorized access to the payment card networks operated by, among others, Heartland Payment Systems, 7-Eleven and Hannaford Brothers Co. Inc.

"Anyone we find responsible for this alleged attack will be brought to justice using every tool -- military or judicial -- available to our government.”

A former Army and Air Force Exchange Service (AAFES) official was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Columbus, Ga., to three years in prison for his role in a bribery conspiracy involving a multi-million dollar telecommunications contract, and for not reporting the bribes he accepted on his income tax returns.

Justin Cannon, 27, of Corpus Christi, Texas, and Christopher Drotleff, 29, of Virginia Beach, Va., have been charged with crimes including second-degree murder, attempted murder and firearms offenses while working as contractors for the U.S. Department of Defense in Afghanistan. Cannon and Drotleff were charged under the Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act (MEJA).

The Department’s Civil Rights Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York have entered into an agreement with New York City to correct conditions of confinement at the Kings County Hospital Center’s (KCHC) psychiatric emergency room and psychiatric in-patient units located in Brooklyn, N.Y.

A Florida man has been sentenced to 90 months in prison for making e-mail and telephone threats, including threats intended to cause a candidate for statewide office in Florida to drop out of an election.

“This year cannot just be an anniversary – it must be a call to action.  The Department is marking this year with our renewed dedication and a recommitment to ending violence against women.”

U.S. Army Major Charles E. Sublett, 46, of Huntsville, Ala., was arrested today on charges of bulk cash smuggling and making false statements to a federal agency.

"We want to use this year not merely to commemorate an anniversary, but to recommit ourselves to ending violence against women. Our government and this Department have a responsibility to speak out and act on issues of violence against women."

Freddy Deoliveira, who held various supervisory positions at the New York Presbyterian Hospital, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Manhattan.

Clement Calhoun, a member of the Cherokee Nation in North Carolina, was sentenced in federal court in the Western District of North Carolina, to six months in prison for illegally transporting and selling 51 bear gall bladders.

The national coordinator is charged with formulating and implementing a national strategy to combat child exploitation, and with submitting the strategy and relevant reports to Congress.

The Department has sued George K. Pragovich of Clarksville, Tenn., to stop him from promoting an alleged nationwide scheme involving hundreds of frivolous lawsuits filed against the United States.

The Department announced separate agreements under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) with Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Pace University in New York City and Reed College in Portland, Ore., regarding the use in a classroom setting of the electronic book reader, the Kindle DX, a hand-held technological device that simulates the experience of reading a book.

Defendants Alec Sou and Mike Sou, co-owners of Aloun Farm, pleaded guilty on Jan.13, 2010, in federal district court in Honolulu, to conspiring to commit forced labor.

A federal grand jury today returned a superseding indictment adding three defendants, including Tahawwur Rana, to charges filed last month against David Coleman Headley, alleging that they and others participated in conspiracies involving a planned terrorist attack against a Danish newspaper and the November 2008 terrorist attacks in Mumbai, India, that killed approximately 164 people, including six Americans.

Paul Schlesselman pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy, one count of threatening to kill and inflict bodily harm upon a presidential candidate, and one count of possessing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence.

“Each year, Martin Luther King Day provides an opportunity for all Americans to rededicate ourselves to Dr. King’s dream of racial, social, and economic justice," said Attorney General Holder.

The Department has reached a settlement in its lawsuit against the city of Milwaukee on behalf of Michael Crivello, a detective in the Milwaukee Police Department, alleging the city violated the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 (USERRA).

Pacific Pipeline Systems LLP, a Long Beach, Calif.-based oil transport company, has agreed to pay a $1.3 million civil penalty and discontinue the use of a section of pipeline through an unstable section of mountains to resolve a Clean Water Act violation.

"Supporting law enforcement operations is vital to fulfilling our missions and responsibilities," said Attorney General Holder.

The United States is grateful to the Government of Slovakia for its willingness to support U.S. efforts to close the Guantanamo Bay detention facility.

The Department will require Ticketmaster Entertainment Inc. to license its ticketing software, divest ticketing assets and subject itself to anti-retaliation provisions in order to proceed with its proposed merger with Live Nation Inc.

Ryan Scott McMonigle, of Ponca City, Okla., pleaded guilty for his role in a scheme to solicit a kickback in connection with the award of a private security services subcontract to protect U.S. government personnel and contractors in Afghanistan.

Six members of a racketeering enterprise, called La Mara Salvatrucha, or MS-13, were convicted today by a jury in U.S. District Court in Charlotte, N.C., of criminal charges that include racketeering, murder, attempted murder, assault, cocaine trafficking and numerous related federal firearms offenses

The Sewerage & stalled for several years in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina – to make extensive improvements to reduce or eliminate sewage overflows into the Mississippi River, Lake Pontchartrain and its storm drainage canal system.

A federal court has issued a permanent injunction barring Karen Liane Miller of Nashville, Tenn., from preparing federal income tax returns for others.

Phillip Windom Offill Jr., 51, of Dallas, was indicted on March 12, 2009, and today was found guilty of one count of conspiracy to commit registration violations, securities fraud and nine counts of wire fraud.

"Today’s summit marks a critical step forward in the work being done by HEAT, our Health Care Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Action Team," said Attorney General Holder.

"We at the Department share a vision where men, women, boys, girls and communities can live in a world without the fear of violence. Today, we take another step towards raising awareness and the profile of teen dating violence. If we’re going to do this, we are going to have to do it together."

“Today’s extradition brings a criminal to justice and paves the way forward in our law enforcement partnership with El Salvador,” said Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division.

"We need this Civil Rights Museum so that we remember our history, however painful it may be," said Assistant Attorney General Perez.

President Obama’s FY2011 budget request provides $461 million for OVW to provide communities with resources to combat sexual assault and violence against women.

Attorney General Eric Holder sent a letter today to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell regarding the detention and interrogation of Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab.

Jack Barouh of Golden Beach, Fla., pleaded guilty today to filing a false tax return.

The Department said that despite the substantial progress reflected in the proposed amended settlement agreement in The Authors Guild Inc. et al. v. Google Inc., class certification, copyright and antitrust issues remain.

Balli Aviation Ltd., a subsidiary of the United Kingdom-based Balli Group PLC, pleaded guilty today in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to a two-count criminal information in connection with its illegal export of commercial Boeing 747 aircraft from the United States to Iran.

Jaisankar Marimuthu, a native of Chennai, India, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, securities fraud, computer fraud and aggravated identity theft, and to one count of aggravated identity theft.

Attorney General Eric Holder today announced the formation of a new Department of Justice Task Force on Intellectual Property as part of a Department-wide initiative to confront the growing number of domestic and international intellectual property (IP) crimes.

"Let me be clear, we enhance public safety by incarcerating those who harm our neighbors and our communities. This is a fact. But in our work to protect the American people, incarceration cannot be our only law enforcement strategy," said Attorney General Holder.

Dr. Andrew Silva of Sterling, Va., pleaded guilty today to conspiracy to impede the United States and to making a false statement, the Justice Department, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced.

The Civil Rights Division reached an agreement with the Latvian Tower Condominium Association Inc. and its former president, Karl Tegtmeyer, to settle allegations of discrimination against families with children.

"Today, it’s also my pleasure to join you in recognizing Kathleen Straus and in celebrating the example of public service reflected in Wade McCree’s life and career," said Attorney General Holder.

"Today, we celebrate a milestone in Barb McQuade’s remarkable career," said Attorney General Holder.

The Department announced a settlement agreement with Sunlight Inc., doing business as Beauty Smart, of Durham, N.C., to resolve allegations of a pattern or practice of discrimination in recruitment and hiring on the basis of national origin.

The settlement agreement reached today, which is contingent on appropriation by Congress, will provide a total of $1.25 billion to African American farmers who alleged that they suffered racial discrimination in USDA farm loan programs.

An allegedly high-ranking leader of one of Mexico’s largest drug cartels, whose father allegedly heads a faction of the Sinaloa Cartel and is among Mexico’s most powerful drug kingpins, was extradited today from Mexico to face federal narcotics trafficking conspiracy charges in the United States.

I have every expectation that our criminal defense system can, and will, be a source of tremendous national pride. And I know that achieving this requires the best that we, as a profession and as a people, have to offer.