Four individuals were indicted today by a federal grand jury in the Eastern District of Virginia with conspiracy to commit copyright infringement for allegedly obtaining and illegally releasing copyrighted music.

Robert P. Merz was sentenced to life in prison today for advertising, transporting, receiving and possessing child pornography.

Steven W. Allen, an attorney who operated a legal practice in Mesa, Ariz., and Allen P. Goodmansen, a certified public accountant who operated an accounting practice in Mesa, were indicted Wednesday for conspiracy to defraud the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and for aiding in the filing of false income tax returns for clients of an offshore tax shelter scheme.

Dr. Candido Negron Mella pleaded guilty and was sentenced today for his participation in a corruption scheme involving the 2000 Resident Commissioner campaign of a former governor of Puerto Rico.

The Department announced that four men who committed three hate crime assaults in response to President Barack Obama’s election victory were sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Carol B. Amon in federal court in Brooklyn, N.Y.

Sexual violence is not just an issue for the victim, or his or her family. We believe the community must be involved in addressing the needs of survivors and holding offenders accountable.

"Judge, there is no question why so many of your friends, associates, and former staff members came to honor you and thank you for your service to our nation, and there is no question today why they have returned. They are here because you not only answered the call to service at a turbulent time for our nation and this Department, but you executed your responsibilities with tremendous skill, honor, and integrity."

A Newark grand jury indicted three individuals for their participation in fraud and kickback conspiracies related to contracts at a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)-designated Superfund site, Federal Creosote, located in Manville, N.J.

The Department will monitor the Sept. 15, 2009, municipal elections in Springfield, Mass., and Newburgh, N.Y., to ensure compliance with the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Federal observers will be assigned to monitor polling place activities in Springfield and Newburgh. The observers will watch and record activities during voting hours at polling locations.

Gerald Green and Patricia Green, Los Angeles-area film executives, were found guilty late last Friday of conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and money laundering laws of the United States, as well as substantive violations of the FCPA and U.S. money laundering laws in relation to a sophisticated bribery scheme that enabled the defendants to obtain a series of Thai government contracts, including valuable contracts to manage and operate Thailand’s yearly film festival.

The Department today commemorated the 15th anniversary of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), which was signed into law on September 13, 1994.

A federal judge in San Francisco has issued permanent injunctions barring four individuals from promoting what a government lawsuit describes as a complex tax-fraud scheme involving several entities located around the globe.

The former superintendent of a wastewater treatment facility in Rochester, Ind., was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in South Bend, Ind., to serve one year in prison for falsifying discharge monitoring reports that concealed violations of the Clean Water Act.

Timothy L. Lantz was sentenced today to 15 years in prison for transporting child pornography in interstate commerce and failing to update his sex offender registration in violation of the Adam Walsh Act.

Odell Folks, of Brooklyn, N.Y., was sentenced to prison today by District Judge Carol Bagley Amon of the Eastern District of New York for his participation in a false tax return scheme. Folks, who pleaded guilty in March 2009 to mail fraud, a false claims conspiracy, and making and subscribing a false return, was sentenced to 77 months in prison and ordered to pay restitution of $489,292.

Teresa Vogt, a resident of Anaheim, Calif., pleaded guilty on Sept. 15, 2009, to one count of obstruction of justice before U.S. District Court Judge Dale S. Fischer in Los Angeles. Vogt and eight co-defendants were indicted in May 2005 on tax fraud, conspiracy, money laundering and other charges related to the operation of the Genesis Fund.

Almighty Latin King and Queen Nation (ALKQN) member Marie Chavez, aka "Shorty," wife of an alleged ALKQN leader, Jose Nava, aka "Chino," was sentenced today, while his brother Luis Nava, aka "Flaco," re-entered a guilty plea to a superseding indictment that charged them and 14 others with various offenses related to alleged narcotics and weapons trafficking, as well as violent activities throughout Texas.

The Department announced a settlement that, pending court approval, will resolve allegations that the GuideOne Mutual Insurance Company and two authorized agents discriminated because of religion when they advertised special benefits and discounts only to “churchgoers” and “persons of faith.”

The Department advised the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York that while it should not accept the class action settlement in The Authors Guild Inc. et al. v. Google Inc. as proposed due to concerns of the United States regarding class action, copyright and antitrust law, the parties should be encouraged to continue their productive discussions to address those concerns.

The United States has asked a federal court in Lincoln, Neb., to bar Donald Ondrak, a Lexington, Neb., CPA, from preparing tax returns. According to the government complaint in the case, Ondrak’s firm, Don Ondrak PC, prepares federal income tax returns for customers that unlawfully understate income and employment tax liabilities by under-reporting income, overstating expenses and claiming improper deductions for non-deductible personal expenses.

The Department has reached a consent decree with the city of Bonita Springs, Fla., that, if approved in federal court in Fort Myers, Fla., will resolve the department’s allegations that the city discriminated against an African American employee in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

"The work we have begun in the administration has already made a difference. What we are looking for are the short- and long-term solutions that combine the lessons learned from the past with the resources have, and will continue to fight for, in the future."

The Department and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that they will solicit public comment and hold joint public workshops to explore the possibility of updating the Horizontal Merger Guidelines that are used by both agencies to evaluate the potential competitive effects of mergers and acquisitions.

Patrick Cochran, 47, of Lake Jackson, Texas, was sentenced late on Monday in Phoenix to 76 months in prison for travel with intent to engage in sex with minors and possession of child pornography.

Eric Ian Baker pleaded guilty today in federal court in Nashville, Tenn., for his role in burning and vandalizing the Islamic Center of Columbia, Tenn., on Feb. 9, 2008. Baker was charged with violating civil rights that protect religious property and for using fire in the commission of a felony.

The Department’s Civil Rights Division, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Alabama and the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) today jointly announced an agreement with the owners and managers of Pina’s Mobile Home Park in Daphne, Ala., to settle allegations of discrimination against families with children. Under the consent decree, approved today in federal court in Mobile, Ala., the defendants must pay up to $104,130 to victims of discrimination and an additional $30,000 to the government as a civil penalty.

Four owners of Costa Rica-based telemarketing call centers, an employee and a Texas-based list broker have been sentenced for their roles in defrauding thousands of U.S. victims of more than $20 million through a phony sweepstakes scheme.

Donald Daniels, Martin William Washburn, Irina Rebegeneau and Tapani Koivunen have been charged in conjunction with a scheme to defraud the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), a government lending agency.

A Dutch aviation services company, its director and sales manager pleaded guilty today in the District of Columbia to federal charges related to a conspiracy to illegally export aircraft components and other items from the United States to entities in Iran via the Netherlands, the United Arab Emirates and Cyprus.

Beverly Masek was sentenced today to six months in prison.

Richard LaShure, 41, and Aaron Latham, 20, both of Muncie, Ind., pleaded guilty to conspiring to violate the civil rights of an African American family and to interfering with their housing rights by burning a cross in the family’s yard.

The Department announced that it had reached a settlement with a Virginia landlord to resolve allegations that she violated the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA). The lawsuit alleged that the landlord failed to return prepaid rent and security deposits to a tenant who had terminated her lease early in order to comply with military orders to relocate from to Georgia.

Today, a federal grand jury returned a superseding criminal indictment in the Daniel Patrick Boyd matter. While the superseding indictment returned today includes all of the charges alleged in the original indictment of July 22, 2009, it also includes new charges against three defendants, Daniel Patrick Boyd, aka "Saifullah," Hysen Sherifi, and Zakariya Boyd, aka "Zak."

Hosam Maher Husein Smadi, 19, has been arrested and charged in a federal criminal complaint with attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction.

A Saddle River, N.J., man pleaded guilty today to failure to file a Report of Foreign Bank or Financial Accounts (F-BAR. Juergen Homann appeared today before Judge Stanley R. Chesler in Newark, N.J., and accepted responsibility for concealing more than $5 million in Swiss bank accounts.

The Justice Department today filed a lawsuit in federal court in Raleigh, N.C., against Franklin County, N.C., alleging that the county retaliated against a former employee in its Department of Public Utilities, in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, after the employee complained about sexual harassment by a co-worker.

Eli Goldshor of Boca Raton, Fla.,was sentenced today for conspiracy to commit securities fraud and willfully failing to file tax returns. Goldshor, a self-employed limousine driver, was sentenced by Judge William Zloch in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., to 18 months in prison.

The Department today filed a lawsuit in federal court in Michigan alleging that Knight Protective Service Inc., willfully violated the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 (USERRA) by failing to promptly and properly reemploy King A. Gatten, a retired Army servicemember, when he returned from military service.

James Wilbur Fondren Jr., was convicted by a federal jury today on charges involving providing classified information to a man working with the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and lying to the FBI about it.

Robert Lumpkins, owner of Golden Eye Seafood LLC, of St. Mary’s County, Md., was sentenced to 18 months in prison and the company was sentenced today to 3 years probation by U.S. District Judge Peter J. Messitte after a two day sentencing hearing in the District of Maryland.

The Department today awarded $723,000 in grants to twelve groups serving communities throughout the country.

Joseph Hirko, former co-chief executive officer of Enron Broadband Services (EBS), Enron’s failed telecommunications business, was sentenced today to 16 months in prison.

The Department’s complaint alleges that Massachusetts and the MDOC are using an unlawful physical abilities test (PAT) that disproportionately screens out female applicants for entry-level correctional officer jobs.

The Department announced a settlement agreement to make Donna’s, a café and restaurant located in the Mt. Vernon neighborhood of Baltimore accessible to people with disabilities.

The Department has reached a consent decree with Franklin County, N.C., that, if approved in federal court in Raleigh, N.C., will resolve the department’s allegation that the county retaliated against a former employee in its Department of Public Utilities, in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Formosa Plastics Corp., Texas, and Formosa Plastics Corp., Louisiana, will spend more than $10 million on pollution controls to address air, water, and hazardous waste violations at two petrochemical plants in Point Comfort, Texas, and Baton Rouge, La.

A Florida doctor was charged today by a federal grand jury in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., with allegedly orchestrating a fraudulent political fund raising and lobbying scheme through which he secretly diverted to himself more than $350,000 from contributions to political organizations he controlled.

Daniel Earl Danforth, 30, of Minden, La., has been indicted by a federal grand jury for hate crime violations and obstruction of justice charges stemming from a cross-burning in Athens, La., last year near the home of an interracial couple. Danforth was arrested today following the return of the indictment on Sept. 25, 2009.

The lawsuit alleging that conditions at the Erie County Holding Center and the Erie County Correctional Facility routinely and systematically deprive inmates of constitutional rights.

The consent decree will resolve the Department’s complaint on behalf of an Indiana National Guardsman alleging that the law firm violated the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 (USERRA).