A Tampa federal grand jury has charged a Florida man with criminal contempt of a federal court order in connection with the operation of a fraudulent vending machine business opportunity. The criminal charges form part of the government’s continued nationwide crackdown on business opportunity fraud.

Carlton Moore, formerly an officer with the Memphis Police Department, pleaded guilty on Thursday in federal court in Memphis, Tenn., to three counts of violating civil rights for stealing money from motorists while acting under color of law. Moore faces up to three years in prison.

Tijani Ahmed Saani, a former civilian employee of the U.S. Department of Defense, pleaded guilty today to filing false tax returns for tax years 2003 through 2007. Saani, 53, a former resident of Kuwait City, Kuwait, worked as a contracting officer in Kuwait from 1994 until his arrest in May 2008. According to the indictment to which Saani pleaded guilty, he worked on detail from 2002 to 2007 at Camp Arifjan, Kuwait.

Following an investigation of alleged false claims and contract fraud, J Squared Inc., d/b/a University Loft Company, has reached a settlement with the United States. Indiana-based University Loft Company has agreed to pay the United States $400,000. The settlement resolves allegations that the company knowingly sold Malaysian-made furniture to government purchasers in violation of the Trade Agreements Act (TAA).

The Department announced a simultaneous lawsuit and settlement with the state of Texas concerning the care given to residents of the state’s 13 facilities for persons with developmental disabilities. Along with the settlement agreement, the Department will file a complaint initiating a lawsuit against the state in federal court. An independent monitor will be appointed to oversee the state’s compliance with the settlement agreement and the court will retain ultimate jurisdiction.

A former executive of Philadelphia-based Nexus Technologies Inc. pleaded guilty today in connection with his participation in a conspiracy to bribe Vietnamese government officials in exchange for lucrative contracts to supply equipment and technology to Vietnamese government agencies, in violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA).

Haji Bagcho, aka Haji Bagh Chagul, an Afghan national, was ordered detained today by Magistrate Judge John M. Facciola in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia while he awaits trial on U.S. narcotics charges.

Miami physician Roberto Rodriguez, 54, was sentenced today to 97 months in prison for his role in a Medicare fraud scheme involving HIV infusion services.

The Department today filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Las Vegas against Stonescape Pavers LLC alleging that the company willfully violated the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 (USERRA) by firing Matthew T. Denning without cause when he returned from active duty.

A former Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) social work associate was sentenced to three years in prison for her role in a scheme to defraud the United States of her honest services in connection with her work finding suitable housing and daily care for mentally ill and disabled military veterans and then obstructing the VA’s investigation into the fraudulent scheme.

Jeffrey Davis, a former employee of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Atlanta to engaging in a felony conflict of interest by collecting fees from customers of a company he owned and operated for services he performed as part of his official duties at NARA.

The chief executive officer of a former Virginia marine products company pleaded guilty and has agreed to pay a $100,000 criminal fine and serve time in jail for his role in a conspiracy to rig bids and allocate customers with respect to marine products purchased by the U.S. Navy, the U.S. Coast Guard, and other public and private entities.

Herbert L. Corn, the former superintendent of the city of Rochester Wastewater Treatment Plant in Rochester, Ind., pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in South Bend, Ind., to falsifying monthly discharge monitoring reports that concealed violations of the Clean Water Act at the Rochester plant.

Sheri Redekker Barry and Warren Thomas Barry, a wife and husband who are both real estate agents in Fort Myers, Fla., have been sentenced to prison for conspiracy and failure to file tax returns. U.S. District Court Judge John E. Steele on Monday sentenced Sheri Barry to 36 months in prison and Warren Barry to 24 months in prison. The court also ordered the Barrys to pay restitution in the amount of $555,728.

Roderick Prescott, a resident of Orem, Utah, and a former principal of National Trust Services (NTS) in San Jose, Calif., and later Selma, Ore., pleaded guilty today to tax evasion. Prescott admitted to evading at least $550,000 in personal income taxes for 1998 and 1999. Prescott was scheduled to begin trial on July 7, 2009, before Chief U.S. District Judge Ann Aiken in Eugene, Ore.

"Keeping guns out of the hands of the Mexican drug warlords is a top priority for the Department. It is a priority that the President and the Attorney General have promised to address quickly and aggressively."

Ronald Weich, Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Office of Legislative Affairs today announced two new members of the Office’s leadership team. Mark D. Agrast and Judith Appelbaum have been appointed as Deputy Assistant Attorneys General.

Attorney General Eric Holder announced the appointment of Brian M. O’Leary as the Executive Office for Immigration Review’s (EOIR) Chief Immigration Judge. Prior to his appointment, Judge O’Leary served as an immigration judge from May 2007 to June 2009 at the Arlington, Va., Immigration Court. He served as a temporary board member on the Board of Immigration Appeals from May 2006 to May 2007 and as a deputy chief immigration judge in the Office of the Chief Immigration Judge from March 2003 to May 2006.

John Reece Roth, 72, of Knoxville, Tenn., was sentenced to 48 months in prison for violating the Arms Export Control Act by conspiring to illegally export, and actually exporting, technical information relating to a U.S. Air Force (USAF) research and development contract.

Arthur Sease IV, a former Memphis Police Department officer, was sentenced today to a prison term of life plus 255 years by Chief Judge Jon P. McCalla in Memphis, Tenn. A jury convicted Sease in February 2009 of 44 counts of civil rights, narcotics, robbery, and firearms offenses.

Beazer Homes USA Inc. has agreed to pay the United States $5 million dollars, plus contingent payments of up to $48 million dollars to be shared with victimized private homeowners, to resolve allegations that it, and Beazer Mortgage Corp., were involved in fraudulent mortgage origination activities in connection with federally insured mortgages.

A federal jury in Los Angeles convicted a physician assistant late yesterday for his role in a $7.7 million Medicare fraud scheme.

The United States has joined a whistleblower suit against Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC); Applied Enterprise Solutions (AES); Dale Galloway, Chief Executive Officer of AES; Stephen Adamec, former Director of the Naval Oceanographic Major Shared Resource Center (NAVO MSRC) at the Stennis Space Center in Hancock County, Mississippi; and Robert Knesel, Deputy Director of NAVO MSRC.

As part of a multi-site settlement, G-I Holdings Inc. has agreed to address asbestos contamination caused by its past operation of the largest chrysotile asbestos mine and mill in the country. The 1,673-acre abandoned mine site in Vermont, known as the Vermont Asbestos Group Mine Site (VAG Site) is the most significant of the contaminated sites covered by the settlement, which includes 12 other industrial sites across the country where G-I may have disposed of hazardous waste.

Joseph McNealy, a former Jackson, Miss., computer systems administrator, was sentenced today to 70 months in prison for receiving and possessing images of child pornography.

Paul Tillis, a former Florida Department of Corrections officer, was sentenced today in federal court in Jacksonville, Fla., on a federal civil rights charge related to assaulting an inmate.

A former State Department employee was sentenced today to one year of probation and ordered to pay a $5,000 fine for illegally accessing more than 50 confidential passport application files.

Jonathan Haynes, a former police officer with the Jackson, Miss., Police Department, was sentenced today for a civil rights violation for stealing money from a citizen during an off-duty encounter.

A 35-year-old Minneapolis man was sentenced today in federal court on one count of conspiring to provide material support and resources to al-Qaeda. In Minneapolis, U.S. District Court Judge John Tunheim sentenced Mohammed Abdullah Warsame to 92 months in prison and three years of supervised release.

The Department filed a lawsuit against the city of Milwaukee alleging it violated the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 (USERRA) by refusing to provide Michael Crivello, then an incumbent Milwaukee police officer, with a make-up promotional examination for detective that he missed while away on active duty military service with the Air National Guard and thereby failing to properly determine his reemployment status as a police officer eligible for promotion to detective.

A fourth individual pleaded guilty today to illegally accessing numerous confidential passport application files.

Frederic A. Bourke Jr., 63, was found guilty today by a federal jury in Manhattan of conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and the Travel Act, and making false statements to the FBI.

An employee of a Sewell, N.J., sub-contractor that provided temporary electrical services was sentenced today to serve 20 months in jail for his role in a kickback and fraud scheme at an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)-designated Superfund site in New Jersey. The sub-contractor was also ordered to pay $154,597 in restitution to the EPA, jointly and severally with his co-conspirators.

George Michael Lee, Duc Cong Nguyen, Hop Nguyen and Tien Duc Vu were sentenced today in San Diego for their roles in a scheme by the "Tran Organization" to cheat casinos across the United States and Canada.

Attorney General Eric Holder today announced more than $8.7 million in Recovery Act funds for three communities in California to use in fighting crime and drug trafficking as part of the Justice Department’s Southwest Border Strategy.

The former director of information technology for a non-profit organ and tissue donation center was sentenced today to two years in prison for hacking into her former employer’s computer network.

A Greek citizen, Panagiotis Lekkas, the captain of the bulk cargo ship the M/V Theotokos, pleaded guilty today to four felony counts in federal court in New Orleans for violating anti-pollution laws, ship safety laws and obstructing a U.S. Coast Guard investigation.

A former Rockwell and Boeing engineer from Orange County, Calif., was remanded into custody this morning after a federal judge convicted him of charges of economic espionage and acting as an agent of the People’s Republic of China, for whom he stole restricted technology and Boeing trade secrets, including information related to the Space Shuttle program and Delta IV rocket.

Attorney General Eric Holder today announced that $500,000 in Recovery Act funds have been awarded to the Support for Harbor Area Women’s Lives (SHAWL) House, a program of the Volunteers of America of Los Angeles (VOALA).

The Department released a new technical assistance fact sheet on legal requirements relating to admitting individuals with HIV or AIDS to occupational training schools and granting state licensure in occupations such as barbering, massage therapy and home health care assistance.

Dr. Gabriel DeCandido, a physician practicing internal medicine in Largo, Fla., has agreed to pay the United States $1.7 million to settle allegations that he defrauded the Medicare program. In a complaint filed in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida, United States ex rel. Michael Flanery v. Dr. Gabriel DeCandido, et al., the United States alleged that Dr. DeCandido violated the False Claims Act by billing the Medicare program for higher levels of service than he actually rendered to patients and by billing for services not provided.

Feliciano Sanchez, 34, a former officer with the Bell, Calif., Police Department, pleaded guilty yesterday in federal court in Los Angeles to a federal civil rights charge for sexually assaulting a female motorist. Sanchez admitted that on May 16, 2007, he sexually assaulted the victim by forcing her to provide oral sex after stopping her for a traffic violation, according to documents filed in court.

A federal court has permanently barred a Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.,-area woman and her company from preparing federal income tax returns for others. According to the government complaint in the case, Carole Exantus of Plantation, Fla., operated a company called J’s Corporation in Miami. The court found that J’s Corporation repeatedly prepared federal income tax returns claiming false tax credits and deductions that it knew would result in understating customers’ tax liabilities.

A Georgia temporary staffing company and its owner/president have agreed to plead guilty to making a false statement to the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA). Patriot Services Inc. and its owner/president, Stephanie Blackmon, have each agreed to plead guilty to a one-count charge of making a false statement to the SBA, which was filed today in U.S. District Court in Kansas City, Kan.

Carl Courtright III, of Granite City, Ill., was sentenced today to life plus 10 years in prison for production of child pornography and other offenses.  A federal jury convicted Courtright of one count of production of child pornography, two counts of possession of child pornography, one count of receipt of child pornography and one count of bank fraud following a five-day trial in March 2009.

John Joseph Cota, the pilot who caused the Cosco Busan, a 900-foot long container ship, to collide with the San Francisco Bay Bridge and discharge approximately 53,000 gallons of oil into San Francisco Bay, was today sentenced to serve 10 months in federal prison by U.S. District Court Judge Susan Illston for the Northern District of California.

Today the Departments of Justice, State and Treasury announced coordinated actions against the Gulf Cartel/Los Zetas drug trafficking organization, now known as the "Company," in the latest in a series of efforts by the U.S. government to neutralize and dismantle this violent cartel.

"The Palmetto Project – as it is known – will allow the Department of Justice to expand the capabilities of the National Advocacy Center. As the core training center for prosecutors, law enforcement agents and other personnel from across the nation, the NAC is crucial to the continued success of the Justice Department’s mission."

The Department of Justice and Department of Defense today announced that the Detention Policy Task Force, which was created pursuant to Executive Order 13493, has issued a preliminary report on military commissions and a process for the determination of prosecution forum for trials of suspected terrorists.

Franklin Joseph Ryle Jr., a former Wyoming Highway Patrol trooper, pleaded guilty on July 20, 2009, in federal court in Wyoming to depriving a man of his constitutional right to be free from unreasonable seizures by kidnapping him. Ryle also pleaded guilty to one count of using his firearm in relation to the crime.