The state of New York and New York City have agreed to pay $540 million to settle allegations that they knowingly submitted, or caused to be submitted, false claims for reimbursement for school-based health care services, primarily speech therapy and transportation, provided to Medicaid eligible children from 1990 to 2001. The settlement is a record federal recovery by the Justice Department for the Medicaid Program.

Warren Mumpower of Spokane, Wash., was sentenced to life in prison today for his activity in a global child pornography trafficking enterprise.

"The Asset Forfeiture Program is critical to our efforts to reduce and deter criminal activity. Your use of civil and criminal forfeiture to seize and forfeit the assets of organized crime targets is essential for this fight."

"As a prosecutor, you need to be determined enough to pursue every single violent criminal, no matter how cold the evidence. You need to be dogged enough to charge all meritorious cases, no matter how difficult the challenges. You need to be tough enough to withstand public scrutiny, no matter how unfair the criticism."

William Travis Brown, 39, of Sellersburg, Ind., was convicted today by a federal jury in Indianapolis of transporting and possessing child pornography. Brown was charged on July 8, 2009, in an amended indictment with one count of transportation and one count of possession of child pornography.

Colorado Interstate Gas Company (CIG), the operator of the Natural Buttes Compressor Station located on the Uintah and Ouray Indian Reservation near Vernal, Utah, has agreed to pay more than $1 million and install environmental controls at its facility as part of a consent decree that resolves violations of the Clean Air Act.

Michael Bullard and Richard Armstrong were convicted yesterday by a jury in Boise, Idaho, on federal hate crime and conspiracy charges in connection with the racially-motivated assault of an African American man outside of a Wal-Mart store in July 2008.

"Our system is predicated on an adversarial model and the separation of powers between the branches but that separation need not make us adversaries or antagonists. Rather, it makes us essential partners in balancing that tension to ensure our system protects the fundamental principles of liberty, equal justice, and the rule of law."

A federal grand jury in Casper, Wyo., Thursday returned an indictment charging Randy Lee (a/k/a Jimmy Lee) and Jay Lee (a/k/a John Marks, a/k/a Anthony Romero) of Cheyenne, Wyo., with odometer tampering, title fraud, securities fraud, mail fraud and conspiracy to commit these offenses. The indictment alleges that the defendants worked as used car dealers at Lee’s RV’s, Inc., a dealership in Cheyenne.

Robert Young, 56, a former captain in the U.S. Army, pleaded guilty today to participating in a scheme to steal fuel worth approximately $39.6 million from the U.S. Army in Iraq.

Seven individuals have been charged with conspiring to provide material support to terrorists and conspiring to murder, kidnap, maim and injure persons abroad.

Consultores de Navegacion, a Spanish company that operates the M/T Nautilus, an ocean-going chemical tanker ship, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Douglas P. Woodlock to pay a fine of more than $2 million and serve three years of probation for criminal violations related to the overboard discharge of oil-contaminated bilge waste on the high seas.

The Department announced an agreement with the village of Midlothian, Ill., to improve access to civic life for persons with disabilities. The agreement was reached under the Department’s Project Civic Access initiative, which aims to bring state and local governments into full compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). This agreement is the 162nd under Project Civic Access.

The Department announced an agreement with Gregg County, Texas, to improve access for persons with disabilities to its programs, services, activities and facilities. The agreement was reached under the Department’s Project Civic Access initiative, which helps bring localities into full compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). This agreement is the 163rd entered into under Project Civic Access.

Mark Edwin Cairnes, 51, of Jonestown, Texas, has been charged with advertising, receiving and possessing child pornography. A grand jury in the Western District of Texas returned the indictment against Cairnes on July 21, 2009, which was unsealed today after his arrest yesterday in Jonestown.

"These COPS grants we are announcing today help fulfill President Obama and Vice President Biden’s commitment to meet the challenges of our struggling economy with solutions that will keep our country safe and keep us moving forward."

Robert Restuch, 69, of Bullhead City, Ariz., pleaded guilty yesterday to one count of mailing child pornography. As part of his plea agreement, Restuch admitted that he entered a U.S. Post Office in Bullhead City and mailed a package that contained more than 600 images of child pornography, including images depicting children less than 12 years old.

A federal jury in Orlando, Fla, found Erin Sharma, a Bureau of Prisons corrections officer, guilty today on felony federal civil rights charges related to a fatal assault on an inmate in March 2005.

The Justice Department today announced an agreement with the city of Niagara Falls, N.Y., to improve access to all aspects of civic life for persons with disabilities. The agreement was reached under the Department’s Project Civic Access initiative to bring state and local governments into compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

Helmerich & Payne Inc. (H&P) has entered into an agreement with the Department of Justice to resolve improper payments by H&P to government officials in Argentina and Venezuela in violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA).

Fourteen members of the Outlaws Motorcycle Club have pleaded guilty in Detroit to charges including violent crimes in aid of racketeering, illegal drug distribution and firearms violations.

A former chief of staff to a member of the U.S. House of Representatives was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Henry H. Kennedy Jr. to three years of probation, including 170 days of home detention, and ordered to perform 100 hours of community service.

A stock trader from Jupiter, Fla., was sentenced today to 30 months in prison for engaging in securities fraud involving several publicly traded companies.

Johnny Pires, 24, of Middleboro, Mass., was convicted today by a federal jury in Boston of attempting to receive child pornography and possessing child pornography.

A British citizen charged in connection with the operation of a series of fraudulent business opportunities was arrested Thursday evening in Miami following his indictment by a Miami federal grand jury on June 9, 2009.

Control Components Inc. (CCI), a Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif.-based company, pleaded guilty today to violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and the Travel Act in a decade-long scheme to secure contracts in approximately 36 countries by paying bribes to officials and employees of various foreign state-owned companies as well as foreign and domestic private companies.

A Canadian citizen has been charged in an indictment unsealed yesterday for his alleged participation in an eight-year conspiracy to defraud the United Nations Oil for Food Program (OFFP) and to bribe Iraqi government officials in connection with the sale of a chemical additive used in the refining of leaded fuel.

Attorney General Eric H. Holder, Jr., announced today the appointment John H. Guendelsberger as a new member of the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA). The BIA is part of the Justice Department’s Executive Office for Immigration Review located in Falls Church, Va., and is responsible for hearing appeals of decisions rendered by immigration judges or certain Department of Homeland Security officers.

The Justice Department today announced an agreement with the city of Wendell, Idaho, to improve access to all aspects of civic life for persons with disabilities. The agreement was reached under the Department’s Project Civic Access initiative, which aims to bring state and local governments into compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

Five companies have agreed to compensate the United States and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania nearly $21.4 million in cash and valuable property to address natural resource damages resulting from decades of zinc smelting operations at the Palmerton Zinc Pile Superfund site in northeast Pennsylvania.

The United States has filed a False Claims Act lawsuit against First Choice Armor & Equipment Inc. and its founder, Edward Dovner, for submitting false claims for bullet-proof vests purchased by the United States for federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies.

"I stand here to celebrate the more than $12 million that has been awarded to the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department to fund the hiring and rehiring of 50 law enforcement officers in the District. These funds will provide 100 percent of the approved salary and benefits for these officers for three years, and all police departments receiving the grants will then be required to retain the grant-funded positions for a fourth year."

The Justice Department today announced an agreement with Chautauqua County, N.Y., to improve access to all aspects of civic life for persons with disabilities. The agreement was reached under the Department’s Project Civic Access initiative, which aims to bring state and local governments into compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

Paul Revere Transportation LLC, a bus company based in Boston, has agreed to pay a $650,000 civil penalty after being found liable by a jury in June for violating federal and state clean air laws for idling their buses for extended periods of time. The company was found liable on June 8, 2009, after a six-day trial in U.S. District Court in Boston, for 234 separate violations of the Clean Air Act and a Massachusetts anti-idling regulation.

Edward H. Okun, the former owner of The 1031 Tax Group LLP (1031TG), was sentenced today to 100 years in prison for his leading role in a scheme to defraud and obtain approximately $126 million in client funds held by 1031TG.

"People who actually work in law enforcement, and people who actually work in our nation’s schools, know that our jobs are closely interwoven. When their neighborhoods and homes don’t feel safe, our children have a tough time paying attention in school. And when our children are not engaged at school, they’re going to be much more likely to get into trouble outside of it."

Rene Soliz of Alice, Texas, was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Corpus Christi, Texas, to serve three years of supervised probation, 250 hours of community service and pay a $1,500 fine for violating the Lacey Act by attempting to receive 15 Tanzanian leopard tortoises that were transported into the United States.

The Justice Department today announced an agreement with Fayette County, Pa., to improve access to all aspects of civic life for persons with disabilities. The agreement was reached under the Department’s Project Civic Access initiative, which aims to bring state and local governments into compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

The United States has filed a lawsuit to bar a married couple’s alleged nationwide tax fraud scheme involving so-called asset protection.

A New Jersey accountant pleaded guilty today to laundering portions of more than $300,000 stolen from the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) in the Republic of Iraq and brought back to the United States by his wife, a former U.S. Army lieutenant colonel.

A federal jury today convicted former United States Congressman William J. Jefferson, 62, of New Orleans, La., of using his office to corruptly solicit bribes.

Dennis Beetham and his company, D.B. Western Inc., have been indicted on both federal and state charges alleging that he illegally dumped hazardous and other industrial waste in Crook County, Ore.

A former U.S. Army contracting official pleaded guilty today to accepting more than $80,000 in bribes in exchange for providing contract work to two Afghan trucking companies.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) signed two Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) on Thursday, Aug. 6, 2009, to foster increased communication between participating agencies at the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) Fusion Center and the International Organized Crime Intelligence and Operations Center (IOC-2).

The Justice Department today announced an agreement with the city of Port St. Lucie, Fla., to improve access to all aspects of civic life for persons with disabilities. The agreement was reached under the Department’s Project Civic Access initiative to bring state and local governments into compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

Diego Montoya Sanchez, 48, one of the leaders of the Norte Valle Colombian drug cartel and a former FBI Top Ten Fugitive, pleaded guilty today in Miami to drug trafficking, murder and racketeering charges.

Robert Jeffery, 55, was convicted today by a federal jury in Alexandria, Va., for his role in a scheme to steal fuel worth approximately $39.6 million from the U.S. Army in Iraq.

A federal jury has found Ehsanul Islam Sadequee, 23, of Roswell, Ga., guilty on all four counts of an indictment charging him with supporting terrorists and a foreign terrorist organization, after a trial that lasted seven days.

Charles Brown, 54, of Mesa, Ariz., was sentenced today to five years in prison and lifetime supervised release following his prison term for receiving child pornography.

Exxon-Mobil Corporation, the world’s largest publicly traded oil and gas company, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Denver to violating the federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA) in five states during the past five years.