A Texas doctor was sentenced today to serve 63 months in prison for conspiring to commit health care fraud by falsifying plans of care for Medicare beneficiaries, including patients whom he did not treat, as part of a $17.3 million Medicare fraud scheme.

The United States and the city of New Orleans announced today that public meetings would be held regarding a consent decree court monitor for the New Orleans Police Department.

"Our investigation into CPD’s use of force practices will be thorough, fair and independent. We will follow the facts, wherever the facts. We will peel the onion to its core, and leave no stone unturned," said Assistant Attorney General Perez.

Two California men have been charged in an indictment unsealed today in Boston with remotely hacking into merchants’ computerized cash registers in order to obtain fraudulent gift cards.

An employee of the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (HHS-ASPR) pleaded guilty today in Washington, D.C., to defrauding the United States by submitting fraudulent employment offers in order to claim retention bonuses totaling $138,8875.

Attorney General Eric Holder announced today $1.8 million in new resources to improve access to criminal legal services and strengthen indigent defense across the nation.

A former medical director for Biscayne Milieu, a Miami-based mental-health clinic, was sentenced today to serve 144 months in prison for his role in a fraud scheme involving the submission of more than $50 million in fraudulent billings to Medicare.

"This Hall symbolizes the fusion of two core principles here at the Department: Our respect for the majesty of the law, represented by the figure on your right; and our conviction that law’s proper role is in the service of justice, portrayed by the figure on your left," said Acting Associate Attorney General West.

"Today – together – it’s time to declare, once again, that this is unacceptable – and unworthy of a legal system that stands as an example for all the world. It’s time to reclaim Gideon’s petition – and resolve to confront the obstacles facing indigent defense providers. Most of all, it’s time to speak out – with one voice – to rally our peers and partners at every level of government and the private sector to this important cause," said Attorney General Holder.

The Justice Department announced today that it will monitor elections on March 19, 2013, in Beaufort, Berkeley, Charleston and Dorchester Counties, S.C., and in the village of Port Chester, N.Y.

Tyrone Thompson was sentenced today to 137 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Hugh Lawson in the Middle District of Georgia for conspiracy and filing fraudulent tax returns in order to receive tax refunds, to which the defendant was not entitled.

Executives at two Arlington, Va.-based businesses have pleaded guilty to fraudulently obtaining more than $31 million in government contract payments that should have gone to disadvantaged small businesses.

"Clarence Earl Gideon made a difference. Now it is up to every one of us to make his vision – and the words of the U.S. Supreme Court in his case – a reality. You have started on that path here in Texas," said Acting Senior Counselor Leff.

The Department of Justice announced last week that it has entered into a settlement agreement with the McDuffie County Schools in Georgia to modify the zoning of the district’s elementary schools and ensure the school district complies with other obligations to desegregate its schools in the areas of student assignment, faculty recruiting and assignment and transportation.

"We also gather this morning to reflect on the contributions - and sacrifices - that DOJ’s women have made in advancing the Justice Department’s mission as well as how women have made significant contributions to all aspects of our nation’s cultural, academic, economic, and military institutions," said Deputy Attorney General Cole.

"As technology continues to advance, ECPA’s importance to both criminal and civil law enforcement will only increase," said Acting Assistant Attorney General Tyrangiel.

Sean Rosales pleaded guilty in Miami federal court to one count of an indictment pending against him, charging conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud.

A New York man was sentenced today in Buffalo to serve 11 years in prison for committing mail fraud and attempting to escape the charges by exerting pressure on a U.S. Attorney’s spouse and candidate for office, the Justice Department announced.

The Justice Department announced that it has reached an agreement with the city of Wheatland, Calif., that, if approved by the court, will allow it to bail out from its status as a “covered jurisdiction” under the special provisions of the Voting Rights Act, and thereby exempt the city from the preclearance requirements of Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act.

"When a bank allows its customers, and even its customers’ customers, access to the national banking system, it should endeavor to understand the true nature of the business that it will allow to access the payment system, and the risks posed to consumers and society regarding criminal or other unlawful conduct," said Executive Director Bresnick.

Brazilian nationals Juliana Rose Tome-Froes and her husband, Fabio Rodrigues Froes, were sentenced today in Miami to 60 months and 46 months in prison, respectively, for smuggling undocumented migrants to the United States for profit.

Two shipping firms based in Germany and Cyprus today pleaded guilty to felony obstruction of justice charges and violating the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships related to the deliberate concealment of vessel pollution from four ships that visited U.S. ports in New Jersey, Delaware and Northern California.

The Justice Department announced today that it has reached a cooperative settlement agreement with the Arapahoe, Colo., County Sheriff’s Office under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). This agreement is a companion to one reached on March 8, 2013, with the city of Englewood, Colo.

The Unified Government of Wyandotte Co. and Kansas City, Kan., has agreed to a settlement to address unauthorized overflows of untreated raw sewage and to reduce pollution levels in urban stormwater.

Peruvian national Jessie Katherine Gonzales Urquizo and Bahamian national Irene Mildred Janette Burrows were sentenced today to serve 60 months and 36 months in prison, respectively, for their roles in smuggling undocumented migrants to the United States for private financial gain.

A federal grand jury in San Juan, Puerto Rico, returned an indictment against Thomas Farmer, a former executive of Jacksonville, Fla.-based Crowley Liner Services, for participating in a conspiracy to fix rates and surcharges for freight transported by water between the continental United States and Puerto Rico.

"It has indeed changed – but it has not changed as much as we would like, or as indigent defendants need, to achieve justice," said Acting Senior Counselor Leff.

Dennis Frisbie Jr., 33, former deputy with the Muskogee County, Okla., Sheriff’s Office, who was assigned as a detention officer at the Muskogee County Jail, pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma to one count of making material false statements to the FBI.

"The Department is engaged in efforts across the country to break down barriers to opportunity for America’s schoolchildren, and to ensure that school is a road to success, not a pipeline to prison," said Prinicpal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Samuels.

The Department of Justice today filed a motion to dismiss its antitrust lawsuit against Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan after the state of Michigan passed a law that prohibits health insurers from using most favored nation clauses in contracts with health care providers.

The Justice Department announced today that it reached an agreement with Poulan Pecan, resolving allegations that the company violated the anti-discrimination provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act.

Alexis Candelario-Santana, 41, faces life in prison following his conviction of murdering eight people and an unborn child and attempting to murder 19 others during a mass shooting at a Puerto Rico pub in 2009.

David Marrero, a federal inmate in the custody of the Bureau of Prisons, was sentenced today to 46 months in prison for tax fraud committed while in prison.

Justin D. Schoenauer, 41, also known as Corey J. Schoenauer, a resident of Twin Falls County, Idaho, was sentenced late yesterday in U.S. District Court for the District of Idaho to 27 months in prison for income tax evasion.

The Justice Department announced today that it reached an agreement with Forsyth County, N.C., and Sheriff William T. Schatzman of Forsyth County to resolve allegations that they violated the employment rights of North Carolina Army National Guard soldier Michael Russell under the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994.

Kenny McLaughlin, 35, a corrections officer at the Stone County Regional Facility in Stone County, Miss., pleaded guilty today in federal court to ordering the beating of an inmate at the detention facility.

On March 14, 2013, a federal grand jury in Macon, Ga., returned an 18 count indictment alleging that Natashia and Detrick Tucker, a husband and wife couple who owned and operated a tax preparation business named T&T Express located in Pine Mountain, Ga., conspired to defraud the United States by preparing and filing fraudulent tax returns that illegally claimed inflated tax refunds for their clients.

The Justice Department announced today that the Civil Rights Division will monitor elections on April 2, 2013, in Finney County, Kan., and Douglas County, Neb. The monitoring will ensure compliance with the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and other federal voting rights statutes.

An indictment against former Jefferson Parish, La., Sheriff’s Deputy Mark Hebert, 48, was announced today by Roy L. Austin Jr., Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division; Dana J. Boente, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Louisiana; Michael J. Anderson, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI New Orleans Field Office; and Sheriff Newell Normand from the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office.

Jeffrey Charles, a resident of Grimstead, Va., was sentenced today to serve 46 months in federal prison for conspiring with his daughter and son-in-law to defraud the United States, aiding and assisting in the preparation of false tax returns in his daughter’s name, and filing a false tax return in his own name.

A former U.S. Army Captain was sentenced today in Oklahoma City to serve 23 months in prison for conspiracy to accept thousands of dollars in gratuities from contractors during his deployment to Baghdad, Iraq.

A patient recruiter for a Miami health care company was sentenced today to serve 36 months in prison for his participation in a $20 million home health Medicare fraud scheme.

The owner and the director of nursing of a Louisiana home health agency were each convicted late Friday for conspiring to defraud Medicare of $17.1 million.

The United States announced today that the Orange County, Fla., Sheriff’s Office (OCSO) has successfully implemented an agreement on the use of electronic control weapons, commonly referred to as Tasers.

A former contract employee of the U.S. Defense Department (DoD) was sentenced today to serve 35 months in prison for his participation in a bribery and money laundering scheme arising from corruption in the award of defense contracts at Camp Arifjan, an Army base in Kuwait.

Doreen Alexander has been extradited to the United States from Trinidad and Tobago to face charges related to her alleged role in the 2005 kidnapping of naturalized U.S. citizen Balram “Balo” Maharaj.

The Justice Department announced today that Fluor Hanford LLC has agreed to pay $1.1 million to settle allegations that Fluor violated the False Claims Act by using federal funds for lobbying.

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and European Commission Vice President Viviane Reding met today in Washington, D.C. They had cordial discussions on a wide range of fields of collaboration between the Department of Justice and the European Commission.

The Justice Department announced today that under its 2011 settlements with BAC Home Loans Servicing LP, a subsidiary of Bank of America Corporation, and Saxon Mortgage Servicing Inc., a subsidiary of Morgan Stanley, 316 service members whose homes were unlawfully foreclosed upon between 2006 and 2010 are due to receive over $39 million in monetary relief for alleged violations of the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act.

Walter Scott Steele, a former correctional officer at Roxbury Correctional Institution (RCI), and Lanny Harris, a former correction sergeant at RCI in Hagerstown, Md., pleaded guilty today in relation to assaults against an inmate on March 9, 2008.