Three Korean Hitachi-LG Data Storage Inc. (HLDS) executives have agreed to plead guilty and to serve prison time in the United States for their participation in a series of conspiracies to rig bids and fix prices for the sale of optical disk drives.

The Justice Department announced today that it has reached a settlement agreement with S.W.J.J. Inc., or Sernak Farms, based in Weatherly, Penn., to settle allegations that Sernak engaged in discrimination on the basis of citizenship status by preferring to hire temporary visa holders over U.S. citizen applicants and adversely treating its U.S. citizen employees.

Javier A. Diaz Castro, 30, was convicted on Dec. 12, 2011, of two counts of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute more than five kilograms of cocaine, two counts of attempting to possess with the intent to distribute more than five kilograms of cocaine, and two counts of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug transaction.

The country’s two biggest tobacco companies have agreed to improve public access to internal tobacco-industry documents and to pay $6.25 million into a court fund that will go to support the country’s largest online collection of tobacco documents.

Azikiwe Aquart, aka “Z” and “Ziggy,” 32, pleaded guilty on Aug. 26, 2011, to three counts of murder in aid of racketeering.

The Department of Justice, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the Illinois Attorney General’s Office today announced a Clean Water Act (CWA) settlement with the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago (MWRD) to resolve claims that untreated sewer discharges were released into Chicago area waterways during flood and wet weather events.

Charles Ndhlovu, 34, was sentenced on Dec. 12, 2011, by U.S. District Judge William S. Duffey Jr. to 51 months in prison and Scott Ahn, 42, was sentenced yesterday by Judge Duffey to 19 months in prison.

Mansour Sanjar, 78, Cyrus Sajadi, 64, and Chandra Nunn, 33, all of Houston, were arrested today in Houston and are expected to make their initial appearances in federal court today and tomorrow.

U.S. District Judge Joan A. Lenard in Miami sentenced Oscar Martinez, 54, to 18 months in prison, three years of supervised release and ordered Martinez to pay $390,000 in restitution. Judge Lenard sentenced Lesder Casanova, 40, to 12 months in prison, three years of supervised release and ordered Casanova to pay $195,000 in restitution.

The Department of Justice and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced today that CalPortland Company (CPC), a major producer of Portland cement and building materials in the United States, has agreed to pay a $1.425 million penalty to resolve alleged violations of the Clean Air Act at its cement plant in Mojave, Calif.

Pelican Refining Company LLC, was sentenced today to pay $12 million for felony violations of the Clean Air Act and obstruction of justice charges in federal court in Lafayette, La.

Richard Stewart, a resident of Mitchellville, Md., pleaded guilty today for failing to pay over employment taxes in connection with his ownership of Montgomery Mechanical Services.

Lisa A. Dean, 38, of Alexandria, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Court Judge Gerald Bruce Lee in the Eastern District of Virginia to a criminal information charging her with two counts of making a false claim against the United States.

Roger Charles Day Jr., a former America’s Most Wanted fugitive, was sentenced today to 105 years in prison for his role in leading an international conspiracy to defraud the Department of Defense (DOD) of more than $11.2 million by supplying nonconforming and defective parts for military aircraft, vehicles and weapons systems.

"As outlined in our findings letter, we found reasonable cause to believe that MCSO engages in a pattern or practice of violating the Constitution and laws of the United States in 3 areas," said Assistant Attorney General Perez.

Comcast Corporation’s CEO Brian L. Roberts will pay a $500,000 civil penalty to settle charges that he violated premerger reporting and waiting requirements when he acquired Comcast voting securities.

An associate of the Barrio Azteca (BA) gang was sentenced today for her participation in a money laundering conspiracy. Yesterday, a BA gang member pleaded guilty, and three additional gang members and associates were sentenced to prison for their respective roles in a racketeering and drug trafficking conspiracy.

The Justice Department filed a motion to intervene in a lawsuit yesterday against Home Care Giver Services Inc., a Florida corporation that provides home health aides, certified nursing assistants, licensed practical nurses and registered nurses to customers who seek home-based care givers.

An indictment was unsealed today charging Jack Ray Carr of Baton Rouge, La., with one count of corruptly interfering with the due administration of the Internal Revenue laws, four counts of filing false income tax returns, and one count of aiding and assisting in the preparation of a false income tax return.

"Our attorneys, investigators and experts conducted extensive interviews with command staff and rank-and-file officers; participated in ride-alongs with officers; and reviewed thousands of pages of documents," said Assistant Attorney General Perez.

The heads of the antitrust agencies of the United States, Canada and Mexico met today to reaffirm their commitment to effective enforcement cooperation.

Americall Group Inc. (AGI), a Naperville, Ill., telemarketing company specializing in sales for financial service and insurance companies, has agreed to settle charges that AGI violated “do not call” provisions of the Telemarketing Sales Rule.

John Incandela, 25, of Palm Beach, Fla., was sentenced to 41 months in prison, three years of supervised release and ordered to pay over $1.9 million in restitution.

Eagle Recycling was sentenced to pay a $500,000 criminal fine and more than $70,000 in restitution and cleanup costs.

David A. Cusumano of Plymouth, Mich., and Henry Nino, a resident of Northville, Mich., were sentenced today following their pleas of guilty to tax evasion, the Justice Department and Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) announced today.

“This result is a victory for the millions of Americans who use mobile wireless telecommunications services,” said Deputy Attorney General Cole.

Two patient recruiters, a nurse and an administrator for two Miami home health care companies were sentenced today for their participation in a $25 million home health Medicare fraud scheme, announced the Department of Justice, the FBI and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

"Based on our investigation, we find that the East Haven Police Department engages in discriminatory policing against Latinos," said Deputy Assistant Attorney General Austin.

Roberto Gonzalez, 61, Olga Gonzalez, 57, and their son, Fabian Gonzalez, 39, each pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Ursula Ungaro in the Southern District of Florida to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud.

A federal court in Mobile, Ala., has permanently barred Delois Warren from preparing federal tax returns for others.

Butler Moultrie, 46, pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge Barry L. Garber in Miami to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud.

The complaint alleges that, between April 2010 and July 2011, property associated with New Deal Shooting Sports was used in connection with, among other things, a conspiracy to make false statements in connection with the acquisition of firearms and to illegally export firearms to Mexico, a conspiracy to engage in money laundering, and a conspiracy to facilitate the trafficking of narcotics.

Kevin William Harpham, 37, of Colville, Wash., was sentenced to 32 years in prison for the placement of the improvised explosive device alongside the planned Martin Luther King Jr. Day Unity March held on Jan. 17, 2011, in Spokane, Wash,

The Justice Department announced today that a federal grand jury in Cleveland returned a seven-count indictment charging 10 men and two women, all residents of Ohio, with federal crimes arising out of a series of religiously-motivated assaults on practitioners of the Amish religion.

A federal grand jury in Des Moines, Iowa, returned an indictment today charging two former Des Moines Police Department Officers Mersed Dautovic and John Mailander with violations of federal criminal laws related to an incident involving an alleged assault against a civilian on Sept. 13, 2008.

The Justice Department announced today that the city of Brockton, Mass., promoted U.S. Army Reservist Brian Benvie on Dec. 16, 2011, to the position of lieutenant in the city’s police department.

The Department of Justice requires Exelon Corporation and Constellation Energy Group Inc. to divest three electricity generating plants in Maryland in order to proceed with their $7.9 billion merger.

Bruce Gregory Harrison III was convicted yesterday following a jury trial in federal court in Winston-Salem, N.C.

Julian Zapata Espinoza, also known as “Piolin,” has been extradited from Mexico to the United States to face charges for his alleged participation in the murder of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Special Agent Jaime Zapata and the attempted murder of ICE Special Agent Victor Avila on Feb. 15, 2011, in Mexico.

Attorney General Eric Holder today announced the appointment of Charles E. Samuels Jr. as the director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

The Department of Justice today filed its largest residential fair lending settlement in history to resolve allegations that Countrywide Financial Corporation and its subsidiaries engaged in a widespread pattern or practice of discrimination against qualified African-American and Hispanic borrowers in their mortgage lending from 2004 through 2008.

Janika Fernae Bates, a resident of Millbrook, Ala., was sentenced today in the Middle District of Alabama to 94 months in federal prison for stealing identities of student loan borrowers and providing them to a co-conspirator, who used them to file false tax returns.

Kexue Huang, a Chinese national and a former resident of Carmel, Ind., was sentenced today to 87 months in prison and three years of supervised release on charges of economic espionage to benefit components of the Chinese government and theft of trade secrets.

U.S. District Judge Gloria M. Navarro sentenced Jose Lopez-Buelna, aka “Miguel,” 51, to 20 years in prison, and Erik Dushawn Webster, 47, to 25 years in prison.

"None of us will ever forget that terrible moment, when so many lives were stolen – and others shattered – by a shameful and senseless act of cowardice. The losses that resulted – in the air, and on the ground – not only shook the families of the passengers, crewmembers, and innocent bystanders in Lockerbie, Scotland, who were killed on December 21st, 1988," said Attorney General Holder.

"In today’s settlement with Countrywide Financial Corporation, we resolved the government’s allegations that Countrywide and its subsidiaries – which are now owned by Bank of America – engaged in discriminatory mortgage lending practices against more than 200,000 qualified African-American and Hispanic borrowers from 2004 through 2008," said Attorney General Holder.

"At the core of the allegations in the complaint is a simple story: If you were African-American or Hispanic and you went to Countrywide for a loan, and you were qualified, you likely paid more simply because of the color of your skin. You likely paid more than a similarly-qualified white borrower if you were African-American or Hispanic and received your loan from a Countrywide loan officer, or from Countrywide’s mortgage brokers," said Assistant Attorney General Perez.

Julie Matau, 49, of San Francisco, pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud before U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken. Andrea Matau, 28, also of San Francisco, pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor count of theft of federal funds before Judge Wilken.

A former agent for Innospec Inc., a U.S. company, was sentenced today to 30 months in prison and ordered to pay a $250,000 fine for his participation in a conspiracy to defraud the United Nations Oil for Food Program (OFFP) and to bribe former Iraqi government officials in connection with the sale of a chemical additive used in the refining of leaded fuel.

– The principal and co-owner of Integra Capital Management LLC, a North Carolina company, pleaded guilty today for his role in a commodities trading investment scheme that allegedly raised more than $3.2 million.