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.

The Justice Department announced that, jointly with the Meridian Public School District in Meridian, Miss., and private plaintiffs, it has filed a landmark consent decree to prevent and address racial discrimination in student discipline in district schools.

A superseding indictment against four Police of Puerto Rico (POPR) officers was announced today by Roy L. Austin Jr., Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division; Rosa Emilia Rodriguez-Velez, U.S. Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico; and Carlos Cases, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI San Juan Field Office.

"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.

The Department of Justice today declined to state its enforcement intentions regarding the implementation of a proposal submitted by IPXI Holdings LLC and its wholly-owned subsidiary Intellectual Property Exchange International Inc. (IPXI) to develop an exchange for the trading of unit license rights (ULRs) to sets of patents.

The Justice Department today announced recent results of its civil injunction efforts to combat unscrupulous tax return preparers and tax fraud promoters.

Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Justice Programs Mary Lou Leary announced that Robert L. Listenbee Jr. has assumed the role as administrator of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.

Honeywell Resins and Chemicals LLC has agreed to pay a $3 million civil penalty for alleged Clean Air Act violations at its Hopewell, Va., plant, and improve the facility’s air pollution control equipment and processes.

A federal court permanently barred a Gary, Ind., tax-preparation firm and its owner, John Newlin, from preparing tax returns for others.

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.

The Department of Justice and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced today that Dominion Energy has agreed to pay a $3.4 million civil penalty and spend approximately $9.8 million on environmental mitigation projects to resolve Clean Air Act (CAA) violations.

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.

The Department of Justice today announced that a federal grand jury sitting in Seattle has indicted Jamie Larson, 49, on a federal hate crime charge relating to a racially-motivated assault of a 50-year-old Sikh man.

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.

A federal jury in Detroit today convicted a home health agency owner and a physical therapist for their participation in a $2.3 million Medicare fraud scheme.

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.

The U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a Clean Air Act (CAA) settlement with Tyson Foods Inc. and several of its affiliate corporations to address threats of accidental chemical releases after anhydrous ammonia was released during incidents at facilities in Kansas, Missouri, Iowa and Nebraska, resulting in multiple injuries, property damage and one fatality.

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.

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.

"I promised them I would never forget – just as I know you have not forgotten. On this, of all nights, let us dedicate ourselves, as Dr. King would expect us to do, to this new struggle," said Attorney General Holder.

The owners and operators of Biscayne Milieu, a Miami-based mental-health clinic, and the clinic itself were sentenced today for their participation in a Medicare fraud scheme involving the submission of more than $50 million in fraudulent billings to Medicare.

Charges were unsealed today against four former executives of BizJet International Sales and Support Inc., the U.S.-based subsidiary of Lufthansa Technik AG, which provides aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) services, for their alleged participation in a scheme to pay bribes to government officials in Latin America.

U.S. District Court Judge Melinda Harmon entered an order of permanent injunction against Chung’s Products LP, a Houston-based producer of egg rolls and other foods, Charlie A. Kujawa, Chung’s president of operations, and Gregory S. Birdsell, Chung’s former director of quality assurance.

U.S. District Court Judge Joseph F. Bianco entered a consent decree of permanent injunction between the United States, Kabco Pharmaceuticals Inc. and its CEO and President Abu Kabir.

The Department of Justice has reached a settlement that will require Ecolab Inc. and Permian Mud Service Inc. to divest assets used by Permian’s subsidiary, Champion Technologies Inc., to provide production chemical management services in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico in order to proceed with their proposed merger.

A former Los Angeles resident, who fled to Canada and was a federal fugitive for 12 years, pleaded guilty today to aggravated identity theft and bankruptcy fraud in connection with leading a nearly 15-year foreclosure-rescue scam that fraudulently postponed foreclosure sales for more than 800 distressed homeowners.

The founder and president of the National Association of Special Police and Security Officers (NASPSO) was sentenced to 76 months in prison today for stealing union treasury and pension funds.

Eric Majette, 52, a tax return preparer and owner and operator of the Berrisford Group, located in Somerville, N.J., pleaded guilty today to corruptly endeavoring to obstruct and impede the Internal Revenue laws and to preparing a false tax return.

The Justice Department today reached an agreement with Milestone Management Company, a nationwide residential property management firm headquartered in Dallas, resolving claims that the staffing company violated the anti-discrimination provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act.

A former U.S. Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General (DHS-OIG) special agent in charge and another special agent were indicted in the Southern District of Texas late yesterday for their roles in a scheme to falsify records and to obstruct an internal field office inspection.

The Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission issued a joint summary of the activities of the Accountable Care Organization Working Group, which took place between October 2011 and March 31, 2013.

The Justice Department announced today that it has reached a settlement with Lee County, Fla. that, if approved by the district court, will resolve allegations that the county discriminated against three Hispanic employees on the basis of race and national origin in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended.

The United States has filed a civil injunction lawsuit seeking to shut down Mo’ Money Taxes, a Memphis, Tenn., based tax-preparation chain that at one time operated as many as 300 offices in 18 states.

A federal court in Baton Rouge, La. permanently barred Ann Williams and her tax preparation firm, Ann’s Tax Service, from preparing federal tax returns for others.

"The Department of Justice continuously and rigorously seeks ways to operate more efficiently and cost effectively, so that our funds are available for the critical national security and law enforcement activities that impact the Nation," said Assistant Attorney General Lofthus.

"The prosecution of SIRF crimes is a national priority, and, together with our law enforcement partners, we will continue to look for the most effective ways to bring this conduct to an end and to punish these wrongdoers," said Assistant Attorney General Keneally.

Stephanie Charboneau, aka Stephanie Shankel, 34, of Fountain, Colo., formerly a Specialist in the United States Army, has been indicted in the District of Colorado for her alleged role in assisting the thefts of fuel in Afghanistan and laundering the proceeds of crime.

Kerry Michael Deevy pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida in Miami to 13 counts of an indictment pending against him, including one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, three counts of mail fraud, and nine counts of wire fraud.

The Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division today issued the 2013 edition of its annual newsletter on its website.