The Justice Department announced today that the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana approved its settlement with the city of New Orleans regarding a housing discrimination lawsuit late yesterday.

"Earth Day is another reminder to me of that commitment, a commitment that the Department of Justice is dedicated not only to protecting the people of our country, but also to protecting its natural resources."

As part of the Justice Department’s new clemency initiative, Deputy Attorney General James M. Cole announced six criteria the department will consider when reviewing and expediting clemency applications from federal inmates.

Showa Corp., an automotive parts manufacturer based in Saitama, Japan, has agreed to plead guilty and to pay a $19.9 million criminal fine for its role in a conspiracy to fix prices and rig bids for pinion-assist type electric powered steering assemblies installed in cars sold in the United States and elsewhere.

A criminal information has been filed against a Pennsylvania firm and its chief officer, charging them with conspiracy to evade export reporting requirements and with attempting to smuggle to Iran a lathe machine in violation of U.S. export regulations.

U.S. District Judge James K. Bredar sentenced Michael Morgan, formerly an officer at Roxbury Correctional Institution (RCI) in Hagerstown, Md., to serve 30 months in prison for depriving an inmate of his civil rights.

Under an agreement announced today by the U.S Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Justice, the Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority (VIWAPA) will come into compliance with air pollution control requirements in the federal Clean Air Act at its Estate Richmond Generating Facility located on St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands.

We are launching this clemency initiative in order to quickly and effectively identify appropriate candidates, candidates who have a clean prison record, do not present a threat to public safety, and were sentenced under out-of-date laws that have since been changed, and are no longer seen as appropriate.

And then there came this moment during the ceremony, after everyone had taken the citizenship oath in unison, when everyone proudly pulled out miniature American flags and started waving them furiously. All of a sudden this auditorium of people distinguished by their differences became awash in red, white and blue -- everyone bound together by a shared identity; bound together by an idea, this bold experiment in self-government we call the United States of America.

A former executive of a rubber hose manufacturer, who was extradited from Germany in early April 2014, today pleaded guilty and was sentenced to serve two years in prison for participating in a conspiracy to rig bids, fix prices and allocate market shares of marine hose sold in the United States and elsewhere.

The Department of Justice today announced that Joseph F. Klimavicz will become its new chief information officer (CIO), arriving in late May.

Arturo Gallegos Castrellon, aka “Benny,” “Farmero,” “51,” “Guero,” “Pecas,” “Tury,” and “86,” 35, of Chihuahua, Mexico, the Barrio Azteca Lieutenant who ordered the March 2010 murders of a U.S. Consulate employee, her husband and the husband of another U.S. Consulate employee, was sentenced today to serve life in prison.

A federal grand jury returned a two-count indictment against John W. Ng, 58, of Albuquerque, New Mexico, charging him with hate crime offenses related to anti-Semitic threats he made against a Jewish woman who owns and operates the Nosh Jewish Delicatessen and Bakery in Albuquerque.

The Department of Justice filed a civil forfeiture complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California seeking to recover more than $700,000 in alleged corruption proceeds of Chun Doo-hwan, the former president of the Republic of Korea.

The Justice Department reached an agreement today with Mexico Foods LLC, aka El Rancho Corp., a supermarket chain based in Garland, Texas, resolving claims that the company engaged in discrimination during the employment eligibility verification process in violation of the Immigration and Nationality Act.

A Maryland man was sentenced today to serve one year and a day in prison for defrauding thousands of homeowners in a $4 million nationwide home loan modification scheme.

The owner of a Louisiana pharmacy pleaded guilty today for directing a $2.2 million Medicare fraud scheme to repackage and redistribute prescription medications. Mona Patrice Carter, 47, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge James J. Brady of the Middle District of Louisiana to one count of health care fraud.

The Department of Justice and Bazaarvoice Inc. have agreed on a remedy that will address Bazaarvoice’s illegal acquisition of PowerReviews Inc. by requiring Bazaarvoice to divest the assets it acquired from PowerReviews and adhere to other requirements to fully restore competition in the provision of online product ratings and reviews platforms.

Velma I. Salinas-Nix and Kenneth H. Nix, of Boerne, Texas, were sentenced today to serve 20 months in prison and 30 months in prison, respectively, for filing false tax returns and making false statements to the U.S. Army by filing false financial ethics disclosure forms.

"Each of the 2014 grant recipients are doing amazing work – day in and day out they are changing the lives of the most vulnerable residents in the District of Columbia. And they are strengthening our nation’s legal community," said Principal Deputy Director Hanson

The International Competition Network (ICN) adopted new recommended practices for predatory pricing analysis and competition assessment, and approved new work product on international merger enforcement cooperation, confidentiality protections during investigations, leniency policy and digital evidence gathering.

The Justice Department’s Office on Violence Against Women announced the release of two grant solicitations to launch a new $3 million special initiative for the Bakken Region.

On January 3, 2014, the Director of National Intelligence declassified and disclosed publically that the U.S. government had filed an application with the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court seeking renewal of the authority to collect telephony metadata in bulk, and that, the FISC renewed that authority. The Office of the Director National Intelligence also announced that the Administration was undertaking a declassification review of the FISC's January 3 primary order. On February 12, 2014, and following a declassification review by the Executive Branch, the FISC released in redacted form the previously classified January 3 primary order it had issued in Docket Number BR 14-01, along with a number of other documents.

"When universities fail to respond adequately to campus sexual assault, they engage in their own sex discrimination by forcing the affected students to attend school in a hostile sex-based environment."

"We’re pleased that the court agreed that the department’s remedy will enhance system-wide competition in the airline industry," said Assistant Attorney General Baer

A high-level international meeting to support the Government of Ukraine in recovering stolen assets begins tomorrow in London. The gathering is a landmark for Ukraine in underscoring the rule of law and international cooperation. The international community and the Government of Ukraine are united in their commitment and determination in returning stolen assets to the people of Ukraine.

Noting that African-American and Hispanic males are arrested at disproportionately high rates, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said Monday that the Justice Department will seek to collect data about stops, searches and arrests as part of a larger effort to analyze and reduce the possible effect of bias within the criminal justice system.

A Dominican national was sentenced today for his role in trafficking the identities and corresponding identity documents of Puerto Rican U.S. citizens.

A soldier in the Texas Army National Guard pleaded guilty today for his role in a bribery and fraud scheme that caused more than $30,000 in losses to the U.S. National Guard Bureau.

Dante Phearse, 33, has entered a plea of guilty to calling in a bomb threat to Congregation Beth Israel, a synagogue in Houston.

Habtom Merhay, a national of Eritrea and a citizen of the United Kingdom, made his initial appearance today in federal court to face human smuggling charges for his role in smuggling primarily Eritrean and Ethiopian undocumented migrants.

Li Fangwei, who is more commonly known by his alias “Karl Lee,” is charged with violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) by using United States-based financial institutions to engage in millions of dollars of U.S. dollar transactions in violation of economic sanctions that prohibited such financial transactions.

A federal jury convicted certified public accountant Jeffery Deshon Applewhite, aka Jeffrey Donald Mason, a resident of Los Angeles County, California, of 20 counts of aiding and assisting the preparation and presentation of false tax returns late yesterday.

Harvey James was sentenced today to serve 110 months in prison for his role in a stolen identity refund fraud scheme, announced Assistant Attorney General Kathryn Keneally of the Justice Department's Tax Division and U.S. Attorney George L. Beck Jr. for the Middle District of Alabama.

Oneike Mickhale Barnett, a Jamaican citizen, was sentenced today in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., in connection with his role in a fraudulent lottery scheme based in Jamaica that targeted victims in the United States.

Charmaine Anne King was sentenced today in connection with her role in a fraudulent international lottery scheme that targeted U.S. citizens.

The goals that bind together every nation represented here are, as ever, rooted in our long shared and defining values. For well over a century, our mutual commitment to cooperation has played an indispensable role in ensuring stability, international security and bolstering global collaboration. And today, once again, this community of nations stands as one – our ranks strengthened by partners, old and new, from around the world, and our peoples united by a joint and pressing obligation: to respond to the challenges of this day, to help resolve the conflicts of this hour, and to stand with the people of Ukraine in this moment as they rightfully chart their own, independent course to safety, prosperity, and peace.

It will be no small feat, but we ultimately must change the culture on campuses and in communities, so that everyone understands that sexual assault is never acceptable.

Assistant Attorney General for the Tax Division Kathryn Keneally, U.S. Attorney Sanford C. Coats for the Western District of Oklahoma, and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced today that Larry Douglas Friesen pleaded guilty to three counts of willfully failing to pay employment taxes

A federal jury in Detroit today convicted a physical therapist, physical therapy assistant and unlicensed doctor for their participation in a nearly $15 million Medicare fraud scheme.

Shokrollah Baravarian, of Beverly Hills, California, was charged today in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California with conspiracy to defraud the United States.

Although our Forum has reached its conclusion, the work we perform will not end. We will not lose sight of these critical challenges. And we will not diminish our focus on eliminating corruption wherever it occurs, and whatever form it takes.

The Department of Justice reached a settlement with eBay Inc. that prevents the company from entering into or maintaining agreements with other companies restraining employee recruitment and hiring.

A federal judge in California has permanently barred Michael I. Turner, of San Diego, from preparing federal tax returns for others, the Justice Department announced today.

Jeremy Heath Higgins was indicted for threatening an African-American man at a Quinton, Alabama, restaurant, and for threatening another person who ordered Higgins to leave the restaurant due to his behavior.

"This is one further step towards closing an unfortunate chapter for Silicon Valley and other companies who unlawfully agreed to deny their employees the opportunity to receive competing job offers. These so-called “do not poach” or anti-solicitation agreements are per se unlawful, and the Antitrust Division takes them very seriously," said Assistant Attorney General Baer.

Two Aryan Brotherhood of Texas gang members pleaded guilty this week to racketeering charges related to their membership in the ABT’s criminal enterprise.

Two alleged members of the Almighty Imperial Gangsters Nation have been indicted for their alleged roles in a 2007 murder in the Southern District of Florida.

A second superseding indictment was unsealed today adding 19 counts including racketeering conspiracy and attempted murder against three defendants for their alleged participation in the violent Nuestra Familia gang.

The Justice Department announced today the filing of a lawsuit against the state of Hawaii and the state of Hawaii Department of Transportation Airports Division (HDOT-Airports) alleging that the defendants discriminated against former employee Sherry Valmoja by subjecting her to sexual harassment in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.