Barnwell, 37, of Evening Shade, Ark., was sentenced in Little Rock, Ark., for his involvement in firebombing the residence of an interracial couple.

Bradley Branscum, 23, and Tony Branscum, 26, who are first cousins, of Salado, Ark., and Curtis Coffee, 19, of Batesville, Ark., were sentenced for charges relating to their roles in burning a cross in the yard of an African-American resident on Aug. 28, 2010.

"I am confident that this new effort will improve our ability to ensure justice for victims; help restore faith in our financial markets and institutions; and allow us to answer the call that President Obama issued earlier this week, in his State of the Union address," said Attorney General Holder.

Asset Acceptance LLC, a Michigan-based debt buyer, has agreed to a consent decree to settle a civil lawsuit regarding its debt collection activities.

Yazaki Corporation and DENSO Corporation have agreed to plead guilty and to pay a total of $548 million in criminal fines for their involvement in multiple price-fixing and bid-rigging conspiracies in the sale of parts to automobile manufacturers in the United States.

Charles Kizer, 53, from Memphis, Tenn., was sentenced late Friday by U.S. District Judge Samuel H. Mays, Jr. to 10 years in prison for violating the Mann Act.

– A former soldier who also served as a contract military recruiter pleaded guilty today to conspiracy to obtain more than $200,000 in fraudulent recruiting bonuses from various U.S. military components and their contractor.

Three men and a demolition company were convicted by a federal jury in Chattanooga, Tenn., of environmental crimes and obstruction of justice charges related to the illegal demolition of a Chattanooga factory containing large amounts of the toxic air pollutant asbestos.

A federal court has permanently barred David Champion from promoting a tax fraud scheme designed to assist his customers evade federal taxes, the Justice Department announced today.

A federal jury today convicted Alex Campbell, 45, a northwest Chicago suburban massage parlor owner, of various federal crimes including sex-trafficking, forced labor, harboring illegal aliens, confiscating passports to further forced labor and extortion involving four foreign women whom he mentally and physically abused while forcing them to work for him between July 2008 and January 2010.

Billy Wade Carroll of Dayton, Ohio, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Virginia A. Phillips.

"Today, we have the privilege – and the solemn duty – of enforcing the civil rights laws and reforms that Dr. King, Congressman Lewis and so many others fought to ensure," said Attorney General Holder.

"The auto parts investigation is the largest criminal investigation the Antitrust Division has ever pursued, both in terms of its scope and the potential volume of commerce affected by the alleged illegal conduct," said Acting Assistant Attorney General Pozen.

"Whether ensuring that our military voters and civilians serving overseas have the right to register and vote absentee, ensuring individuals are not denied the franchise because of their race or the language they speak, or ensuring that covered states are following federal requirements for providing opportunities to register to vote at designated offices and administering voter lists, our work to protect voting rights is among our most important," said Assistant Attorney General Perez.

Attorney General Eric Holder’s National Task Force on Children Exposed to Violence today held a public hearing in Albuquerque, N.M., on the challenges rural and tribal communities face in preventing children’s exposure to violence.

Columbus Manufacturing Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Columbus Foods LLC, has agreed to pay a penalty and make significant upgrades to settle Clean Air Act violations.

A Virginia contractor was sentenced today to serve 37 months in prison for participating in a scheme to steer contracts to him for repair, maintenance and renovation work at healthcare and nursing home facilities owned by Medical Facilities of America Inc.

The Justice Department today celebrated the 25th anniversary of the 1986 amendments to the False Claims Act. The False Claims Act has been called the single most important tool that American taxpayers have to recover funds when false claims are made to the federal government, including health care fraud, mortgage fraud, and procurement fraud.

The Department of Justice today filed a lawsuit against St. Bernard Parish, La., alleging that the parish violated the Fair Housing Act by engaging in a multi-year campaign to limit rental housing opportunities for African-Americans in the parish.

Michael Wayne Wooten, 60, of Alabaster, Ala., pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Inge P. Johnson in the Northern District of Alabama.

Natalie Evans, 50, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Jose E. Martinez in the Southern District of Florida.

Fred D. Belcher, 61, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge James J. Brady of the Middle District of Louisiana to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud.

"And I want to thank all of you for your commitment to the ideals and principles represented by community courts. These principles – engaging the community, addressing offender behaviors, reducing crime, and ensuring fairness – these have become cardinal tenets of an effective system of justice," said Assistant Attorney General Robinson.

"For nearly 150 years – since its initial passage during the Lincoln Administration – the False Claims Act has provided ordinary Americans with essential tools to combat fraud, to help recover damages, and to bring accountability to those who would take advantage of the United States government – and of American taxpayers," said Attorney General Holder.

"Our primary weapon for deterring and redressing fraud is the False Claims Act, which makes it illegal to submit fraudulent claims to the government," said Assistant Attorney General West.

A federal court has ordered James Watts and eight corporations to begin paying employment taxes to the United States on a timely basis, the Justice Department announced today.

The three-year settlement agreement will ensure that this rural district takes appropriate action to serve its small but growing and widely dispersed ELL population.

The Justice Department has reached a settlement with the Henry Ford Health System to ensure effective communication with individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing in the provision of medical services.

Jonathan Curshen, 47, the principal of Red Sea Management and Sentry Global Securities, two companies located in San Jose, Costa Rica, that provided offshore accounts and facilitated trading in penny stocks, was found guilty of conspiracy to commit securities fraud, wire fraud and mail fraud; two counts of mail fraud; and conspiracy to commit international money laundering.

federal grand jury in Salt Lake City has returned an indictment charging Michael Lavery with one count of presenting a false claim to the United States and one count of structuring a currency transaction to avoid the reporting requirements, the Justice Department and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced.

A federal grand jury in Fort Pierce, Fla., returned an indictment charging Ernst Pierre with filing false federal income tax returns and identity theft, the Justice Department and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced.

Teresa Witthar, 43, of Independence, Mo., pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Kansas City to federal hate crime charges in connection with the vandalism and arson of a bi-racial man’s mobile home in 2006.

Detroit-area resident Tariq Mahmud, 55, was convicted of one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and six counts of health care fraud.

After a seven-day trial, a federal jury in Las Vegas found Jeannie Sutherland and Kelly Nunes guilty of one count of bank fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit wire and bank fraud.

"I am here today because I understand and appreciate the importance of congressional oversight, and because I am committed to ensuring the highest standards of integrity and professionalism at the Department of Justice," said Attorney General Holder.

A former soldier pleaded guilty today to conspiracy to obtain a total of at least approximately $240,000 in fraudulent recruiting bonuses from various U.S. military components and their contractor, and to one count of aggravated identity theft for unlawfully using the means of identification of a potential soldier.

The Department of Justice today announced that Luke J. McCormack will become its new chief information officer (CIO), arriving in late March.

Attila Nemeth, 26, a Hungarian citizen, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge J. Frederick Motz to 30 months in prison for transmitting a malicious code to Marriott International Corporation computers and threatening to reveal confidential information obtained from the company’s computers if Marriott did not offer him a job.

Chikenna D. Jones, 36, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge James J. Brady of the Middle District of Louisiana to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States and to pay and receive health care kickbacks.

"Across the country, public defender offices and other indigent defense providers are underfunded and understaffed. Too often, when legal representation is available to the poor, it’s rendered less effective by insufficient resources, overwhelming caseloads, and inadequate oversight," said Attorney General Holder.

Smith & Nephew Inc. has entered into a deferred prosecution agreement with the Department of Justice to resolve improper payments by the company and certain affiliates in violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA).

The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Fort Myers, Fla., alleges that Lee County discriminated against tradesworkers Marco Ferreira, Eduardo Rivera and Leonides Sepulveda by subjecting them to racial and ethnic harassment over a period of approximately two years beginning in 2007 and ending in 2009.

A former U.S. Marine Corps (USMC) gunnery sergeant was sentenced today to 18 months in prison for conspiring to steal at least 55 electrical generators from USMC bases in Iraq in 2008.

William H. Nurick, of Camarillo, Cal., was sentenced to 60 months in prison and ordered to pay $286,443 in restitution by U.S. District Judge Dale S. Fischer in Los Angeles, the Justice Department and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced today.

Rodney D. Taylor, 45, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge James J. Brady of the Middle District of Louisiana to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States and to pay and receive health care kickbacks.

Seafood Solutions Inc., a California corporation, was sentenced in federal court in Los Angeles today to pay $1 million in fines and community service payments for its role in the false labeling of frozen fish fillets.

Austin Galvan, 30, was charged in a two-count indictment unsealed on Aug. 29, 2011, with wire fraud and obstruction of justice.

Dover Chemical Corporation has agreed to pay $1.4 million in civil penalties for the unauthorized manufacture of chemical substances at facilities in Dover, Ohio, and Hammond, Ind.

Fourteen hospitals located in New York, Mississippi, North Carolina, Washington, Indiana, Missouri and Florida have agreed to pay the United States a total of more than $12 million to settle allegations that the health care facilities submitted false claims to Medicare, the Justice Department announced today.

Eduard Aslanyan, 38, of Sherman Oaks, Calif., was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Consuelo B. Marshall in the Central District of California.