“Today, the department announced that it had completed negotiations to establish a $20 billion fund to provide the necessary resources to those suffering from the effects of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico," said Associate Attorney General Perrelli.

A federal grand jury in Phoenix, Ariz., returned a three-count indictment today charging former Navajo Police Officer Christine Thinn and former Navajo Police Sergeant Phillip Bedonie Jr. with federal crimes in connection with the beating of Newton Charlie in January 2009.

David Ralph Garcia Jr., 38, of Mesa, Ariz., was sentenced on Tuesday to 10 years in prison for possessing images of child pornography.

Ilkham Fazilov pleaded guilty today to racketeering conspiracy for his role in a criminal enterprise that engaged in numerous criminal activities including forced labor, fraud in foreign labor contracting, visa fraud, mail fraud, identity theft, tax evasion and money laundering.

The Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued today revised Horizontal Merger Guidelines that outline how the federal antitrust agencies evaluate the likely competitive impact of mergers and whether those mergers comply with U.S. antitrust law.

A federal grand jury returned an indictment charging Natchez, Miss., Police Department Officers Elvis Prater, 35, and Dewayne Johnson, 32, with civil rights offenses and other offenses related to the beating of two men in custody, the theft of an arrestee’s credit and debit cards, and the officers’ false statements to federal investigators.

The Justice Department today announced that it will monitor the primary elections on Aug. 24, 2010, in Apache and Navajo Counties, Ariz., to ensure compliance with the minority language requirements of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and other federal voting rights statutes.

Viorel Simon, Nodirbek Abdoollayev and Bakhrom Ikramov have all pleaded guilty to charges related to their roles in a criminal enterprise that engaged in numerous criminal activities including forced labor, fraud in foreign labor contracting, visa fraud, mail fraud, identity theft, tax evasion and money laundering.

Dorothy St. Laurent, 71, of Johnston, R.I., and her son Anthony St. Laurent Jr., 44, of Cranston, R.I., pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Providence, R.I., to interstate extortion in violation of the Hobbs Act. 

Gilberto Jordan, a former Guatemalan special forces soldier, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge William J. Zloch in the Southern District of Florida to 10 years in prison for unlawfully procuring his U.S. citizenship by lying about his participation in a 1982 massacre at a Guatemalan village known as Dos Erres.

The Justice Department today issued a report marking the 10th anniversary of the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA), showing that the law has had a positive impact on protecting the religious freedom of a wide range of faith groups, and had a particularly significant impact protecting the religious freedom of minorities.

'RLUIPA was a response by bipartisan members of Congress to what they saw as a threat to one of our most fundamental freedoms," said Assistant Attorney General Perez.

Jeffrey Lehrmann, a former New Orleans Police Department (NOPD) detective, was sentenced today to three years in prison for misprision of a felony in connection with the cover-up of two police-involved shootings on the Danziger Bridge in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina that left two civilians dead and four others seriously injured.

BP Products North America Inc. has agreed to pay a $15 million penalty to resolve federal Clean Air Act violations at its Texas City, Texas, petroleum refinery.

CSI Engineering and CSI Design Build, located in Beltsville, Md., and their president, Debdas Ghosal, have agreed to pay the United States $200,000 to settle claims that they used false statements to obtain contracts from several government agencies.

Seventy-three defendants, including a number of alleged members and associates of an Armenian-American organized crime enterprise, were charged in indictments unsealed today in five judicial districts with various health care fraud-related crimes involving more than $163 million in fraudulent billing.

A federal jury in Scranton, Pa., has convicted Brandon Piekarsky and Derrick Donchak, both of Shenandoah, Pa., of a hate crime arising out of the fatal beating of Luis Ramirez.

Vincent Johnson of Brick, N.J., who went by the internet pseudonym “Devilfish,” pleaded guilty in federal court in Trenton, N.J., to multiple charges related to a series of threatening communications he sent to employees of five civil rights organizations that work to improve opportunities for, and challenge discrimination against, Latinos in the United States.

Zachary Adam Chesser, 20, of Fairfax County, Va., pleaded guilty today before U.S. District Court Judge Liam O’Grady to a three-count criminal information that included charges of communicating threats against the writers of the South Park television show, soliciting violent jihadists to desensitize law enforcement, and attempting to provide material support to Al-Shabaab, a designated foreign terrorist organization.

A citizen of Uzbekistan residing in Mission, Kan., pleaded guilty late yesterday to charges for his role as the leader of a criminal enterprise that engaged in forced labor, fraud in foreign labor contracting, visa fraud, mail fraud, identity theft, tax evasion and money laundering.

In response to a motion by the U.S. Department of Justice, the U.S. District Court in New Orleans has ordered the establishment of a security zone extending 750 feet in all directions from the mobile offshore drilling unit Deepwater Horizon wreckage site and its debris field.

Attorney General Eric Holder recognizes 303 Department of Justice employees for their distinguished public service today at the 58th Annual Attorney General Awards Ceremony.

Leading up to next week’s election, the Department has devoted significant time and resources in recent months to enforce the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA) and the Military and Overseas Voter Empowerment (MOVE) Act of 2009, in order to ensure that all military and overseas voters can access their right to vote and have their votes counted in the upcoming election.

A Philadelphia man has pleaded guilty for his role in organizing and financing a network of high-tech, indoor marijuana grow facilities stretching from Florida to Connecticut.

Platinum One Contracting, located in Capitol Heights, Md., its president, Anthony Wright, and Capitol Contractors, also located in Capitol Heights, and its president, Vernon J. Smith III, have agreed to pay the United States $200,000 to settle claims that they used false statements to obtain contracts from the Department of Defense.

"Human trafficking is a grave affront to human rights and to our nation’s core values, and there can be no higher calling in our commitment to vindicating the individual rights of all people than eradicating this form of modern-day slavery," said Assistant Attorney General Perez.

David R. Lewalski, formerly of Gainesville, Fla., was arrested today in Manhattan on a wire fraud charge related to his alleged participation in a $30 million investment fraud scheme.

Steven W. Allen, a practicing attorney from Mesa, Ariz., and Allen Goodmansen, a certified public accountant, also from Mesa, were sentenced to prison for tax fraud by Phoenix federal district court Judge Roslyn O. Silver.

The Justice Department announced today that it has sued the owners and managers of Park Towers Apartments, a federally-subsidized apartment complex in Waterloo, Iowa, alleging a pattern or practice of sexual harassment in violation of the Fair Housing Act.

Gerald Diodati, 61, of Seekonk, Mass., pleaded guilty today before Chief U.S. District Judge Mary M. Lisi to one count of tax evasion.

CFP Group, located in McLean, Va., and its president, Roberto Clark, have agreed to pay the United States $150,000 to settle claims that they used false statements to obtain a contract from the Department of Veterans Affairs.

The Department of Justice, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the state of Rhode Island announced today that Bouchard Transportation Co. Inc. and its affiliates will pay more than $6 million to settle a portion of the federal and state natural resource damages claims for the April 2003 spill of up to 98,000 gallons of oil into Buzzards Bay.

Seizure orders have been executed against 82 domain names of commercial websites engaged in the illegal sale and distribution of counterfeit goods and copyrighted works as part of Operation In Our Sites v. 2.0, Attorney General Eric Holder and Director John Morton of the Department of Homeland Security’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced today.

Today, the Departments of Justice, Interior and Agriculture applauded the bipartisan House passage of the Claims Settlement Act.

"Attorney General Eric Holder, backed by this strong commitment from President Obama, has made Tribal justice and safety a top priority for the Justice Department," said Assistant Attorney General Perez.

A former officer with the New Orleans Police Department (NOPD), was sentenced today to eight years in prison for conspiracy to obstruct justice and for misprision of a felony (for concealing a known crime), in connection with a federal investigation of two police-involved shootings that left two civilians dead and four others seriously wounded in the area of the Danziger Bridge in the days after Hurricane Katrina.

David R. Lewalski, formerly of Gainesville, Fla., was indicted today on conspiracy, mail fraud and wire fraud charges in connection with his participation in an investment fraud scheme, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Robert E. O’Neill of the Middle District of Florida.

Wojciech J. Chodan, a former commercial vice president and consultant to a United Kingdom subsidiary of Kellogg, Brown & Root Inc. (KBR), pleaded guilty today to conspiring to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act for his participation in a decade-long scheme to bribe Nigerian government officials to obtain engineering, procurement and construction contracts.

Christian Fernando Borda and Alvaro Alvaran-Velez, two narcotics traffickers aligned with the Autodefenses Unidas de Colombia (AUC), were found guilty today in U.S. District Court of conspiring to import ton-quantities of cocaine into the United States.

Tanja Anamary Nijmeijer, a Dutch national who moved to Colombia and joined the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) in 2002, and 17 other members of the FARC designated foreign terrorist organization were indicted by a federal grand jury in Washington, D.C., today on seven counts of terrorism and weapons charges arising out of their participation in the hostage-taking of three American citizens in the Republic of Colombia.

Attorney General Holder announced today that the Justice Department has filed a civil lawsuit against nine defendants in the matter of the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill.

Irish pharmaceutical manufacturer Elan Corporation PLC and its U.S. subsidiary Elan Pharmaceuticals Inc. have agreed to pay more than $203 million to resolve criminal and civil liability arising from the illegal promotion of the epilepsy drug Zonegran

"While oil spill response efforts were underway, the Department of Justice launched both criminal and civil probes into this matter," said Attorney General Holder.

Madhatta Asagal Haipe, a citizen of the Philippines and founding member of Al-Harakat Al-Islamiyyah, also known as the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG), was sentenced today to 23 years in prison after earlier pleading guilty to four counts of hostage taking in the 1995 abduction of 16 people, including four U.S. citizens, in the Philippines.

"St. Laurent, 71, of Johnston, R.I., and her son Anthony St. Laurent Jr., 44, of Cranston, R.I., were sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Providence, R.I., for their participation in an interstate extortion scheme, in violation of the Hobbs Act, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division; U.S. Attorney Peter F. Neronha for the District of Rhode Island; and Richard DesLauriers, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Boston Field Office."

A comprehensive Clean Water Act settlement with the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District (NEORSD) will address the flow of untreated sewage into Cleveland area waterways and Lake Erie.

A former CIA officer was arrested today on charges that he illegally disclosed national defense information and obstructed justice.

Today’s tragedy in Arizona was a senseless act of violence that has already resulted in devastating loss, including the death of Chief United States District Court Judge John Roll and four other individuals and the wounding of Representative Gabrielle Giffords and a number of others.

"Here, in the church that Reverend King called his home, and in houses of worship across America – his spirit lives," said Attorney General Holder.

"Today, more than 800 federal, state and local law enforcement officials have arrested over 110 individuals, including dozens of La Cosa Nostra members and associates."