The city of Duluth, Minn., and the Western Lake Superior Sanitary District have agreed to make improvements to the area’s sewer system, estimated to cost about $130 million, to eliminate sanitary sewer overflows in an agreement filed today in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis, Minn.

A Tampa federal grand jury has charged a Florida man with criminal contempt of a federal court order in connection with the operation of a fraudulent vending machine business opportunity. The criminal charges form part of the government’s continued nationwide crackdown on business opportunity fraud.

Paul Tillis, a former Florida Department of Corrections officer, was sentenced today in federal court in Jacksonville, Fla., on a federal civil rights charge related to assaulting an inmate.

Michael Bullard and Richard Armstrong were convicted yesterday by a jury in Boise, Idaho, on federal hate crime and conspiracy charges in connection with the racially-motivated assault of an African American man outside of a Wal-Mart store in July 2008.

A federal jury in Orlando, Fla, found Erin Sharma, a Bureau of Prisons corrections officer, guilty today on felony federal civil rights charges related to a fatal assault on an inmate in March 2005.

The United States has filed a False Claims Act lawsuit against First Choice Armor & Equipment Inc. and its founder, Edward Dovner, for submitting false claims for bullet-proof vests purchased by the United States for federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies.

Paul Revere Transportation LLC, a bus company based in Boston, has agreed to pay a $650,000 civil penalty after being found liable by a jury in June for violating federal and state clean air laws for idling their buses for extended periods of time. The company was found liable on June 8, 2009, after a six-day trial in U.S. District Court in Boston, for 234 separate violations of the Clean Air Act and a Massachusetts anti-idling regulation.

A federal jury in San Juan, Puerto Rico, found four San Juan Municipal Police Officers guilty today of felony federal civil rights charges related to the fatal beating of Jose Antonio Rivera Robles.

Bill Melot, a resident of Hobbs, N.M., appeared in federal court today before Magistrate Karen B. Molzen in Las Cruces, N.M., on tax and false statement charges. Melot, a farmer who owns approximately 250 acres in Lea County, N.M., was charged with tax evasion, failing to file tax returns, corruptly impeding the IRS, and making false statements to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Two manufacturing companies, in separate settlements, have agreed to pay civil penalties and take corrective measures to settle Clean Air Act violations resulting from explosions at two plants in 2002 and 2003 in Louisville, Ky., and Pascagoula, Miss.

Detroit area physical therapist Jay Jha, 45, pleaded guilty today to participating in a conspiracy to defraud the Medicare program of approximately $18.3 million.

Tax preparer Lawrence Sperling, was sentenced to 33 months in prison today by Judge Deborah Chasanow in Greenbelt, Md., for preparing false tax returns for clients. In April 2009, Sperling pleaded guilty to one count of aiding and assisting in the preparation and presentation of a false tax return.

The Department announced that four men who committed three hate crime assaults in response to President Barack Obama’s election victory were sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Carol B. Amon in federal court in Brooklyn, N.Y.

Sexual violence is not just an issue for the victim, or his or her family. We believe the community must be involved in addressing the needs of survivors and holding offenders accountable.

"The work we have begun in the administration has already made a difference. What we are looking for are the short- and long-term solutions that combine the lessons learned from the past with the resources have, and will continue to fight for, in the future."

Four owners of Costa Rica-based telemarketing call centers, an employee and a Texas-based list broker have been sentenced for their roles in defrauding thousands of U.S. victims of more than $20 million through a phony sweepstakes scheme.

Najibullah Zazi has been indicted on a charge of conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction (explosive bombs) against persons or property in the United States.

James Wilbur Fondren Jr., was convicted by a federal jury today on charges involving providing classified information to a man working with the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and lying to the FBI about it.

A Florida doctor was charged today by a federal grand jury in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., with allegedly orchestrating a fraudulent political fund raising and lobbying scheme through which he secretly diverted to himself more than $350,000 from contributions to political organizations he controlled.

Mosaic Fertilizer will spend approximately $30 million on air pollution controls that are expected to eliminate harmful emissions from its sulfuric acid production plant in Uncle Sam, La.

A federal district court in Richmond, Va., ruled yesterday that Virginia violated the voting rights of American military personnel and other overseas citizens by failing to mail absentee ballots in sufficient time for them to be counted in the Nov. 4, 2008, general election.

The United States alleges that the state of New York has failed to house thousands of individuals with mental illness who currently reside in large, institutional “adult homes” in the most integrated setting, in violation of Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act.

Erin Sharma, a former corrections officer with the Federal Bureau of Prisons, was sentenced today in federal court in Orlando, Fla., on federal civil rights charges related to the fatal assault of an inmate.

The federal suits – filed in Los Angeles; Panama City, Fla.; Salt Lake City; Nashville, Tenn.; and Pocatello, Idaho – allege that the defendants promote a tax fraud scheme designed to siphon hundreds of millions of dollars from the U.S. Treasury through fraudulent tax refund claims.

A Mobile, Ala., grand jury has indicted a waste disposal company, its president and top manager for offenses involving the illegal disposal of waste into the sewage treatment systems of Mobile and of neighboring municipalities.

John A. Campbell, a resident of Portage, Mich., was sentenced to 60 months in prison today by the Honorable Janet T. Neff of the U.S. District Court in the Western District of Michigan for conspiring to defraud the United States.

Michael Kennedy was charged with one count of conspiring with others to violate the federal civil rights of inmate Richard Delano and one count of violating Delano’s civil rights by arranging for another inmate to assault Delano.

Michael Bullard, Richard Armstrong and James Whitewater were sentenced today in federal court in Boise, Idaho, for hate crime and conspiracy charges in connection with the racially-motivated assault of an African-American man outside of a Wal-Mart store in July 2008

Under the settlement, which must still be approved by the court, 11 defendants will pay all costs related to making the complexes for which they were responsible accessible to persons with disabilities.

A former consultant for Willbros International Inc. (WII), a subsidiary of Houston-based Willbros Group Inc. (Willbros), pleaded guilty today to engaging in a conspiracy to pay more than $6 million in bribes to government officials of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and officials from a Nigerian political party.

The all-day workshops, which will begin in March 2010, will be held in Alabama, Colorado, Iowa, Washington, D.C. and Wisconsin.

Four individuals were sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Marianne O. Battani in federal court in Detroit for their roles in a wide-ranging international stock fraud scheme involving the illegal use of bulk commercial e-mails, or "spamming."

Six individuals were sentenced today in federal court in Detroit for their roles in a wide-ranging international stock fraud scheme involving the illegal use of bulk commercial e-mails, or "spamming."

A federal grand jury in Greensboro, N.C., returned an indictment today charging a poultry processor and a plant manager with multiple violations of the Clean Water Act for illegally discharging wastewater from its Raeford, N.C., based facility

The United States has reached a $6.75 million settlement with Itochu Corp. of Japan and its American subsidiary, Itochu International Inc., to resolve claims under the False Claims Act in connection with the companies’ importation and sale of defective Zylon fiber used as the key ballistic material in bullet-proof vests purchased by the United States for federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies.

As a result of the largest environmental bankruptcy in U.S. history, $1.79 billion has been paid to fund environmental cleanup and restoration under a bankruptcy reorganization of American Smelting and Refining Company LLC (ASARCO).

Detroit-area residents Baskaran Thangarasan, Sandeep Aggarwal and Wayne Smith pleaded guilty this week for their roles in connection with several Detroit-area health care fraud schemes.

Elias Perocier Morales received a sentence of 10 years in prison and Eliezer Rivera Gonzalez received a sentence of six and a half years in prison.

"Anyone we find responsible for this alleged attack will be brought to justice using every tool -- military or judicial -- available to our government.”

The United States this week filed five civil injunction lawsuits in Detroit, Cincinnati and Chicago against several individuals and their tax preparation services.

Justin Cannon, 27, of Corpus Christi, Texas, and Christopher Drotleff, 29, of Virginia Beach, Va., have been charged with crimes including second-degree murder, attempted murder and firearms offenses while working as contractors for the U.S. Department of Defense in Afghanistan. Cannon and Drotleff were charged under the Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act (MEJA).

General Re has admitted that its most senior management engaged in a scheme to falsely inflate AIG’s reported loss reserves, a key indicator of financial health to insurance industry analysts and investors.

“There is nothing more basic, or more important, to our work than keeping our law enforcement officers safe,” Attorney General Holder said.

The owner and operator of a Los Angeles durable medical equipment (DME) company pleaded guilty today to submitting nearly $1 million in false claims to Medicare.

Phillip Windom Offill Jr., 51, of Dallas, was indicted on March 12, 2009, and today was found guilty of one count of conspiracy to commit registration violations, securities fraud and nine counts of wire fraud.

“Today’s extradition brings a criminal to justice and paves the way forward in our law enforcement partnership with El Salvador,” said Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division.

Attorney General Eric Holder sent a letter today to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell regarding the detention and interrogation of Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab.

Lincoln Fabrics Ltd., a Canadian weaver of ballistic fabrics, and its American subsidiary, have agreed to pay the United States $4 million to settle the United States’ lawsuit against Lincoln for violations of the False Claims Act in connection with their role in the weaving of Zylon fabric used in the manufacture and sale of defective Zylon bullet-proof vests.

The Justice Department’s plan identifies the steps it will take to develop a comprehensive consultation and coordination policy with tribal nations, after robust tribal input.

Willoughby Farr, 46, of West Palm Beach, Fla., has been charged with perpetrating what is known as a cramming scheme, which was designed to place charges on consumers’ telephone bills for collect calls that were not made, the Justice Department and the U.S. Postal Inspector’s Miami Field Office announced today.