Howard William Ledford of Hayesville, N.C., was sentenced today in federal court in the Western District of North Carolina to serve one year in prison for illegally selling and transporting wild American ginseng into Georgia.

John D. Stacey of Mesa, Ariz., was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Neil V. Wake to 77 months in prison and ordered to pay $1.5 million dollars in restitution on Jan. 7, 2010.

The national coordinator is charged with formulating and implementing a national strategy to combat child exploitation, and with submitting the strategy and relevant reports to Congress.

Bradley C. Brennecke, a resident of Pleasant Plain, Ohio, and Bruce A. Mrusek, a resident of Maineville, Ohio, pleaded guilty late Tuesday to conspiracy and tax evasion charges before District Court Judge Michael R. Barrett in Cincinnati.

Anthony Mowl, the former assistant vice president of business development for Viable Communications Inc. (Viable), and Donald Tropp, the former human resources manager for Viable, pleaded guilty today to engaging in a conspiracy to defraud the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) Video Relay Service (VRS) program of more than $2.5 million, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division.

The jury returned guilty verdicts on all four counts of the indictment that charged Michael Anthony Higgins with violating federal law by willfully stealing money from motorists that he had stopped on the highway while working as a trooper.

The United States has asked a federal court in Dublin, Ga., to permanently bar James J. King from preparing federal income tax returns for others.

The 16 indictments unsealed today represent the largest single investigation and prosecution against individuals in the history of DOJ’s enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

As a part of the tax conspiracy, Ronald Boyarsky assisted in paying approximately $2.6 million in commissions earned by a printing services broker to third parties, so that the broker and his companies could avoid paying taxes on the income they earned.

Dallas S. Hale of Reston, Va., pleaded guilty today to willful failure to file a tax return.

The Department will monitor the Jan. 23, 2010, special municipal election in the city of Hondo, Texas, to ensure compliance with the anti-discrimination and minority language requirements of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Westar Energy has agreed to spend approximately $500 million to significantly reduce harmful air pollution from a Kansas power plant and pay a $3 million civil penalty, under a settlement to resolve violations of the Clean Air Act.

Haroon Amin of Upland, Calif., pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud the United States.

Six members of a racketeering enterprise, called La Mara Salvatrucha, or MS-13, were convicted today by a jury in U.S. District Court in Charlotte, N.C., of criminal charges that include racketeering, murder, attempted murder, assault, cocaine trafficking and numerous related federal firearms offenses

Dov Shellef, a businessman from Great Neck, N.Y., was convicted today on 86 counts, following a five-week jury trial, for conspiring to defraud the Internal Revenue Service in the collection of approximately $1.9 million in excise taxes due on sales of the ozone-depleting greenhouse gas known as CFC-113.

A federal court has issued a permanent injunction barring Karen Liane Miller of Nashville, Tenn., from preparing federal income tax returns for others.

Economy Cash & Carry Inc., pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in El Paso, Texas, to a criminal violation of the Plant Protection Act related to the falsification of a required certificate stamp.

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.

Two former executives of Willbros International Inc. (WII), a subsidiary of Houston-based Willbros Group Inc. (Willbros), were sentenced today for their roles 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.

“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.

New agreements regarding extradition and mutual legal assistance between the European Union (EU) and the United States enter into force today.

Six alleged members or associates of the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas (ABT) have been indicted and arrested for their alleged roles in the 2007 murder of two people in Nacogdoches County, Texas.

Isidro Hinojosa Benavides, 77, a U.S. citizen extradited from Argentina, pleaded guilty today to engaging in illicit sexual conduct in foreign places.

A federal jury has convicted an Arlington, Texas, husband and wife, Emmanuel and Ngozi Nnaji, of engaging in a nine-year scheme to compel the labor of a Nigerian victim as their domestic servant.

Thomas S. Pendleton, 66, was sentenced today by Chief U.S. District Judge Gregory M. Sleet in Wilmington, Del., to the statutory maximum of 30 years in prison and a lifetime of supervised release for traveling to Germany to have sex with a minor.

Yi-Lan Chen, aka "Kevin Chen," 40, a Taiwan passport holder, was arrested on Feb. 3, 2010, on charges of illegally exporting commodities for Iran’s missile program.

Benjamin Rowner and Jay H. Soled, former owners of DeltaNet Inc., were also each sentenced to pay $271,716 in restitution, jointly and severally, to the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC).

Balli Aviation Ltd., a subsidiary of the United Kingdom-based Balli Group PLC, pleaded guilty today in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to a two-count criminal information in connection with its illegal export of commercial Boeing 747 aircraft from the United States to Iran.

Ather Ali of Diamond Bar, Calif., pleaded guilty today to conspiracy to defraud the United States.

"Let me be clear, we enhance public safety by incarcerating those who harm our neighbors and our communities. This is a fact. But in our work to protect the American people, incarceration cannot be our only law enforcement strategy," said Attorney General Holder.

Parker ITR S.r.l. has agreed to plead guilty and to pay a $2.29 million criminal fine for participating in a conspiracy to rig bids, fix prices and allocate market shares of marine hose.

Irma Azrelyant and Joshua Finkle, the former co-owners of New York and New Jersey-based Deaf and Hard of Hearing Interpreting Services Inc. (DHIS), pleaded guilty today to engaging in a conspiracy to defraud the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) Video Relay Service (VRS) program of more than $7 million.

An allegedly high-ranking leader of one of Mexico’s largest drug cartels, whose father allegedly heads a faction of the Sinaloa Cartel and is among Mexico’s most powerful drug kingpins, was extradited today from Mexico to face federal narcotics trafficking conspiracy charges in the United States.

The investigation into the 2001 anthrax attacks, which killed five individuals and sickened 17 others, has formally concluded.

The combined $2.13 million settlement represents the second largest monetary payment ever obtained by the department in a fair housing case alleging housing discrimination in the rental of apartments.

Among other things, Zazi admitted that he brought TATP [Triacetone Triperoxide] explosives to New York on Sept. 10, 2009, as part of plan to attack the New York subway system.

The United States has asked a federal court to stop two Miami-based tax return preparers from improperly claiming the First-Time Home Buyer Credit.

The goals of the workshops are to promote dialogue among interested parties and foster learning with respect to the appropriate legal and economic analyses of these issues, as well as to listen to and learn from parties with experience in the agriculture sector.

A federal judge in Beaumont, Texas, has permanently barred 12 people from promoting an alleged tax fraud scheme involving bogus income tax credits.

Mack Gordon Harris Sr., 67, was sentenced today to 121 months in prison for transporting a minor for illegal sexual activity.

The Department announced a settlement of its lawsuit alleging that the owners and developers involved in the design and construction of 21 multifamily housing complexes in Tennessee discriminated on the basis of disability.

The leader of the Almighty Latin King and Queen Nation (ALKQN) in Texas and one of his enforcers were found guilty this afternoon on multiple charges related to their participation in a large scale narcotics and firearms trafficking conspiracy.

The Department will monitor primary elections on March 2, 2010, in Fort Bend, Galveston, Gonzales, Williamson, and Wilson Counties in Texas, to ensure compliance with the minority language requirements of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and other federal voting rights statutes.

Fe S. Garrett, a resident of National City, Calif., was sentenced today to 65 months in prison and ordered to pay $377,468 in restitution by U.S. Judge M. James Lorenz in San Diego.

Two former executives of Medical Manager Health Systems Inc., a subsidiary of WebMD Corporation from 2000 to 2005, were convicted today by a federal jury in Charleston, S.C., with participating in a conspiracy to fraudulently inflate the reported earnings of Medical Manager by more than $16.8 million between 1997 and 2003.

Donald Mathias was also sentenced to serve five years of supervised release following his prison term and to pay $200,000 in restitution to his victims.

The Department filed a lawsuit against the owner and property manager of a 48-unit apartment complex in Ann Arbor, Mich., alleging that the defendants discriminated on the basis of race or color in the rental of apartments.

The United States has asked a federal court in Columbia, S.C., to permanently bar Dorothy Anderson, d/b/a DL Anderson Tax Service, from preparing federal income tax returns for others.

The Department announced a new internship program that will employ students part-time to conduct intensive outreach efforts with Native Americans and their families whose work in the uranium industry during the Cold War benefitted the United States but exposed them to radiation and may entitle them to compensation under the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA).

A federal court in Los Angeles has permanently barred Nyla McIntyre of Covina, Calif. and her business, Approved Financial Services, Inc., from preparing tax returns for others.