The United States filed a lawsuit today to bar Barbara L. Garrett, a Chicago tax return preparer, from preparing federal tax returns for others, the Justice Department announced.

Bill Melot, a farmer from Hobbs, N.M., was sentenced to serve 14 years in prison today to be followed by three years of supervised release for tax evasion, program fraud and other crimes, the Justice Department, Internal Revenue Service and U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Office of Inspector General announced.

The Department of Justice filed a civil lawsuit in the federal court in Delaware today to enjoin Carmen J. Martinez and her business, CJM Bookkeeping and Taxes LLC, from preparing federal tax returns.

The United States has asked a federal court in Salt Lake City to bar Rulon Sandoval, Andrea R. Acosta Hernandez and Latinos Office LLC from preparing tax returns for others, the Justice Department announced today.

A former Bank of America executive pleaded guilty today for his participation in a conspiracy and scheme to defraud related to bidding for contracts for the investment of municipal bond proceeds and other municipal finance contracts.

Asem Elgawhary, the former principal vice president of Bechtel Corporation and general manager of the Power Generation Engineering and Services Company (PGESCo), was indicted by a grand jury in Maryland today on charges that he defrauded his former employers, laundered the proceeds of the fraudulent scheme and violated federal tax laws.

Today, the Justice Department announced the results of its ongoing efforts to combat fraudulent tax-return preparers and promoters of tax-fraud schemes.

More than 30 tribal leaders, juvenile court judges, child advocates, juvenile justice system experts and community members from the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community testified today in the second public hearing of the Advisory Committee of the Attorney General’s Task Force on American Indian and Alaska Native Children Exposed to Violence.

Today, the Justice Department announced that Andre James Hertzog, 29, was sentenced to serve 10 years in prison and eight years of supervised release for participating in a sex trafficking conspiracy. Nicole Bramer, 29, was sentenced to serve 21 months in prison, to be followed by five years of supervised release.

Let us reaffirm our commitment to the safety and health of tribal communities. And let us rededicate ourselves to giving native children a future unclouded by violence and brightened by hope. This is the responsibility of every one of us.

Abdelhamid M. Horany, 58, of Denver, pleaded guilty today before U.S. District Judge R. Brooke Jackson in federal court in Denver to one count of tax evasion related to his 2007 individual income taxes, announced the Justice Department and the Internal Revenue Service.

Bridgestone Corp., a Tokyo, Japan-based company, has agreed to plead guilty and to pay a $425 million criminal fine for its role in a conspiracy to fix prices of automotive anti-vibration rubber parts installed in cars sold in the United States and elsewhere.

The heads of the antitrust agencies of the United States, Canada and Mexico – Assistant Attorney General Bill Baer of the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division, Chairwoman Edith Ramirez of the Federal Trade Commission, Canadian Commissioner of Competition John Pecman and President Alejandra Palacios Prieto of the Mexican Federal Competition Commission – met today in Washington, D.C., to discuss their mutual efforts to ensure continued effective antitrust enforcement cooperation in our increasingly interconnected markets.

A member of the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas gang (ABT) has pleaded guilty to racketeering charges related to his membership in the ABT’s criminal enterprise.

Monajem Hakimijoo, of Beverly Hills, Calif., pleaded guilty on Feb. 13, 2014, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California to filing a false federal income tax return for tax year 2007, the Justice Department and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced today.

Irene Tamika Smith, a former professional tax-return preparer, was sentenced yesterday to serve 33 months in prison for conspiring with her co-workers to defraud the United States by filing false tax returns in order to receive fraudulently-inflated refunds for clients.

The former chief executive officer of PetroTiger Ltd., a British Virgin Islands oil and gas company with operations in Colombia and offices in New Jersey, pleaded guilty today for his role in a scheme to pay bribes to foreign government officials and to defraud PetroTiger.

Bashar Saroki, a resident of Southfield, Mich., was sentenced today in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan to serve 30 months in prison to be followed by one year of supervised release, the Justice Department and the Internal Revenue Service announced.

A former executive of Japan-based Denso Corp. has agreed to plead guilty to obstruction of justice charges in connection with the Antitrust Division’s investigation into a conspiracy to fix the prices of heater control panels installed in cars sold in the United States and elsewhere.

LaQuanta Clayton, a resident of Montgomery County, Ala., and a former bank teller employed by the Community Bank and Trust, was sentenced on Feb. 19, 2014, to serve 21 months in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release for participating in a fraudulent tax refund scheme.

The Department of Justice filed a civil lawsuit today in the federal court in Nashville, Tenn., to stop Gilberto Cortes and his business, Mundo Hispano Services, from preparing federal tax returns.

Brice Johnson, 19, of Springtown, Texas, has been charged with willfully causing bodily injury to a person because of the actual or perceived sexual orientation of that person in a federal criminal complaint, the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Texas and the FBI Dallas Division announced.

The United States filed a lawsuit today to bar Margaret Brown, a Detroit tax return preparer, from preparing federal tax returns for others, the Justice Department announced.

An alleged general of the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas gang (ABT) and a fellow gang member pleaded guilty today to racketeering charges related to their membership in the ABT’s criminal enterprise, announced Acting Assistant Attorney General Mythili Raman of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Kenneth Magidson of the Southern District of Texas.

The government has asked a federal court in California to issue an injunction shutting down the importation and sales activities of four California companies and six individuals in connection with their imports of illegal children’s products containing, among other things, lead, phthalates and small parts inappropriate for children under age three.

Today, the Justice Department announced the results of its ongoing efforts to combat tax refund fraud that involves identity theft. The Tax Division, in conjunction with the Internal Revenue Service and U.S. Attorneys’ Offices nationwide, has prioritized the investigation and prosecution of individuals who engage in stolen identity refund fraud.

The Justice Department announced today that a federal district court judge in Jackson, Miss., approved a settlement of the department’s lawsuit against the original owners and developers of nine multifamily housing complexes located in Mississippi, Louisiana and Tennessee.

Michael Edwards was sentenced today to serve two concurrent sentences of 36 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release, and ordered to pay restitution of $573,518 to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the Justice Department and IRS announced.

Today, a federal jury in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma in Muskogee, Okla., convicted Raymond A. Barnes, 43, and Christopher A. Brown, 32, the former jail superintendent and assistant jail superintendent, respectively, of the Muskogee County Jail on multiple counts of civil rights offenses related to allegations of excessive force on inmates at MCJ on or between August 2009 and May 2011.

Aaron H. Kelly, a United States Postal Service employee, was indicted yesterday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland for four counts of mail fraud, two counts of bank fraud, one count of corruptly endeavoring to obstruct and impede the Internal Revenue Service and two counts of aiding and assisting in the preparation of false tax returns, the Justice Department and IRS announced today following the unsealing of the indictment.

The United States has asked a federal court in McAllen, Texas, to permanently bar Melissa Alvarez and her companies, Best & Unique Income Services, Best & Unique Income Tax Melissa and Best & Unique Income Tax Services LLC, from preparing federal tax returns for others, the Justice Department announced today.

Compañía Sud Americana de Vapores S.A. (CSAV), a Chilean corporation, has agreed to plead guilty and to pay an $8.9 million criminal fine for its involvement in a conspiracy to fix prices, allocate customers and rig bids of international ocean shipping services for roll-on, roll-off cargo, such as cars and trucks, to and from the United States and elsewhere, the Department of Justice announced today.

Tracy Mitchell, a resident of Phenix City, Ala., was indicted for her involvement in a stolen identity refund fraud scheme, 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 announced today following the unsealing of the indictment.

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

A federal grand jury in Boston has indicted George Fenzell for tax evasion and corruptly endeavoring to obstruct the Internal Revenue Service, the Justice Department and the IRS announced today following the unsealing of the indictment.

The United States has asked a federal court in Dallas, Texas, to permanently bar Ricia Daniels and her company, Ricia’s Convenience Tax Service, from preparing federal tax returns for others, the Justice Department announced today.

The United States filed a complaint seeking to bar Kavivah Branson, aka Kavivah Bradley, and her Jackson, Miss., business, Branson Tax Service, from preparing federal tax returns for others, the Justice Department announced today.

The Department of Justice announced today that a federal criminal complaint has been filed in the Eastern District of Virginia charging defendants Abdelkader and Hnia Amal with immigration offenses in connection with allegations that they held a woman in their home as a domestic servant for three years.

Ranti Azeez-Taiwo of Staten Island, N.Y., was sentenced to serve 18 months in prison to be followed by one year of supervised release, the Justice Department and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced today.

Hector Orjuela Jr., 47, was sentenced today to serve 30 years in prison, followed by a lifetime of supervised release, for molesting children under the age of 12 and producing child pornography.

Acting Assistant Attorney General Jocelyn Samuels of the Civil Rights Division and U.S. Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz of the District of Massachusetts announced today that they have entered into a consent decree with HRB Digital LLC and HRB Tax Group Inc., subsidiaries of H&R Block Inc., to remedy alleged violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Sea Star Line LLC and Horizon Lines LLC have agreed to resolve allegations that they violated the False Claims Act by fixing the price of government cargo transportation contracts between the continental United States and Puerto Rico.

The United States filed a civil complaint asking a federal court in Fresno, Calif., to enjoin Ken Mendoza and Alice Mendoza from preparing federal tax returns for others, the Justice Department announced today.

On Feb. 26, 2014, a federal grand jury sitting in the District of Columbia returned a 17 count indictment charging Sherri Davis for conspiring to defraud the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), aiding and assisting in the preparation of false individual income tax returns and filing false individual income tax returns, the Justice Department and IRS announced following the unsealing of Davis’ indictment today.

Calling the rise in overdose deaths from heroin and other prescription pain-killers an “urgent public health crisis,” Attorney General Eric Holder vowed Monday that the Justice Department would combat the epidemic through a mix of enforcement and treatment efforts. As an added step, the Attorney General is also encouraging law enforcement agencies to train and equip their personnel with the life-saving, overdose-reversal drug known as naloxone.

The United States has sued The Tax Helper Corp, a tax preparation business with a store located in Chicago, and seeks to permanently bar the company and its alleged co-owner, Johnnie Pernell Jr., from preparing federal tax returns for others, the Justice Department announced today.

Lanny Harris, a former sergeant at Roxbury Correctional Institution (RCI) in Hagerstown, Md., and Philip Mayo, a former correctional officer at RCI, were sentenced today for conspiring with other RCI officers on March 8-9, 2008, to assault an inmate at the prison, identified as K.D.

Richard Castle, 47, a resident of the United Kingdom, has been sentenced to serve 192 months in prison in connection with a trip he made to Ohio from his home in the United Kingdom to have illicit sexual activity with a minor in June 2011.

Andreas Bachmann, 56, of Switzerland, pleaded guilty today to conspiring to defraud the Internal Revenue Service in connection with his work as a banking and investment adviser for U.S. customers.

Today, the Justice Department sought a federal court order temporarily restraining the Ohio Department of Youth Services (DYS) from unlawfully secluding boys with mental health needs in its juvenile correctional facilities.