"Whether it’s an 18-year-old who wants to be the first person in his family to attend college and become a teacher, or a 32-year-old single mother taking evening courses in nursing, or a tribal elder who enjoys participating in courses on tribal history and language, the threads that weave your colleges together with your communities are especially strong and resilient."

Henry Clay Glaspell, of Arlington, Texas, pleaded guilty today to a hate crime charge stemming from the ethnically-motivated arson of a children’s playground at the Dar El-Eman Islamic Center in Arlington in July 2010.

A former resident of Cincinnati was sentenced to 30 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Sandra S. Beckwith for aiding and assisting in the preparation of false client tax returns and for filing a false individual income return.

A superseding indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Nashville, Tenn., was unsealed today, charging six alleged members of the violent gang known as the Bloods with various racketeering and murder charges.

Zachary Adam Chesser, 21, of Fairfax County, Va., was sentenced today to 25 years in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for 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.

Ruben Reyes, a South Florida resident, pleaded guilty today to one count of filing a false tax return.

Four individuals have been sentenced this week in Atlanta by U.S. District Judge William S. Duffey Jr., for their involvement in a counterfeit DVD and CD ring.

Ugochukwu Enwerem, aka Joseph Smith, was sentenced yesterday in U.S. District Court in Charlotte, N.C., to 108 months in prison for his role in an advance-fee fraud scheme.

Patrick Carney of Manchester, N.H., was sentenced today in the Western District of Pennsylvania to 15 years in prison and a lifetime of supervised release for engaging in a child exploitation enterprise.

As part of continued efforts to close the chapter on allegations that discrimination occurred at U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) in past decades.

David L. Place, owner of Manor House Antiques Cooperative in Nantucket, Mass., was sentenced to 33 months in prison for illegally importing and trafficking in Narwhal tusks and Sperm Whale teeth.

Four alleged members and associates of the New England La Cosa Nostra (LCN), including an alleged former boss, were charged with crimes involving racketeering, extortion and related crimes in a superseding indictment unsealed today in Providence, R.I.

Jeffery Leon Ceaser, a resident of Montgomery County, Ala., was sentenced today to 36 months in prison.

David Chiaradio of Westerly, R.I., was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Providence, R.I., to 97 months in prison and a lifetime of supervised release for distribution and possession of child pornography.

Andrew Warren, 43, a former official with the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), was sentenced today to 65 months in prison on charges of abusive sexual contact and unlawful use of cocaine while possessing a firearm.

An owner and a physician associated with a Detroit-area infusion therapy clinic were sentenced to 120 months and 97 months in prison, respectively, for their leading roles in a $2.3 million Medicare fraud scheme.

Seven MS-13 members and leaders of La Mara Salvatrucha, or MS-13, have been sentenced to prison this week, after being convicted or pleading guilty to criminal charges that include racketeering, murder, attempted murder, assault, cocaine trafficking and numerous related federal firearms offenses.

"I believe that this is a time of extraordinary opportunity – the opportunity to be more creative and innovative; to transform systems in need of reform; to harness 21st-century technologies; to incorporate research and science into our decision-making processes; to break down long-standing barriers to communication and cost-sharing; to forge and strengthen partnerships across, and beyond, government; and, even as we’re called on to do more with less, to do better for the most vulnerable citizens we serve."

American Education and Travel Services Inc. (AETS) in Antioch, Calif., has agreed to pay $10,000 in back pay and compensatory damages to a lawful permanent resident who was denied a residential counselor position because he was not a U.S. citizen or native English speaker.

Thirty-five members and associates of the Barrio Azteca (BA) gang have been charged in a third superseding indictment unsealed today with various counts of racketeering, murder, drug offenses, money laundering and obstruction of justice, announced Attorney General Eric Holder.

An Ohio man was sentenced to 51 months in prison for setting fire to the First Azusa Apostolic Faith Church of God in Conneaut, Ohio.

Ora Mae Adamson, a resident of Montgomery County, Ala., was sentenced to 46 months in prison.

Richard A. Murdoch of Florida was sentenced today to 30 months in prison for immigration fraud and tax evasion charges related to his role in a scheme to fraudulently procure visas from the U.S. Embassy in London through a Florida property development company called Royal Development.

The government’s lawsuit, filed on Oct. 15, 2009, alleged that former property manager Ann Wagner and former maintenance supervisor Corey Anderson created a racially hostile housing environment for one African-American family and two white families who associated with the African-American family while they were tenants at Lakeport Village.

Jeffrey Tesler, a former consultant to Kellogg, Brown & Root Inc. (KBR) and its joint venture partners, pleaded guilty today in Houston to conspiring to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and to violating the FCPA for his participation in a decade-long scheme to bribe Nigerian government officials to obtain engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contracts.

Former Senior U.S. District Court Judge Jack T. Camp Jr., was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Atlanta to one month in prison for unlawful possession of controlled substances charges and unlawful conversion of government property.

Helen Etinfoh, the former owner and operator of a Houston durable medical equipment (DME) company was sentenced today to 41 months in prison in connection with a $3 million power wheelchair fraud scheme.

The U.S. Department of Justice, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the state of West Virginia announced today that Consol Energy Inc., the largest producer of coal from underground mines in the United States, has agreed to pay a $5.5 million civil penalty for Clean Water Act violations at six of its mines in West Virginia.

"Sunshine Week is an important week for those of us who believe that government works best when the country knows what its government is doing. It is an opportunity to thank the many people inside and outside of government who have gotten us here, think about where we have to go next, and recommit ourselves to the goal of ensuring that government is open and transparent."

Daniel Cox of Houston was sentenced today in the Western District of Pennsylvania to 84 months in prison and lifetime supervised release for conspiracy to distribute and receive child pornography.

The two leaders of a Colorado-based scheme that defrauded more than 400 consumers throughout the country of $5 million were sentenced to prison.

Teresa Kelly, a former operations supervisor in Colonial Bank’s Mortgage Warehouse Lending Division, pleaded guilty today to conspiring to commit bank, wire and securities fraud for her role in a fraud scheme that contributed to the failures of Colonial Bank and Taylor, Bean & Whitaker.

U.S. District Judge Roger W. Titus sentenced Irvin Hannis Catlett Jr., 64, of Crownsville, Md., today to 210 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release for tax offenses in connection with a scheme to prepare individual income tax returns for clients, which reported bogus tax losses from a purported car leasing company.

Murphy Hubbard, a Springfield, Mo., CPA, pleaded guilty to two counts of mail fraud and one count of tax evasion before Judge James England in the Western District of Missouri.

Occidental Petroleum Corporation, Occidental Oil and Gas Corporation, and OXY USA Inc. have agreed to pay the United States $2.05 million plus interest to resolve claims that the companies violated the False Claims Act by knowingly underpaying royalties owed on natural gas produced from federal leases.

Amador Cortes-Meza, 36, of Tlaxcala, Mexico, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Richard W. Story to serve 40 years in federal prison followed by five years of supervised release on charges of sex trafficking of minors; sex trafficking by force, fraud and coercion; transporting minors for the purpose of prostitution; smuggling aliens into the United States for purposes of prostitution; and conspiracy to do the same.

"For more than a quarter of a century, including eight years as Director, his service to the Bureau of Prisons has helped improve public safety, strengthen our corrections systems, and advance the Justice Department’s most critical goals."

A Miami-area doctor, Fred Dweck, was sentenced to 24 months in prison today for his role in a wide-ranging Medicare fraud scheme involving several Miami-area home health agencies.

Charles Douglas Johnson, 47, of Garden Valley, Calif., was sentenced today to 10 years and one month in prison for receiving child pornography.

A federal court has permanently barred Gerald A. Poynter II of Kansas City, Mo., from preparing federal tax returns for others and from promoting a fraudulent tax scam.

Paul Schwartz, 49, of Lathrop, Calif., was sentenced today to seven years in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to distribute and receive child pornography.

A Joint statement on behalf of the United States and the European Union:

Brandon Miller, 23, of Omaha, Neb., was sentenced today to 102 months in prison and a lifetime of supervised release after pleading guilty to engaging in a child exploitation enterprise.

A Food and Drug Administration (FDA) chemist and his son were arrested in Maryland today in connection with an alleged $2.27 million insider trading scheme.

Chairman Wolf, Ranking Member Fattah and distinguished Members of the Subcommittee, I’m very pleased to be here to discuss the President’s 2012 budget request for the Office of Justice Programs.

Two alleged members and associates of the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas (ABT) were arraigned today on charges related to their alleged roles in the 2009 shooting of a man in Jefferson County, Texas.

"Our goal with this investigation – as with all of our police pattern and practice investigations – is simple: to ensure that the community has an effective, accountable police department that controls crime, ensures respect for the Constitution, and earns the trust of the public it is charged with protecting."

The founder and treasurer of the National Association of Special Police and Security Officers (NASPSO) was charged today in a superseding indictment with mail fraud, theft from a labor organization, obstruction of justice, criminal contempt and various recordkeeping offenses related to his operation of a pension plan for NASPSO members.

Rex Healthcare, a 655-bed hospital in Raleigh, N.C., has agreed to pay the United States $1.9 million, plus interest, to settle allegations that it submitted false claims to Medicare.

Verizon Communications Inc. has paid the United States $93,525,410.96 in order to resolve allegations that the company overcharged the General Services Administration (GSA) on invoices dealing with government-wide voice and data telecommunications services contracts.