A federal judge today sentenced Waquita Wallace to 20 years in prison and five years of supervised release for a federal civil rights charge of sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion for compelling a young St. Louis woman to commit acts of prostitution.

A stock trader from Jupiter, Fla., was sentenced today to 30 months in prison for engaging in securities fraud involving several publicly traded companies.

Charles Brown, 54, of Mesa, Ariz., was sentenced today to five years in prison and lifetime supervised release following his prison term for receiving child pornography.

Eugene Morris, a former correctional officer with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, was sentenced today in federal court in Houston for providing a false statement related to a federal civil rights investigation. Morris was sentenced to two years in prison and two years of supervised release.

A former sand and gravel subcontractor was sentenced today to serve five years in prison and to pay a $5,000 criminal fine by U.S. District Judge Carl J. Barbier after being convicted by a federal jury of conspiracy and bribery in connection with a $16 million hurricane protection project for the reconstruction a New Orleans levee.

Nathaniel James Nicholson, 25, of Eugene, Oregon, appeared before U.S. District Judge Anna J. Brown and pled guilty to the crimes of conspiracy to act as an agent of a foreign government and conspiracy to commit money laundering.

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.

A former Ft. Campbell, Ky., soldier was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Thomas B. Russell to life in prison after being convicted on May 7, 2009, of charges arising out of the rape of a 14-year-old Iraqi girl and the murder of the girl and her family.

Robert P. Merz was sentenced to life in prison today for advertising, transporting, receiving and possessing child pornography.

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.

The former superintendent of a wastewater treatment facility in Rochester, Ind., was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in South Bend, Ind., to serve one year in prison for falsifying discharge monitoring reports that concealed violations of the Clean Water Act.

Timothy L. Lantz was sentenced today to 15 years in prison for transporting child pornography in interstate commerce and failing to update his sex offender registration in violation of the Adam Walsh Act.

Odell Folks, of Brooklyn, N.Y., was sentenced to prison today by District Judge Carol Bagley Amon of the Eastern District of New York for his participation in a false tax return scheme. Folks, who pleaded guilty in March 2009 to mail fraud, a false claims conspiracy, and making and subscribing a false return, was sentenced to 77 months in prison and ordered to pay restitution of $489,292.

Patrick Cochran, 47, of Lake Jackson, Texas, was sentenced late on Monday in Phoenix to 76 months in prison for travel with intent to engage in sex with minors and possession of child pornography.

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.

Eli Goldshor of Boca Raton, Fla.,was sentenced today for conspiracy to commit securities fraud and willfully failing to file tax returns. Goldshor, a self-employed limousine driver, was sentenced by Judge William Zloch in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., to 18 months in prison.

Theresa Jeanne Baker was sentenced for her participation in two separate bribery conspiracies relating to DOD contracts at Camp Vistory, Iraq.

Matthew Fox, a former Atlantic City, N.J., firefighter, was sentenced today to 18 months in prison by U.S. District Court Judge Jerome B. Simandle in Newark, N.J.

Timothy Smith, a resident of Cullman, Ala., was sentenced today to 30 months in prison for tax evasion.

Bruce Lapierre of Pascoag, R.I., was sentenced to 51 months in prison today for tax evasion and conspiracy to defraud the United States

Marcel J. Toto-Ngosso of Silver Spring, Md., was sentenced to 70 months in prison today for preparing and filing false tax returns in connection with a scheme to generate fraudulent tax refunds for his clients.

Sims Lawson Jr., a resident of Killen, Ala., was sentenced to 70 months in prison by Judge R. David Proctor.

Gregory William Fair, 46, of Falls Church, Va., was sentenced today to 41 months in prison for selling counterfeit computer software on the Internet, in violation of criminal copyright infringement laws.

A former U.S. Army contracting official was sentenced today to 40 months in prison for accepting more than $80,000 in bribes in exchange for corruptly providing contract work to two Afghan trucking companies.

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.

Judge S. Thomas Anderson sentenced Carlton Moore to 27 months in prison and one year of supervised release after Moore pleaded guilty to stealing money from motorists while acting under color of law.

Hayden B. Greene, 32, of Tulsa, Okla., and James Robert Roy, 42, of Tomball, Texas, were sentenced today to 30 months and 15 months in prison, respectively, for conspiring to manufacture and sell counterfeit pipe couplings.

Robert Young, 57, a former captain in the U.S. Army, was sentenced today to 97 months in prison for his participation in a scheme to steal approximately 10 million gallons of fuel from the U.S. Army in Iraq, announced Assistant Attorney General of the Criminal Division Lanny A. Breuer and U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia Neil H. MacBride.

A South Korean businessman was sentenced today to five years in prison for his role in a bribery conspiracy involving a $206 million telecommunications contract and employees of the Army and Air Force Exchange Service (AAFES).

Frederic A. Bourke Jr., of Greenwich, Conn., was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Manhattan to one year and one day in prison.

Rohullah Farooqi Lodin and Hashmatullah Farooqi were each sentenced today in Alexandria, Va., to four years in prison for their roles in a scheme to offer $1 million in bribes to a U.S. Army contracting official in Afghanistan.

Former U.S. Congressman William J. Jefferson, 62, of New Orleans, La., was sentenced today to 13 years in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for using his office to corruptly solicit bribes.

Richard Hendryx, 79, of Morristown, Ariz., was sentenced today to two years in prison and lifetime supervised release to follow his prison term for travel with intent to engage in sex with minors.

Consuelo Carreto Valencia, a member of the Carreto family sex trafficking ring that operated between Mexico and Queens, N.Y., was sentenced to 121 months in prison for benefitting financially from her participation in the organization, which transported young Mexican women to the United States and forced them into prostitution.

Chief Judge Mary M. Lisi sentenced Albert Martin to 51 months in prison and Lorraine Martin to one year and one day in prison.

“This officer abandoned his law enforcement role and engaged in a bizarre scheme to target innocent victims for his own personal gain. Officers who abuse their power in this way will be prosecuted to the fullest extent the law allows,” said Assistant Attorney General Thomas E. Perez of the Civil Rights Division.

A federal jury in Indianapolis convicted William Travis Brown on July 23, 2009, of one count of transportation and one count of possession of child pornography.

“The right to worship without fear of this kind of violent interference is among our most fundamental civil rights,” said Thomas E. Perez, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division.

Robert Restuch, 70, of Bullhead City, Ariz., was sentenced today to five years in prison for mailing child pornography.

Cardale Leon Bates of Birmingham, Ala., was sentenced to 57 months in prison today by U.S. District Court Judge L. Scott Coogler.

Curtis Whiteford, a former colonel in the U.S. Army Reserves, was sentenced today to five years in prison for his participation in a wide-ranging bribery conspiracy in Al-Hillah, Iraq.

Tijani Ahmed Saani was also ordered to pay a $1.6 million fine and serve one year of supervised release following his prison term.

Robert Jeffery, 55, a former master chief petty officer in the U.S. Navy, was sentenced today to four years in prison for his participation in a scheme to steal approximately 10 million gallons of fuel from the U.S. Army in Iraq, announced Assistant Attorney General of the Criminal Division Lanny A. Breuer and U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia Neil H. MacBride.

Micheal Fisher, a former co-owner of Fisher Sand & Gravel Co. Inc. (FSG) based in Dickinson, N.D., was sentenced to 37 months in prison.

James A. Mattatall of Torrance, Calif., was sentenced to six months in prison for violating a permanent injunction.

Christopher Murray pleaded guilty in January 2009 to four counts of bribery and one count of making a false statement.

Leonard Douglas “Doug” LaDuron also was ordered to pay $238,607 in restitution.

Mark Edwin Cairnes, 51, was sentenced today to 292 months in prison and lifetime supervised release following his prison term for advertising and possessing child pornography.

Bryan Lee Burrows admitted that he conspired with others to solicit kickbacks from private security vendors in return for favorable treatment for those potential bidders in connection with the award of a subcontract.

This is the fourth Indiana man in two months to be sentenced to prison time for burning a cross.