Attorney General Eric Holder today announced the appointment of Charles E. Samuels Jr. as the director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

Kexue Huang, a Chinese national and a former resident of Carmel, Ind., was sentenced today to 87 months in prison and three years of supervised release on charges of economic espionage to benefit components of the Chinese government and theft of trade secrets.

"In today’s settlement with Countrywide Financial Corporation, we resolved the government’s allegations that Countrywide and its subsidiaries – which are now owned by Bank of America – engaged in discriminatory mortgage lending practices against more than 200,000 qualified African-American and Hispanic borrowers from 2004 through 2008," said Attorney General Holder.

"At the core of the allegations in the complaint is a simple story: If you were African-American or Hispanic and you went to Countrywide for a loan, and you were qualified, you likely paid more simply because of the color of your skin. You likely paid more than a similarly-qualified white borrower if you were African-American or Hispanic and received your loan from a Countrywide loan officer, or from Countrywide’s mortgage brokers," said Assistant Attorney General Perez.

Julie Matau, 49, of San Francisco, pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud before U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken. Andrea Matau, 28, also of San Francisco, pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor count of theft of federal funds before Judge Wilken.

A former agent for Innospec Inc., a U.S. company, was sentenced today to 30 months in prison and ordered to pay a $250,000 fine for his participation in a conspiracy to defraud the United Nations Oil for Food Program (OFFP) and to bribe former Iraqi government officials in connection with the sale of a chemical additive used in the refining of leaded fuel.

– The principal and co-owner of Integra Capital Management LLC, a North Carolina company, pleaded guilty today for his role in a commodities trading investment scheme that allegedly raised more than $3.2 million.

The Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Justice Programs (OJP), Laurie Robinson, announced today that she would be leaving her position at the end of February

Keith Strimple, 57, of Tulsa, Okla., pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Gregory Frizzell in the Northern District of Oklahoma to one count of attempted possession of a visual depiction of a minor engaging in sexually explicit conduct.

Leonard Wasylyk, 49, was also sentenced to lifetime supervised release and will be required to register as a sex offender in any jurisdiction in which he lives, works or attends school.

Attorney General Eric Holder today announced revisions to the Uniform Crime Report’s (UCR) definition of rape, which will lead to a more comprehensive statistical reporting of rape nationwide. The new definition is more inclusive, better reflects state criminal codes and focuses on the various forms of sexual penetration understood to be rape.

"On behalf of a grateful nation – and America’s entire law enforcement community – it is a privilege to join you in paying tribute, as well as my last respects, to an extraordinary public servant, a key member of the federal law enforcement family, and a true patriot who was always proud to call Seaford his home," said Attorney General Holder.

Robert Rosenbeck, 49, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Denise J. Casper in Boston.

Phillip Oliver, 46, an inmate at the Muskogee County, Okla., Jail (MCJ) pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Muskogee to one count of conspiracy related to the orchestrated beating of a fellow inmate at the behest of an unnamed jailer on duty.

A Maryland man pleaded guilty today in federal court in Indianapolis to seven counts of child pornography production and was sentenced to 33 years in prison and a lifetime of supervised release, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Joseph H. Hogsett of the Southern District of Indiana.

A Rockford, Ill., grand jury today indicted a former residential sales manager and two former contractors of a Florida property management company in connection with housing repair contracts for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

The U.S. Department of Justice today announced that the comprehensive grant solicitation for funding to support improvements to public safety, victim services and crime prevention in American Indian and Alaska Native communities will be posted at 3:00 p.m. EST today.

Acting Assistant Attorney General Sharis A. Pozen announced her resignation from the Department of Justice today, effective as of April 30, 2012.

Joshua Boras of Lapeer, Mich., was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Virginia A. Phillips.

Police officers are supposed to protect and serve, and the indictment alleges that the officers abused their power, and then added insult to injury by intimidating witnesses and creating a climate of fear.

At the direction of the President, this Working Group brings together the Department of Justice (DOJ), several state attorneys general and other federal entities to investigate those responsible for misconduct contributing to the financial crisis through the pooling and sale of residential mortgage-backed securities.

A former owner and operator of a Florida-based airline services company was sentenced today to serve 24 months in prison and to pay restitution for conspiring to commit wire fraud and honest services fraud in a kickback scheme to defraud Ryan International Airlines.

"I am confident that this new effort will improve our ability to ensure justice for victims; help restore faith in our financial markets and institutions; and allow us to answer the call that President Obama issued earlier this week, in his State of the Union address," said Attorney General Holder.

A federal jury today convicted Alex Campbell, 45, a northwest Chicago suburban massage parlor owner, of various federal crimes including sex-trafficking, forced labor, harboring illegal aliens, confiscating passports to further forced labor and extortion involving four foreign women whom he mentally and physically abused while forcing them to work for him between July 2008 and January 2010.

Billy Wade Carroll of Dayton, Ohio, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Virginia A. Phillips.

Michael Wayne Wooten, 60, of Alabaster, Ala., pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Inge P. Johnson in the Northern District of Alabama.

Nine men have been indicted in the Western District of Virginia for allegedly conspiring to receive, distribute, possess and access with intent to view child pornography/

The Department of Justice today announced that Luke J. McCormack will become its new chief information officer (CIO), arriving in late March.

A federal grand jury in San Francisco has charged five individuals and five companies with economic espionage and theft of trade secrets for their roles in a long-running effort to obtain U.S. trade secrets for the benefit of companies controlled by the government of the People’s Republic of China.

A former owner of two Illinois-based technology companies was sentenced today to serve 30 months in prison for her participation in a conspiracy to defraud the federal E-Rate program.

Three Northern California real estate investors have agreed to plead guilty today for their roles in conspiracies to rig bids and commit mail fraud at public real estate foreclosure auctions in Northern California.

Joseph Tierney, 24, of Wellesley, Mass., was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Virginia A. Phillips.

Freedman Farms Inc. was sentenced today in federal court to five years probation and ordered to pay $1.5 million in fines, restitution and community service payments for violating the Clean Water Act when they discharged hog waste into a stream that leads to the Waccamaw River.

"Exactly 60 years ago, before she became one of the most dedicated and effective champions of our nation’s Civil Rights movement – before she became the first African-American elected to the Texas State Senate, and the first African-American woman to represent the South in the United States Congress – Barbara Jordan was a senior at this school and, just like you, a proud Wheatley student," said Attorney General Holder.

Five Rhode Island men previously identified as leaders or associates of the New England organized crime family of the La Cosa Nostra have agreed to plead guilty to racketeering-related charges, according to documents filed today with the U.S. district court in Providence, R.I.

Glenn E. Morgan Jr., 41, of Detroit, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Robert H. Cleland to three months in prison followed by two years supervised release after pleading guilty to sending a threatening communication through the mail to a Detroit couple.

Seven people have been arrested on charges of trafficking in endangered black rhinoceros horn over the past week in Los Angeles, Newark, N.J., and New York.

The Justice Department announced today that it has filed a lawsuit against the state of Alabama and its chief election official seeking relief to help ensure that military servicemembers, their family members and U.S. citizens living overseas have the opportunity to participate fully in Alabama’s March 13, 2012, federal primary election.

The Justice Department announced today an agreement with Colfax County, Neb., that requires the county to provide election materials and information in Spanish in order to comply with provisions of the Voting Rights Act.

An Australian man and his company have been indicted today by a federal grand jury in the District of Columbia for conspiring to export sensitive military and other technology from the United States to Iran, including components with applications in missiles, drones, torpedoes and helicopters.

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano today visited Ottawa, Canada to participate in the Cross-Border Crime Forum with Canadian Minister of Justice and Attorney General Rob Nicholson, and Canadian Minister of Public Safety Vic Toews. Secretary Napolitano, Attorney General Holder and Minister Toews also signed a memorandum of understanding to better prevent and combat human smuggling and trafficking.

Jonathon Sudduth of Springfield, Ill., was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Virginia A. Phillips in Los Angeles to 22 years in prison and lifetime supervised release for conspiracy to advertise child pornography.

Joshua Wall, 20, pleaded guilty today in federal court in Baltimore for his involvement in hanging a dead raccoon from a noose on the porch of an African-American family.

The Departments of Justice and Education, together with six private student plaintiffs and the Anoka-Hennepin School District, filed a proposed consent decree today in the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota, resolving complaints of sex-based harassment of middle and high school students in the school district.

"Since this country’s earliest days, the American people have risen to this challenge – and all that it demands. But, as we have seen – and as President John F. Kennedy may have described best – 'In the long history of the world, only a few generations have been granted the role of defending freedom in its hour of maximum danger,'" said Attorney General Holder.

A federal court has permanently barred Tracy L. Sunderlage, Linda Sunderlage and four companies from operating an alleged scheme to help high-income individuals attempt to avoid income taxes by funneling money through purported employee benefit plans, the Justice Department announced today.

"The consent decree is a comprehensive blueprint for sustainable reform that will enhance the district’s policies, training and other efforts to ensure that every student in the district is free from sex-based harassment," said Assistant Attorney General Perez.

The former director of corporate maintenance and renovations at Medical Facilities of America Inc. pleaded guilty today to accepting kickbacks and evading taxes.

The Justice Department announced today that the Civil Rights Division will monitor elections on March 20, 2012, in Cook and Lake Counties, Ill.

Stewart David Nozette, 54, a scientist who once worked for the Department of Energy, the Department of Defense, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the White House’s National Space Council, was sentenced today to 13 years in prison for attempted espionage, conspiracy to defraud the United States and tax evasion.