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Five Brothers Charged in Human Trafficking Scheme That Smuggled Young Ukrainian Migrants

An indictment unsealed today in Philadelphia charged Omelyan Botsvynyuk, Stepan Botsvynyuk, Mykhaylo Botsvynyuk, Dmytro Botsvynyuk, and Yaroslav Botsvynyuk, a/k/a Yaroslav Churuk, with extortion and conspiracy to violate the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) for their alleged involvement in a human trafficking operation.



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Northern Virginia Business Owner Indicted for Failing to Pay Employment Taxes

Eric Jon Eisenhower was arraigned in federal court in Alexandria, Va., on an indictment that alleges that he failed to collect, account for and pay over to the Internal Revenue Service more than $200,000 in withholdings from employees’ paychecks between 2004 and 2008.



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Justice Department Settles Lawsuit Against California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to Enforce the Employment Rights of Former Air Force Reservist

The Justice Department announced today that it has reached a consent decree with the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation that, if approved by the U.S. District Court, will resolve the department’s complaint filed in May 2009, alleging violations of the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994. 



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Justice Department Resolves Lawsuit Alleging Disability Discrimination by Ventura County, California

The Justice Department today announced a consent decree resolving a lawsuit filed against Ventura County, Calif., alleging that the county violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) when it refused to hire a qualified applicant for a children’s social services position because she is deaf and required reasonable accommodations.



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California Man Indicted in Las Vegas for Filing False Liens Against Federal Employees & Filing False Tax Forms

A Las Vegas federal grand jury has indicted Thanh Viet Jeremy Cao, a resident of Orange County, Calif., for filing false liens against federal employees and corruptly obstructing the administration of the federal tax laws.



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Virginia Man Pleads Guilty to Defrauding the U.S. Department of Defense of More Than $450,000

Jonathan Feeney is charged with using the U.S. mails to execute a scheme involving fraudulent invoices to defraud the U. S. Department of Defense.



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Virginia Man Pleads Guilty to Child Pornography Charges

A Virginia man pleaded guilty today to charges related to his possession and distribution of images containing child pornography.



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Virginia Man Pleads Guilty to Child Pornography Charges

A Bedford, Va., man pleaded guilty today to transporting, receiving and possessing child pornography.



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Estonian Hacker Extradited to the United States to Face Computer Hacking Charges

Sergei Tšurikov, 26, of Tallinn, Estonia, has been extradited to the United States to face charges of hacking into a computer network operated by an Atlanta-based credit card processing company.



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Justice Department Sues Two California Residents to Bar Them from Promoting Alleged Tax Sham Trusts

The United States has sued Gwenn Wycoff and Frank Ozak of Los Angeles seeking to bar them from promoting the formation and operation of “common-law” trusts for the purpose of tax avoidance.



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Northern Virginia Business Owner Pleads Guilty to Failing to Pay Employment Taxes

Eric Jon Eisenhower, a resident of Fairfax Station, Va., pleaded guilty Thursday in federal court in Alexandria, Va., for failing to collect, account for and pay over to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) more than $200,000 in withholdings from employees’ paychecks between 2004 and 2008.



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California Man Sentenced to Serve 295 Months in Prison in Child Pornography Case

David Grummer of San Diego was sentenced late Friday to 295 months in prison following his conviction on 18 counts of receipt of child pornography and five counts of possession of child pornography.



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Three Pennsylvania Men Indicted for Cross Burning

Michael Bealonis and Kenneth Stiffey, Jr., of Robinson, Penn., and Michael Bracken, of Bolivar, Penn., were indicted this week by a federal grand jury on charges stemming from a cross burning in the yard of an African-American juvenile in November 2009.



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Justice Department Sues California Man to Stop Tax Schemes That Allegedly Cost the Treasury at Least $30 Million

The United States has asked a federal court to permanently bar a California man from promoting alleged sham pension-plan and welfare-benefit-plan tax fraud schemes.



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California Man Charged with Attempting to Extort Sexually Explicit Images from Minor

According to an indictment dated June 24, 2010, and unsealed today, James Dale Brown, 27, is alleged to have used the Internet social networking website Facebook to communicate with a minor female identified as Jane Doe. 



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California Man Sentenced for Hate Crime and Mail Fraud

Eric Clawson, 28, of San Francisco, was sentenced today by U.S. District Court Judge Morrison C. England, Jr., for depriving the civil rights of an African-American man when he assaulted the victim in a bar.



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Justice Department Files Lawsuit Alleging Religious Discrimination Against the City of Walnut, California

The Justice Department announced today that it has filed a lawsuit against the city of Walnut, Calif., alleging that the city violated the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000 (RLUIPA), when, in 2008, it denied a conditional use permit to the Chung Tai Zen Center so that it could build and operate a Buddhist house of worship at property it then owned in the city.



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California Resident Sentenced to 72 Months in Prison for Laundering $2.5 Million in Illegal Proceeds from Sale of Stolen Credit Card Information

Cesar Carranza, a resident of Long Beach, Calif., was sentenced today to 72 months in prison for his role in laundering $2.5 million dollars in proceeds derived from several stolen credit card information schemes.



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Southern California Medical Center to Pay U.S. $2.2 Million to Resolve Fraud Allegations

The El Centro Regional Medical Center in Imperial County, Calif., has agreed to pay the United States $2.2 million, plus interest, to settle allegations that it defrauded Medicare.



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Federal Court Bars Multi- Million Dollar Tax Fraud Scheme Operating in Southern California

A federal court in Los Angeles has permanently barred three Huntington Beach men from preparing federal tax returns for customers.



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California Man Sentenced to 60 Months in Prison for Child Pornography Offenses

Elden Ray Cibart, 61, of Redding, Calif., was sentenced today to 60 months in prison and a lifetime term of supervised release for possession and receipt of child pornography.



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Four California Police Officers Indicted for Civil Rights Charges

A federal grand jury returned an indictment charging former Fresno, Calif., Police Department (FPD) Officers Christopher Coleman, 42; Paul Van Dalen, 44; and Sean Plymale, 41; and current FPD Sergeant Michael Manfredi, 50, with civil rights and obstruction of justice offenses related to the assault of a man in their custody in October 2005.



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Northern Virginia Couple Indicted for Conspiracy, Bank Fraud and Tax Evasion

A federal grand jury in Alexandria, Va., returned an indictment against a married couple from Fairfax Station, Va., for conspiracy, bank fraud and tax evasion.



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Virginia Man Pleads Guilty to Providing Material Support to a Foreign Terrorist Organization and Encouraging Violent Jihadists to Kill U.s. Citizens

Zachary Adam Chesser, 20, of Fairfax County, Va., pleaded guilty today before U.S. District Court Judge Liam O’Grady to a three-count criminal information that included charges of 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.



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California-based Mailing Firms to Pay $4.2 Million to Resolve False Claims Act Allegations for Underpayment of Postage

California-based companies Quicksort Inc., Quicksort LA Inc. and Quicksort Sacramento Inc. have agreed to pay the United States $4.2 million to settle allegations that Quicksort violated the False Claims Act by falsely representing the level to which it had pre-sorted mailings in order to obtain discounted postage rates from the U.S. Postal Service.



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Texas Businessman Pleads Guilty in Virginia to Role in $100 Million Fraud Scheme Involving Life Settlements

Eric M. Kurz, 46, of The Woodlands, Texas, pleaded guilty today to conspiracy to commit mail fraud and money laundering in conjunction with his actions as a wholesaler of investment products for A&O, a group of businesses that acquired and marketed life settlements to investors.



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California Company and Two Executives Indicted for Their Alleged Participation in Scheme to Bribe Officials at State-owned Electrical Utility in Mexico

Lindsey Manufacturing Company, an Azusa, Calif., company and two of its executives were indicted today for their alleged roles in a conspiracy to pay bribes to Mexican government officials at the Comisión Federal de Electricidad, a state-owned utility company.



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San Diego County, California, Attorney Pleads Guilty to Tax Evasion

Craig Shaber, a practicing attorney from San Diego County, Calif., pleaded guilty Thursday in federal court before U.S. Magistrate Judge Anthony J. Battaglia to one count of tax evasion for the 2000 tax year.



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Virginia Man Sentenced to 18 Months in Prison for Defrauding the U.S. Department of Defense of More Than $450,000

A Virginia man was sentenced today to 18 months in prison in connection with a scheme to defraud the U.S. Department of Defense of more than $450,000.



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Virginia Couple Charged with Tax Crimes

A Newport News, Va., federal grand jury has indicted a married couple for conspiring to defraud the United States.



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Virginia Man Arrested for Plotting Attacks on D.C.-area Metro Stations with People He Believed to Be Al-Qaeda Members

Farooque Ahmed, 34, of Ashburn, Va., was arrested today for attempting to assist others whom he believed to be members of al-Qaeda in planning multiple bombings at Metrorail stations in the Washington, D.C., area.



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Virginia Information Technology Director Sentenced to 27 Months in Prison for Hacking Former Employer’s Website

A fired information technology director for Transmarx LLC, a Richmond, Va., company, was sentenced today to 27 months in prison for hacking into his former employer’s website.



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Virginia Man Sentenced to 66 Months in Prison for Child Pornography Offenses

Gary Lee Rimmer, 56, was indicted in June 2010 and charged with one count of possession of child pornography and one count of distribution of child pornography.



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Virginia Contractor and Its President to Pay United States to Settle Allegations of Falsely Obtaining Hubzone Contract

CFP Group, located in McLean, Va., and its president, Roberto Clark, have agreed to pay the United States $150,000 to settle claims that they used false statements to obtain a contract from the Department of Veterans Affairs.



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Northern Virginia Businessman Pleads Guilty to Bank and Tax Fraud

Kevin Shaffer of Sarasota, Fla., and Washington D.C., pleaded guilty to bank fraud and tax evasion before Alexandria, Va., federal district court Judge Gerald Bruce Lee.



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Northern Virginia Business Owner Sentenced to Prison for Failing to Pay Employment Taxes

U.S. District Court Judge Ellis sentenced Eric Jon Eisenhower, a resident of Fairfax Station, Va., to 19 months in prison and ordered him to pay $88,826.79 in restitution to the IRS.



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Virginia Man Sentenced to 96 Months in Prison for Child Pornography Charges

John Michael Carter, 42, pleaded guilty on Aug. 5, 2010, in U.S. District Court in the Western District of Virginia to one count of transportation of child pornography, one count of receipt of child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography.



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California Woman Sentenced to More Than Three Years in Prison for Human Trafficking Charge

Fang Ping Ding was sentenced in federal court late yesterday to 37 months in prison for confiscating the passport, visa and other documents of a woman from the People’s Republic of China in order to maintain control over the victim and force her to work as an unpaid, live-in domestic servant.



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Pennsylvania Contractor Pleads Guilty to Tax Fraud Conspiracy

The owner of a Langhorne, Penn., asbestos abatement company pleaded guilty to participating in a conspiracy to defraud the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).



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Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division Lanny A. Breuer Speaks at the “Focus on Recovery’’ Biennial National Procurement and Grant Fraud Conference

"The Criminal Division, along with our partners in the U.S. Attorneys Offices, is firmly committed to supporting you in our collective mission to prevent and deter any attempts to defraud the American people of the money invested in our future through the Recovery Act," said Assistant Attorney General Breuer.




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California UBS Client Charged with Hiding Assets in Secret Swiss Bank Account

Jeffrey Chatfield of San Diego pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge Nita Stormes to a criminal information charging him with filing a false tax return related to a Swiss bank account that he maintained at UBS.



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Justice Department Files Lawsuit in California Against Titan Laboratories Inc. and Its Owner to Enforce the Employment Rights of Army Reserve Member

The Justice Department today announced that it has filed a lawsuit alleging that Titan Laboratories Inc., and its owner Harvey Berger willfully violated the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 by discriminating against and failing to reemploy U.S. Army reservist Miguel Orozco Garduño.



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Jury Convicts Oakland, California, Patient Recruiter for Participating in Wheelchair Scam to Defraud Medicare

On Monday, after a one-week trial in federal court in Los Angeles, a jury found Donna K. Wells, 52, guilty of one count of health care fraud.



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Justice Department Reaches Agreement with Virginia to Protect Rights of Military and Overseas Voters

The Justice Department today announced that it has reached an agreement with Virginia officials to help ensure that military service members and U.S. citizens living overseas have an opportunity to participate fully in future federal general elections.



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Former Bell, California, Police Officer Sentenced to Nine Years on Federal Civil Rights Charge for Sexual Assault

A judge sentenced Feliciano Sanchez, a former officer with the Bell, Calif., Police Department, to nine years in federal prison and three years of supervised release for sexually assaulting a female motorist and violating her civil rights.



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Former Member of Virginia House of Delegates Charged with Bribery and Extortion

A federal grand jury in the Eastern District of Virginia returned an indictment today charging Phillip A. Hamilton, a former member of the Virginia House of Delegates, with allegedly soliciting employees of Old Dominion University for a paid position at the same time he was introducing legislation to fund the position.



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Pennsylvania Odometer Tamperer Sentenced to 100 Months in Prison

Yakov Babchinetskiy, 43, of Huntingdon Valley, Pa., was sentenced today in Philadelphia by U.S. District Court Judge Legrome D. Davis to 100 months in prison plus three years of supervised release for his role in a conspiracy to alter odometers on used motor vehicles, provide false odometer statements, and commit wire and securities fraud.



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Two Men Plead Guilty to Federal Hate Crime Charge Related to Desecration of Synagogue and Churches in Modesto, California

Brian Lewis of Modesto, Calif., and Abel Mark Gonzalez of Morgan Hill, Calif., pleaded guilty today before U.S. District Judge Lawrence J. O’Neill to conspiring to violate the civil rights of congregants of Congregation Beth Shalom, a synagogue in Modesto, Calif.



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Justice Department Settles Lawsuit in California Against Titan Laboratories Inc. and Its Owner to Enforce the Employment Rights of Army Reserve Member

The Justice Department today announced that it has reached a settlement on behalf of U.S. Army reservist Miguel Orozco Garduño (Orozco) in its lawsuit against Titan Laboratories Inc., and its owner Harvey Berger.



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Two Former Shenandoah, Pennsylvania, Police Officers Convicted of Falsifying Information About Hate Crime

A federal jury in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., has convicted Matthew Nestor and William Moyer of falsifying information related to the investigation into the beating death of Luis Ramirez.



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