“The Department of Justice is committed to protecting our nation’s communities from the violent and dangerous crimes alleged in this indictment,” said Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer.

Robert Jackson, 37, of Downsville, La., pleaded guilty in federal court to placing a hangman’s noose in the carport of the home of a family in order “to send a message” to African-American males who had been frequently visiting the victim’s home.

Canadian/Lebanese dual national Ousama M. Naaman pleaded guilty today to participating in an eight-year conspiracy to defraud the United Nations Oil for Food Program (OFFP) and to bribe Iraqi government officials in connection with the sale of a chemical additive used in the refining of leaded fuel.

Two Afghan trucking companies pleaded guilty today to paying multiple bribes to U.S. public officials in exchange for unfair advantages in procuring contract work at the Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan.

John Webster Warwick, a Virginia Beach, Va., resident, was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Richmond, Va., to 37 months in prison for his role in a conspiracy to pay bribes to former Panamanian government officials to secure maritime contracts.

The Department announced a comprehensive settlement agreement with the town of Gretna, Va., under the Americans with Disabilities Act to eliminate barriers for providers of foster care services who wish to provide community placements in their homes for persons with disabilities. 

"That dream of progress and of opportunity – for my own family, for my people and for my nation – is what inspired my interest in the law, my study of the law, and every step of a career spent serving and trying to perfect our justice system," said Attorney General Holder.

A settlement with El Dorado County, Calif., will ensure the beginning of the cleanup, at an estimated cost of approximately $7 million, of the Meyers Landfill Site, located outside of the city of South Lake Tahoe, Calif.

Juan Javier Cardenas was charged in a three-count indictment returned today by a federal grand jury in Miami with conspiracy to buy, sell and use stolen credit card information.

Today in Sacramento, Calif., U.S. District Court Judge John A. Mendez sentenced a couple from Fairfield, Calif., for their roles in a July 2007 beating of an American citizen who is originally from India.

Attorney General Eric Holder arrived in Kabul, Afghanistan today for meetings with Afghan and U.S. officials.

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.

Quang Nguyen, 22, of Philadelphia was sentenced today by U.S. District Court Judge Paul S. Diamond to 70 months in prison for his role in distributing large amounts of marijuana and ecstasy pills in the United States.

Following a five-week trial, a fish wholesaler and two of its employees were found guilty with purchasing illegally harvested striped bass, known locally as rockfish, from the Potomac River in Virginia and Maryland from 1995 through 2007.

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.

The owners and operators of Ivanhoe House Apartments, an apartment complex in Ann Arbor, Mich., have agreed to pay $82,500 to settle a lawsuit filed by the Justice Department alleging that they had discriminated against African-American home-seekers, in violation of the Fair Housing Act.

Italian citizen Flavio Ricotti, a former executive of Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif.-based valve company Control Components Inc. (CCI), has been extradited to the United States from Germany in connection with his alleged participation in a conspiracy to secure contracts by paying bribes to officials of foreign state-owned companies as well as officers and employees of foreign and domestic private companies.

Carline Ceneus, Cabioch Bontemps and Willy Edouard have been indicted by a federal grand jury sitting in the Northern District of Florida for engaging in a conspiracy to commit forced labor and visa fraud involving Haitian nationals.

Gilberto Jordan, 54, a former Guatemalan special forces soldier, pleaded guilty today in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., to a federal charge of unlawfully procuring his U.S. citizenship, admitting that he lied on his naturalization application about his participation in a 1982 massacre at a Guatemalan village known as Dos Erres.

The Department filed a lawsuit against Garland Sales Inc., a rug manufacturer and seller located in Dalton, Ga., alleging it engaged in a pattern or practice of discrimination by imposing unnecessary and discriminatory hurdles to employment for work authorized individuals.

Ten individuals pleaded guilty today in Manhattan federal court to conspiring to serve as unlawful agents of the Russian Federation within the United States and will be immediately expelled from the United States.

Detroit-area residents Faisal Chaudry and Guy Ross pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Detroit for their participation in a fraudulent Medicare home health scheme

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. 

Jeffrey Alan Wasley of Kennesaw, Ga., was sentenced today to 20 years in prison for producing child pornography through the surreptitious videotaping of young boys using public restrooms in Atlanta-area establishments.

Attorney General Eric Holder and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius today kicked-off the first in a series of regional health care fraud prevention summits in Miami.

Walter Kendall Myers, a former State Department official, and his wife, Gwendolyn Steingraber Myers, have been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole and 81 months in prison, respectively, for their roles in a nearly 30-year conspiracy to provide highly-classified U.S. national defense information to the Republic of Cuba.

A former U.S. Army contracting official was sentenced today to 42 months in prison in connection with two schemes to solicit more than $30,000 in bribes and other payments from an Egyptian businessman in Kuwait.

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.

"This summit is an important opportunity – the chance to build on what was discussed, and achieved, during the first “National Summit on Health Care Fraud” that Secretary Sebelius and I convened in Washington in January," said Attorney General Holder.

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.

"This was a moment in time for the Department of Justice and the Obama administration to send a clear signal that the fight against domestic and sexual violence is a national priority," said Associate Attorney General Perrelli.

"It’s an honor to salute your contributions and to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of the ADA – and the 15th Anniversary of the AAPD – with so many friends, colleagues and partners," said Attorney General Holder.

Three Colombian nationals have been extradited from Colombia to the United States on charges of conspiracy to smuggle aliens for profit, alien smuggling for profit, and conspiracy to commit visa fraud in connection with their alleged roles in an extensive and sophisticated visa fraud scheme through which they fraudulently procured visas from the U.S. Embassy in Bogotá, Colombia.

Hoosier Energy Rural Electric Cooperative Inc., an Indiana electric generation and transmission cooperative, has agreed to install state-of-the-art pollution control technology at its two coal-fired power plants in Indiana.

Modesto and Victoria de la Vega pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Miami for their participation in a $13.7 million HIV infusion Medicare fraud scheme.

Univision Services Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Univision Communications Inc., pleaded guilty today to one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud in connection with a scheme to obtain increased radio broadcast time.

The United States has filed a complaint under the False Claims Act against Dr. Najam Azmat and the Satilla Regional Medical Center in Waycross, Ga.

Three former financial services executives were indicted today for their participation in fraud schemes and conspiracies related to bidding for contracts for the investment of municipal bond proceeds and other municipal finance contracts.

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.

Two officers with the New Orleans Police Department (NOPD) have been charged in a three-count indictment with federal crimes in connection with the beating death of civilian Raymond Robair in July 2005.

Responding to the President’s and Attorney General’s call for increased transparency, federal agencies across the government have released more documents, made more information available on websites and decreased backlogs in the past year.

Quantum Dynamics Inc, located in Macon, Ga., and its president, Audrey Price, have agreed to pay the United States $750,000 to settle claims that they fraudulently obtained contracts from the Army.

David Marrero, a founder of and consultant at a fraudulent Miami-area HIV/AIDS infusion clinic known as Tendercare Medical Center Inc., was sentenced today to 10 years in prison for his role in a $5.8 million scheme to defraud the Medicare program.

A federal grand jury in Shreveport, La., returned an indictment yesterday charging Joshua James Moro, 23; Jeremy Matthew Moro, 33; and Sonya Marie Hart, 31, with offenses related to a cross-burning in Athens, La., in October 2008, near the home of an interracial couple.

Arturo Fonseca, Isis Torres, Francisco Portillo, Eduardo Romero and William Madrigal pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Adalberto Jordan to various health care fraud charges.

Offshore Vessels LLC has entered a plea of guilty to knowingly discharging waste oil from one of its vessels, in violation of the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships.

Two brothers pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Miami for participating in a $13.7 million HIV infusion Medicare fraud scheme.

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

The Department of Justice and the Rainbow River Child Development Center of Hawthorne, Calif., have joined in a settlement agreement to assure that children with diabetes will receive appropriate care so that they may participate fully in the programs and activities at the center.

The Justice Department announced that four separate indictments were unsealed today in the District of Minnesota, the Southern District of Alabama and the Southern District of California charging 14 individuals with terrorism violations for providing money, personnel and services to the foreign terrorist organization al-Shabaab.