Panasonic Corporation and a Whirlpool Corporation subsidiary, Embraco North America Inc., have agreed to plead guilty and to pay a total of $140.9 million in criminal fines for their role in an international conspiracy to fix the prices of refrigerant compressors, which are used in refrigerators and freezers in ho mes and businesses.

Eleven individuals, including four current Alabama state legislators, three lobbyists, two business owners and one of their employees, and an employee of the Alabama legislature have been charged for their roles in a conspiracy to offer to and to bribe legislators for their votes and influence on proposed legislation.

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.

The Department of Justice’s Environment and Natural Resources Division announced the filing of a major lawsuit today against 10 companies and two municipalities to require continued environmental cleanup work at Wisconsin’s Lower Fox River and Green Bay Site.

A federal grand jury in San Francisco returned an indictment against a former executive of a Taiwan thin-film transistor liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD) producer for participating in a global conspiracy to fix prices of TFT-LCD panels.

The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division today filed an amicus brief in support of a mosque in Murfreesboro, Tenn., that has met with community opposition and a lawsuit.

Nelson Santos, aka “Nelly” and “King Nelly,” 27, of Silver Spring, Md., was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Alexander Williams Jr. to 190 months in prison for conspiracy to participate in a racketeering enterprise and being a felon in possession of a firearm, in connection with his gang activities as a member of the Almighty Latin King and Queen Nation.

The Justice Department announced that Daniel Cowart was sentenced today to 14 years in prison and three years of supervised release for his role in a conspiracy to murder dozens of African-Americans, including then-Senator and presidential candidate Barack Obama, because of their race.

An additional alleged member of the Almighty Latin Kings and Queen Nation (Latin Kings) has been indicted for his alleged role in a racketeering conspiracy in Hammond, Ind., and elsewhere.

A former executive from HannStar Display Corporation has agreed to plead guilty and to serve jail time in the United States for participating in a global conspiracy to fix the price of thin-film transistor liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD) panels.

According to the superseding indictment, the defendants were members of the Latin Kings, a violent street gang with members operating in Maryland since at least 2007.

A Miami grand jury returned an indictment today against two executives of Cargolux Airlines International S.A., a Luxembourg-based corporation, for participating in a conspiracy to fix and coordinate certain surcharges on air cargo shipments to and from the United States.

A Miami grand jury returned an indictment today against four former airline executives of competing air cargo carriers for participating in a conspiracy to fix surcharges on air cargo shipments from the United States to South and Central America following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

An Atlanta grand jury returned an indictment today against the former president and chief executive officer of a Lakewood, N.J.-based manufacturer and distributor of food service equipment hardware, for conspiring to allocate customers for the sale of commercial and institutional food service equipment hardware.

Harold James Nicholson, 59, appeared before U.S. District Judge Anna J. Brown and pleaded guilty to the crimes of conspiracy to act as an agent of a foreign government and conspiracy to commit international money laundering.

Remy Heath, aka “Remy,” “King Remy,” and “King Mellow,” 26, of Hyattsville, Md., pleaded guilty today to conspiracy to participate in a racketeering enterprise, in connection with his gang activities as a member and leader of the Almighty Latin King and Queen Nation.

A federal grand jury in San Francisco today returned an indictment against three former executives from two color display tube (CDT) manufacturing companies for their participation in a global conspiracy to fix prices of CDTs.

Today a federal jury in Washington convicted Kevin A. Ring, a former lobbyist who worked with Jack A. Abramoff, on five counts related to a scheme to corrupt public officials by providing a stream of things of value.

An Atlanta grand jury returned an indictment today against a former executive of Japan Airlines International Co. Ltd. (JAL) and two former executives of Nippon Cargo Airlines Co. Ltd. for participating in a conspiracy to fix and coordinate components of rates for air cargo shipments to and from the United States.

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

Two Michigan construction companies have agreed to pay the United States $1.407 million to resolve allegations that they knowingly submitted false claims relating to a federally funded construction project at Detroit Wayne County Metropolitan Airport.

A former employee of two Massachusetts-based customer relationship management agencies that purchase direct mail advertising has agreed to plead guilty to charges relating to his receipt of more than $1.8 million in kickbacks.

A former employee of a subsidiary of a financial institution pleaded guilty today for his participation in bid-rigging and fraud conspiracies related to contracts for the investment of municipal bond proceeds and other municipal finance contracts.

"Attorney General Eric Holder, backed by this strong commitment from President Obama, has made Tribal justice and safety a top priority for the Justice Department," said Assistant Attorney General Perez.

Francisco Ortiz, aka “Francis Gabriel Ortis,” “Pone,” and “King Pone,” 26, of Rockville, Md., was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Alexander Williams Jr. in Greenbelt, Md., to 262 months in prison, followed by five years of supervised release, for conspiracy to participate in a racketeering enterprise, in connection with his gang activities as a member and leader of the Almighty Latin King and Queen Nation (Latin Kings).

A former purchasing official at Mount Sinai Medical Center and School of Medicine in New York pleaded guilty to participating in bid rigging and fraud conspiracies related to contracts for maintenance and insulation work performed at Mount Sinai.

A former sales representative of a Lyndhurst, N.J.-based industrial pipe supply company pleaded guilty today to participating in a conspiracy to commit fraud and pay bribes to a Consolidated Edison of New York (Con Edison) purchasing manager in return for the manager’s efforts to steer contracts to the sales representative’s company.

A one-count indictment was returned late yesterday in U.S. District Court in Miami charging Miami-based Florida West International Airways Inc., one of its former executives and two executives of a competing air cargo carrier with participating in a conspiracy to fix and coordinate certain components of air cargo shipments from Colombia to Miami.

Wojciech J. Chodan, a former commercial vice president and consultant to a United Kingdom subsidiary of Kellogg, Brown & Root Inc. (KBR), pleaded guilty today to conspiring to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act for his participation in a decade-long scheme to bribe Nigerian government officials to obtain engineering, procurement and construction contracts.

United Water Services Inc., the former contract operator of the Gary Sanitary District wastewater treatment works in Gary, Ind., and two of its employees, were charged today with conspiracy and felony violations of the Clean Water Act in a 26-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury.

Alan D. Mendelsohn, 52, of Broward County, Fla., pleaded guilty today before U.S. District Judge William J. Zloch, to a one-count criminal information, charging him with conspiracy to commit mail fraud, to make false statements and to file false tax returns.

Christian Fernando Borda and Alvaro Alvaran-Velez, two narcotics traffickers aligned with the Autodefenses Unidas de Colombia (AUC), were found guilty today in U.S. District Court of conspiring to import ton-quantities of cocaine into the United States.

Sophia Manuel and Alfonso Baldonado Jr., owners of Quality Staffing Services Corporation, a labor contracting service, were sentenced for conspiring to hold approximately 39 Filipino nationals in forced service to work in country clubs and hotels in Southeast Florida.

The former CEO of The Morgan Crucible Company plc, a United Kingdom corporation, was sentenced to serve 18 months in prison for his role in a conspiracy to obstruct a federal grand jury investigation into price fixing of carbon brushes and other carbon products sold in the United States and elsewhere.

Mike Waseleski, 46, a former casino card dealer, was found guilty by a federal jury yesterday in San Diego for his role in a cheating scheme by a group of conspirators known as the “Tran Organization” to steal approximately $1.5 million from Resorts East Chicago Casino.

Maria Terechina, a national of the Russian Federation, was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Columbus, Ohio, for her role in a human trafficking conspiracy involving guestworkers who worked in hotels as housekeepers and laundry workers.

A former Alabama state lobbyist pleaded guilty today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Wallace Capel Jr. to his role in conspiring to bribe legislators in exchange for their favorable votes on pro-gambling legislation.

A former managing executive of a construction company that had substantial business at Fort Carson, a U.S. Army installation in Colorado Springs, Colo., pleaded guilty to providing an illegal gratuity to a contracting officer.

A Harris County, Texas, commissioner and a Houston-based real estate developer have been charged with bribery conspiracy in an indictment returned yesterday by a federal grand jury in the Southern District of Texas.

A former Colombian maritime training instructor and a co-conspirator have pleaded guilty to conspiring to transport thousands of kilograms of cocaine from various ports along the coast of Colombia to waiting vessels that transported the cocaine to the United States and other countries.

The director of the school bus division of the U.S. Territory of American Samoa’s Department of Education pleaded guilty today to conspiracy to commit federal program bribery.

Betty Washington, a resident of Montgomery County, Ala., pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring to defraud the United States.

Marsha Parenteau of Dublin, Ohio, has been sentenced for conspiring to commit money laundering, the Justice Department and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced.

A federal grand jury in San Francisco returned an indictment against the current president of HannStar Display Corporation for his participation in a global conspiracy to fix prices of thin-film transistor liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD) panels.

The co-founder of a criminal enterprise known as the "Tran Organization" pleaded guilty today in San Diego to conspiring to participate in the organization’s scheme to cheat casinos across the country out of millions of dollars.

Harold James Nicholson, 59, was sentenced today to 96 months imprisonment by U.S. District Judge Anna J. Brown following his guilty pleas to the crimes of conspiracy to act as an agent of a foreign government and conspiracy to commit international money laundering.

Faruq Khalil Muhammad ‘Isa, 38, was arrested in Canada today pursuant to a U.S. provisional arrest warrant, based on a complaint in the United States charging him with conspiring to kill Americans abroad and with providing material support to that terrorist conspiracy to kill Americans abroad.

Brandon Smith, aka “Little One” and “King Little One,” 26, of Hyattsville, Md., pleaded guilty today to conspiracy to participate in a racketeering enterprise, in connection with his gang activities as a member and leader of the Almighty Latin King and Queen Nation (Latin Kings.)

An executive of a U.S. distributor has agreed to plead guilty and serve jail time for his participation in a global conspiracy to fix the prices of aftermarket auto lights.

Five individuals and a Nashville, Tenn., firearms manufacturer have been indicted by a federal grand jury on charges relating to international firearms and trafficking violations of the Arms Export Control Act.