Robert Nicol was sentenced this week in connection with a series of Utah-based business opportunity fraud ventures.

A founder and president of a Washington-area design firm was sentenced today to 18 months in prison for her role in a conspiracy to defraud the United States in the award of a government contract for U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Alexander Otis Matthews, a Virginia real estate businessman pleaded guilty today to fraud charges in connection with mortgage and investment schemes to obtain more than $12 million in fraudulent loans.

The president and part owner of a Michigan-based Internet and technology services company was sentenced today to serve 15 months in prison for defrauding the federal E-Rate program.

Julius Everett “Bud” Johnson, 62, a resident of Richmond, Va., was sentenced today to 97 months in prison for his role in an investment scheme resulting in millions of dollars in losses.

Sirtaj Mathauda, a former resident of South Florida, was sentenced today in connection with a series of Costa Rica-based business opportunity fraud ventures.

The United States has filed a civil lawsuit against Robert S. Luce, founder and president of MDR Mortgage Corp., a mortgage lending business located in Palatine, Ill.

The Department of Justice announced today that, in order for VeriFone Systems Inc. to complete its acquisition of Hypercom Corp., it must divest Hypercom’s U.S. point-of-sale terminals business to an entity sponsored by Gores Group LLC, a private equity fund.

The Justice Department announced today that former Contract Security Officer Edwin Rodriguez, 30, pleaded guilty to engaging in sexual abuse of a female detainee under his supervision and control.

A Peace Corps volunteer was arrested today and charged in a federal criminal complaint with traveling from the United States to South Africa to engage in illicit sexual conduct with multiple children who were all younger than six years of age.

Attorney General Eric Holder, Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Department of the Interior Secretary Ken Salazar today announced a new federal framework to assist American Indian and Alaska Native communities in achieving their goals in the prevention, intervention and treatment of alcohol and substance abuse.

Jacinda Jones, 31, of Ypsilanti, Mich., also was ordered by U.S. District Court Judge David M. Lawson in Detroit to serve three years of supervised release following her prison term and to pay $441,035 in restitution.

The Department of Justice announced today that it has reached a settlement that will require Regal Beloit Corporation (RBC) to divest its U.S. business for electric motors for pool and spa pumps to SNTech Inc. and to divest A.O. Smith Corporation’s (AOS) development work and related assets for draft inducers for high-efficiency furnaces to Revcor Inc., in order to proceed with RBC’s acquisition of AOS’s electric motor business.

Scott Robertson pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge Brooke C. Wells in Salt Lake City to one count of making and subscribing a false tax return for 2003.

Richard Rosaire Routhier of Lake Worth, Fla., was sentenced to 60 months in prison and ordered to pay $1,243,574 in restitution to the Internal Revenue Service.

The Justice Department today announced the unsealing of a federal indictment charging former inmate Terry Lashavious McMillian, 26, of Whiteville, N.C., with federal civil rights violations involving the assault of an inmate and related acts of obstruction of justice.

Braynert Marquez of Miami pleaded guilty to a one-count information charging him with aiding and assisting in the preparation and filing of a false employment tax return.

U.S. Bureau of Prisons employee Jack Chris Jackson, 45, was indicted today on charges of sexual abuse of an inmate and false statements.

"The settlement requires Regal Stone Limited and Fleet Management Limited to pay more than $44 million for natural resource damages and penalties, and to reimburse the government entities for response costs incurred as a result of the spill," said Assistant Attorney General Moreno.

John Walter Kaber, a resident of Bloomfield, Mich., was sentenced to 37 months in prison for tax evasion.

Lydia Demski, the owner of Deerpath Corp., has agreed to pay the United States $800,000 to resolve allegations that she and her companies knowingly caused false claims to be submitted relating to a contract to provide re-furbishment of equipment at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) Plumbrook facility in Sandusky, Ohio.

A federal jury in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., yesterday found Manuel Rodriguez guilty of fraud in connection with a coffee machine business opportunity scheme.

Alexander Otis Matthews, a Virginia real estate businessman, was sentenced today to 10 years in prison in connection with mortgage and investment schemes to obtain more than $12 million in fraudulent loans.

Richard Muto was sentenced to 36 months in prison followed by one year of supervised release for corruptly endeavoring to obstruct and impede the due administration of the Internal Revenue laws.

A former Columbus County, N.C., Sherriff’s Office sergeant pleaded guilty today in federal court in Greenville, N.C., to a civil rights charge related to the assault of a detainee, the Justice Department announced.

The Department of Justice today reached a settlement with Grupo Bimbo S.A.B. de C.V., BBU Inc. and the Sara Lee Corporation that requires them to divest brands of sliced fresh bread and associated assets, in order to proceed with Grupo Bimbo and BBU’s acquisition of Sara Lee’s North American Fresh Bakery business.

Former Lincoln County, Mo., Sheriff’s Office Detective Scott Edwards, 49, of Troy, Mo. was indicted on civil rights charges for violating the constitutional rights of five women through acts of aggravated sexual abuse and sexual contact.

Arthur Lee Ong of Honolulu was convicted by a federal jury Monday of conspiracy to defraud the United States and tax evasion.

Michael Eisenberg, a resident of Long Island, N.Y., was sentenced Monday in connection with a series of fraudulent business opportunity ventures.

Marsha Elmore of Wetumpka, Ala., the owner of a tax preparation business called Community Tax, pleaded guilty today to charges related to her use of stolen identities to fraudulently obtain tax refunds.

A former Massachusetts scientist and businessman was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Rya W. Zobel in Boston to one year and one day in federal prison for executing a fraud scheme involving a multi-million dollar federal research grant.

Louis Alba pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Central Islip, N.Y., to failing to pay over to the Internal Revenue Service employment taxes.

Manuel Rodriguez, 47, of Lafayette, La., was sentenced today to 120 months in prison and three years supervised release for committing fraud in connection with a coffee machine business opportunity scheme.

Richard Stewart, a resident of Mitchellville, Md., pleaded guilty today for failing to pay over employment taxes in connection with his ownership of Montgomery Mechanical Services.

Bureau of Prisons employee Jack Chris Jackson, 45, pleaded guilty today to the charge of sexual abuse of a ward.

Bruce Gregory Harrison III was convicted yesterday following a jury trial in federal court in Winston-Salem, N.C.

After a four-day trial, a federal jury in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania found Tahn Le, 44, guilty on Jan. 20, 2012, of conspiracy to interfere with interstate commerce through multiple home invasion robberies and related firearms violations.

Marsha Elmore of Wetumpka, Ala., the owner of a tax preparation business called Community Tax, was sentenced today to 184 months in prison, the Justice Department and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced.

James Cummings, a resident of Boca Raton, Fla., has been sentenced for committing fraud in connection with a coffee machine business opportunity scheme, the Justice Department and U.S. Postal Inspection Service announced today.

The federal government and 49 state attorneys general today have reached a landmark $25 billion agreement with the nation’s five largest mortgage servicers to address mortgage loan servicing and foreclosure abuses.

A U.S. citizen and a Canadian citizen were arrested last week in Costa Rica in connection with the operation of a series of fraudulent business opportunities following their indictment by a federal grand jury in Miami on Nov. 29, 2011, the Justice Department and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service announced.

"In the fight against health-care fraud, our Departments have a long history of working collaboratively – and effectively. The “Health Care Fraud and Abuse Control Program Annual Report” that we are submitting to Congress today underscores this fact," said Attorney General Holder.

Hector Martinez Maldonado, a former Puerto Rico Senator, and Juan Bravo Fernandez, the former president of the largest private security firm in Puerto Rico, were each sentenced today to 48 months in prison, respectively, for their roles in a bribery scheme involving the passage of legislation beneficial to Bravo Fernandez’s business.

A federal court has permanently barred Annie P. Williams, the former proprietor of PPH Tax & Realty Inc. in Brooklyn, N.Y., from preparing federal tax returns for others and from having any ownership or financial interest in any tax preparation business, the Justice Department announced today.

The Justice Department announced today that it reached an agreement with Ross Stores Inc., resolving allegations that the company had engaged in a pattern or practice of discrimination based on citizenship status while verifying employment eligibility at its store in San Ysidro, Calif.

Brent E. Wells, a former police sergeant with the East Alton, Ill., Police Department, pleaded guilty yesterday in U.S. District Court in East St. Louis, Ill., to violating the civil rights of a civilian by assaulting the man during an arrest in front of Wells’s home on Sept. 11, 2010.

Arthur Lee Ong of Honolulu was sentenced Tuesday to 51 months in prison and ordered to pay $1 million in restitution to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) by District Court Judge Leslie Kobayashi today, the Justice Department and IRS announced today.

A federal grand jury in Albuquerque indicted Sylvester Bruce, 44, a former corrections officer with Navajo Nation’s Shiprock, N.M., Detention Center, on charges related to the sexual abuse of an inmate during the summer and fall of 2010.

"At the Department of Justice, we know that small businesses are adaptable and innovative. We have come to rely on them to support many of our most important missions, from ensuring the national security to combating violent crime, fighting financial fraud, and protecting those most in need of our help – our children; the elderly; and victims of hate crimes, human trafficking and exploitation," said Deputy Attorney General Cole.

Tahn Le, 44, of Philadelphia, was sentenced today to 400 months in prison for his participation in a conspiracy to commit violent home invasion robberies of successful Asian business owners in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland and Virginia.