Big West Oil LLC has agreed to pay a $175,000 penalty and to spend approximately $18 million to install emission controls at its refinery in North Salt Lake, Utah, announced the Department of Justice and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today. Big West Oil will also invest $253,000 to improve the monitoring and management of potential releases of hydrofluoric acid at the facility.

Three defendants who previously pleaded guilty in connection with an immigration services fraud scheme were sentenced in federal court.

The Department of Justice today announced a program that will encourage Swiss banks to cooperate in the department’s ongoing investigations of the use of foreign bank accounts to commit tax evasion.

In a settlement agreement with the United States, Safeway, the nation’s second largest grocery store chain, has agreed to pay a $600,000 civil penalty and implement a corporate-wide plan to significantly reduce its emissions of ozone-depleting substances from refrigeration equipment at 659 of its stores nationwide, estimated to cost approximately $4.1 million.

Every U.S. Attorney with jurisdiction in Indian country has now appointed at least one tribal liaison, and we’ve designated a Native American Issues Coordinator to provide advice and assistance to U.S. Attorneys’ Offices on legal and policy issues.

America’s criminal justice system is in need of targeted reform. Throughout this country, too many Americans are trapped – and too many communities are weakened – by a vicious cycle of poverty, criminality, and incarceration. Too many people go to too many prisons for far too long – and for no truly good law enforcement reason. The U.S. prison population has grown at an astonishing rate over the last three decades – by almost 800 percent since 1980, despite the fact that America’s overall population has increased by only about a third.

The Justice Department announced today that it will monitor the special municipal election on Sept. 24, 2013, in Hattiesburg, Miss.

The United States has requested that the federal district court in Jackson, Miss., permanently bar Danee Aikens from preparing federal income tax returns for others, the Justice Department announced today.

The Justice Department announced today that Jedediah Stout, 30, of Joplin, Mo., was charged today in a complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Springfield, Mo., with the attempted arson of a Planned Parenthood facility.

Earlier today, charges were unsealed against Romanian fugitive Nicolae Popescu, the leader of an international organized crime syndicate that ran a multimillion dollar cyber fraud scheme, and six other fugitives charged with participating in the same scheme. Interpol has issued red notices to foreign law enforcement partners seeking assistance in the apprehension of these fugitives, and the FBI has also released “Wanted” posters to facilitate their arrests.

The United States has sued Eric Hardaway, aka Eric Brittenum, and Yvonne Hardaway, seeking to bar them and their business, Hardaway Taxx, from preparing federal tax returns for others, the Justice Department announced today.

Five Banks Directed to Produce Records for Accounts at Zurcher Kantonalbank, The Bank of N.T. Butterfield & Son Limited and Affiliates

Robert Eldon Robertson and his wife Esther Lynne Robertson of Manteca, Calif., were indicted on charges of filing two false claims for federal tax refunds, filing liens against the former Internal Revenue Service (IRS) commissioner and impeding the administration of federal tax laws, the Justice Department and IRS announced today.

The Tax Division of the Department of Justice today strongly encouraged Swiss banks that want to seek non-prosecution agreements to resolve past cross-border criminal tax violations to submit letters of intent by the Dec. 31, 2013 deadline required by the Program for Non-Prosecution Agreements or Non-Target Letters for Swiss Banks.

Real estate developer from Fairhope, Ala., pleaded guilty today in federal district court in Gulfport, Miss., to the unpermitted filling of wetlands near Bay St. Louis, Miss., in violation of the Clean Water Act

The Department of Justice (DOJ), in collaboration with the Department of Education (ED), today released a school discipline guidance package that will assist states, districts and schools in developing practices and strategies to enhance school climate, and ensure those policies and practices comply with federal law.

"We are pleased that the court, after carefully weighing all of the evidence, agreed with the Justice Department that Bazaarvoice’s acquisition of PowerReviews was likely to extinguish price competition and substantially diminish the pace of innovation in the market for product ratings and reviews platforms," said Assistant Attorney General Baer.

The U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) today announced appointments to a newly created National Commission on Forensic Science.

The government has intervened in eight False Claims Act lawsuits against Health Management Associates Inc. (HMA) alleging that HMA billed federal health care programs for medically unnecessary inpatient admissions from the emergency departments at HMA hospitals and paid remuneration to physicians in exchange for patient referrals.

Acting Assistant Attorney General Jocelyn Samuels for the Civil Rights Division and U.S. Attorney Tammy Dickinson for the Western District of Missouri announced that a man and a woman, both from Independence, Mo., were sentenced in federal court today for violating the civil rights of an African-American family by setting fire to their residence.

The fact that we cannot compel other federal, state, and local laboratories and units to adopt this Commission’s guidance does underscore the need to be mindful of the diversity of practice and resources across the country. We must delicately balance the desire to develop meaningful policy with the reality of limited funding at the federal, state, and local levels. And we must do so without taking shortcuts.

Today, the Department of Justice issued a letter of findings describing problems in the Missoula County, Mont., Attorney’s Office’s response to sexual assault, and concluding that there is substantial evidence that the County Attorney’s response to sexual assault discriminates against women.

The Department of Justice announced today the filing of a lawsuit against the Missouri National Guard alleging they violated the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act by requiring its dual technician employees to resign from their civilian positions prior to active duty service in the U.S. Army Guard and Reserve.

The Justice Department announced today that a federal district court judge in Jackson, Miss., approved a settlement of the department’s lawsuit against the original owners and developers of nine multifamily housing complexes located in Mississippi, Louisiana and Tennessee.

The United States filed a complaint seeking to bar Kavivah Branson, aka Kavivah Bradley, and her Jackson, Miss., business, Branson Tax Service, from preparing federal tax returns for others, the Justice Department announced today.

The Justice Department and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission announced today that they have entered into a consent decree that, if approved by the court, will resolve both agencies’ claims against Harmony Public Schools on behalf of Nicole M. Tuchscherer, a former teacher at Harmony Science Academy-Austin.

Andreas Bachmann, 56, of Switzerland, pleaded guilty today to conspiring to defraud the Internal Revenue Service in connection with his work as a banking and investment adviser for U.S. customers.

California attorney Christopher M. Rusch was sentenced to serve 10 months in prison for helping his clients Stephen M. Kerr and Michael Quiel, both businessmen from Phoenix, hide millions of dollars in secret offshore bank accounts at UBS AG and Pictet & Cie in Switzerland, the Justice Department and the Internal Revenue Service announced today.

LSB Industries Inc. (LSB), the largest merchant manufacturer of concentrated nitric acid in North America, and four of its subsidiaries have agreed to reduce harmful emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx) by meeting emission limits that are among the lowest for the industry in the nation.

Kristopher Michael Montemayor, a county commissioner for Precinct 1 of the Webb County Commissioners Court in Texas, was arrested today on charges of bribery.

Victor Lipukhin was indicted yesterday by a federal grand jury in Kansas City, Mo., for attempting to interfere with the administration of the internal revenue laws and filing false tax returns, the Justice Department and Internal Revenue Service announced today.

The Department of Justice, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), and the Competition Bureau Canada today issued a set of “best practices” to make more transparent how they coordinate merger reviews that affect the United States and Canada.

The Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division today issued the 2014 edition of its annual newsletter on its website.

The Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission today issued a policy statement on the sharing of cybersecurity information that makes clear that properly designed cyber threat information sharing is not likely to raise antitrust concerns and can help secure the nation’s networks of information and resources.

The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi permanently barred Tamara Brock from preparing federal tax returns for others, the Justice Department announced today.

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder—who testified before the U.S. Sentencing Commission last month in support of a proposal to reduce the federal sentencing guidelines for low-level, nonviolent drug offenders—released the following statement Thursday in response to the Commission voting to formally adopt those changes.

"This is an antitrust no-brainer: Companies who engage in properly designed cyber threat information sharing will not run afoul of the antitrust laws. This means that as long as companies don’t discuss competitive information such as pricing and output when sharing cybersecurity information, they’re okay," said Assistant Attorney General Baer.

"This joint guidance is an important step in making clear that legitimate cyber threat sharing can help secure the nation’s networks and that it can occur without raising antitrust liability issues."

William R. “Rusty” Miller, a real estate developer from Fairhope, Ala., was sentenced today in federal district court in Gulfport, Miss., for the unpermitted filling of wetlands near Bay St. Louis, Miss., in violation of the Clean Water Act.

Josef Dörig, 72, of Switzerland, pleaded guilty today to conspiring to defraud the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in connection with his work as the owner of a trust company in Switzerland.

The Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) will hold a joint public workshop to explore the economic and legal analysis of conditional pricing practices among firms in a supply chain.

Attorney General Eric Holder and Secretary Arne Duncan today announced updated guidance to assist public elementary and secondary schools to ensure enrollment processes are consistent with the law and fulfill their obligation to provide all children – no matter their background – equal access to an education.

Swisspartners Investment Network AG, a Swiss-based asset management firm, and three of its wholly-owned subsidiaries (collectively, the Swisspartners Group), entered into a non-prosecution agreement (NPA) with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York and agreed to pay $4.4 million to the United States.

Credit Suisse AG pleaded guilty today to conspiracy to aid and assist U.S. taxpayers in filing false income tax returns and other documents with the Internal Revenue Service.

James Everett Dutschke, 41, of Tupelo, Mississippi., was sentenced today by United States District Judge Sharion Aycock, in Aberdeen, Mississippi., to a 300 month prison sentence for developing and possessing the biological agent ricin and subsequently mailing ricin-laced, threatening letters.

"This case shows that no financial institution, no matter its size or global reach, is above the law. When the Department of Justice conducts investigations, we will always follow the law and the facts wherever they lead."

"While today’s action is a significant milestone in our law enforcement efforts, our work in the offshore area is far from done, and we expect additional public actions in this area in the coming months."

"The central mission of the Tax Division is to enforce our nation’s tax laws fairly and consistently. This is a responsibility that we owe to every honest taxpayer who pays his or her fair share. As part of this mission, we are committed to using all enforcement tools against those who seek to avoid their legal obligations, and their responsibilities to their fellow citizens and taxpayers, by hiding their assets in foreign bank accounts."

The Justice Department filed a joint motion today for entry of a landmark consent decree to resolve allegations that the Law School Admission Council engaged in widespread and systemic discrimination in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The work of these honorees in rescuing missing and exploited children – and in bringing perpetrators of these heinous crimes to justice – is exceptional. It takes very special people to perform such difficult – and in many cases heart-wrenching and life-changing – duties.