Maximino Mondragon, 57, was sentenced today for his role in a scheme to smuggle Central American women and girls into the United States and to hold them in a condition of forced labor in the Houston area.

The Department today has reached a settlement that, if approved by the U.S. District Court in Philadelphia, will resolve its lawsuit filed on behalf of Frantz Julien against Symphony Diagnostic Services Inc., doing business as MobilexUSA (Mobilex).

Three brothers who were convicted of plotting to kill members of the U.S. military during an armed attack on a military base were sentenced today to life prison terms. U.S. District Judge Robert B. Kugler sentenced Dritan Duka and Shain Duka to prison terms of life plus an additional, consecutive 30 years. The third brother, Eljvir Duka, received a life prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.

James W. Dotts Jr., 33, of Georgetown, Ind., pleaded guilty today in New Albany, Ind., to one count of possession of child pornography and was sentenced to 37 months in prison and lifetime supervised release following completion of his prison term.

James Freeman of Santa Rosa Beach, Fla., was sentenced to life in prison today for his activity in a global child pornography trafficking enterprise. Freeman, a registered sex offender, was found guilty following a six-day trial in January 2009 of six counts relating to his criminal activities as a member of the child exploitation enterprise.

The former head securities trader for Lancer Group hedge funds pleaded guilty on April 28, 2009, to one count of conspiracy to commit mail, wire and securities fraud. Eric Hauser, 65, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Court Judge Adalberto Jordan in Miami. Hauser admitted to participating in a scheme to manipulate trading of stocks owned by the Lancer Group hedge funds.

The remaining two men convicted of plotting to kill members of the U.S. military during an armed attack on a military base were sentenced today to federal prison terms of life for one defendant and 33 years for the other for conspiring to kill members of the U.S. military. U.S. District Judge Robert B. Kugler sentenced Mohamad Ibrahim Shnewer to a term of life in prison plus an additional, consecutive 30 years. Judge Kugler sentenced Serdar Tatar to 33 years in prison.

Three more commercial fishermen were sentenced this week in U.S. District Court in Greenbelt, Md., for illegally harvesting and under-reporting their catch of striped bass, also known as rockfish. The sentencings are part of the on-going prosecution of individuals and wholesalers who have participated in a black market to overfish and under-report rockfish catch from the Chesapeake Bay and surrounding waterways, which is the largest spawning ground for striped bass on the East Coast.

The Department announced a settlement that, if approved by the court, will resolve its lawsuit filed on behalf of David D. Sweatt, a Michigan Army National Guard member currently serving in Iraq, against his former employer, Americraft Carton Inc. (Americraft).

The Department announced an agreement with the owners, a manager and a former manager of Cottage Manor Apartments in Lakewood, N.J., to settle allegations of discrimination on the basis of religion, national origin and race.

Former Tippah County, Miss., Deputy Sheriff William Rogers and his son, former Tippah County Deputy Sheriff Jeffrey Rogers, were sentenced in federal court on April 30, 2009, for violating the civil rights of an arrestee by shooting him with a taser unnecessarily.

The owner and president of a Ronkonkoma, N.Y., designing and manufacturing company pleaded guilty to conspiring to allocate a U.S. Navy contract for Navy straps. Navy straps are a type of tiedown equipment used by the U.S. Navy to secure munitions and other supplies for transport on ships and airplanes.

Style Craft Furniture Co. Ltd., pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Camden, N.J., to one count of smuggling cribs containing internationally protected wood known as “ramin.”

"To ensure that the Department holds itself to the highest standards during discovery -- as in every stage of litigation -- in our criminal cases, and also in our civil litigation, we have taken both short-term and long-term action."

The Department has reached a proposed settlement with Consolidated Multiple Listing Service Inc. (CMLS) that requires CMLS to change its rules to allow low-priced and innovative brokers to compete with traditional brokers in the Columbia, S.C., area. The Department said the rules caused consumers to pay more for residential real estate brokerage services in the Columbia area.

U.S. District Judge Deborah K. Chasanow today sentenced Victor Ramirez, a/k/a “Mousey,” age 30, a native of El Salvador who resided in Hyattsville, Md., to 60 years in prison, followed by five years of supervised release.

The Department filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Sacramento, Calif., against the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR), alleging that the CDCR failed to promptly reemploy U.S. Air Force reservist Dany Felix in violation of the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 (USERRA).

Patrick Cochran, 47, of Lake Jackson, Texas, pleaded guilty today to one count of travel with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct with a minor, and one count of possession of child pornography.

Philip Gabriel Pettersson, aka "Stakkato," 21, a Swedish national, was indicted today on intrusion and trade secret theft charges.

A federal judge in Seattle, Wash., has permanently barred a District of Columbia man, William H. Camp, Jr., from preparing tax returns for others and from promoting a scheme involving bogus gold mining tax deductions. The permanent injunction order was entered by Judge Ricardo S. Martinez of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington, where a substantial number of Camp’s customers reside.

Carmelo Oria, a Spanish citizen who was the chief engineer on the Cyprus-flagged M/T Nautilus, was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Massachusetts for maintaining inaccurate records that concealed a discharge of oil-contaminated water from the bilges of the M/T Nautilus. Oria was sentenced to one month in prison, to be followed by supervised release for a term of two years and a $3,000 fine.

The Justice Department filed a lawsuit today against Equity Homes Inc, PBR LLC, BBR LLC and Shane Hartung in U.S. District Court in South Dakota for failing to provide accessible features required by the Fair Housing Act at multi-family housing developments in Sioux Falls.

Two former managers of the Bank of China and their wives were sentenced today after their convictions on Aug. 29, 2008, by a federal jury in Las Vegas on charges of racketeering, money laundering, international transportation of stolen property as well as passport and visa fraud.

A former jail administrator at the Cibola County Detention Center in Grants, N.M., was sentenced today to 97 months in prison, two years of supervised release and a $400 special assessment for violating the rights of inmates in his custody at two separate New Mexico jails.

The United States has filed a lawsuit against New York attorney Thomas B. Pruzan, d/b/a the Pruzan Law Firm, seeking to put an end to Mr. Pruzan’s repeated failure to timely deposit and pay the employment and unemployment taxes due from his law firm, as well as his failure to timely file employment and unemployment tax returns with the Internal Revenue Service.

The Department announced the filing of a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Salt Lake City on behalf of Jose A. Ortega, a Utah National Guard member, against Synapse Data and Telecom Inc., and Matthew Mossbarger, Synapse’s owner and operator, alleging violations of the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 (USERRA).

U.S. District Judge Samuel B. Kent was sentenced today to 33 months in prison for obstruction of justice related to an investigation of a judicial misconduct complaint filed against him.

"Helping foreign countries improve their criminal justice systems so they can cooperate more effectively with us and with their neighbors in real time is an important aspect of this department’s mission."

The Department's Antitrust Division announced the details of its newly formed initiative aimed at preparing government officials and contractors to recognize and report efforts by parties to unlawfully profit from the stimulus projects that are being awarded as part of The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.    

"If our partnership with state, local and tribal law enforcement is to endure, federal financial support cannot be a one time occurrence. This country is facing prolonged problems that require steadfast commitment and long-term cooperation."

A Defense Department official has been charged with conspiracy to communicate classified information to an agent of a foreign government.

Robert P. Merz, 45, was convicted by a federal jury in Philadelphia today of advertising, transporting, receiving and possessing child pornography.

Three former jailers at the Lexington-Fayette County Detention Center (FCDC) pleaded guilty today to civil rights charges in federal court in Lexington, Ky.

Roger Lowe, 50, of Indianapolis, was sentenced today to five years in prison for receiving child pornography.

Michael Wayne Sulfridge, a resident of Union Grove, Ala., and former vice president of corporate finance at Image Entry, Inc. (Image Entry), pleaded guilty today to fraud and tax evasion charges stemming from the company’s 2001 acquisition by Sourcecorp, Inc. (Sourcecorp).

"Let us bind ourselves together in a new bond of service -- to make our country brighter, safer, and more hopeful -- and in so doing, let us bear true witness to the legacies of our fallen heroes."

On May 15, 2009, the Fifth Circuit, in Klamath Strategic Investment Fund v. United States (No. 07-40861), affirmed the district court’s decision denying over $50 million in claimed tax losses arising from the taxpayers’ investment in a “Son of Boss (BLIPS)” tax shelter.

The Department has entered into a consent decree with Wagner Industrial Electric Inc. that, if approved by the court, will resolve the Department’s complaint the company failed to properly reemploy Indiana Army National Guard Reservist Kevin Stenger in violation of the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 (USERRA).

A Virginia man has been sentenced to 63 months in federal prison for participating in a conspiracy that led to more than 10 million pounds of frozen catfish being imported from Vietnam, but fraudulently labeled and sold in the United States as sole, grouper and other species. This sentence is one of the longest imposed by a federal judge for falsely labeling seafood.

The Department announced today a settlement of a lawsuit alleging discrimination on the basis of disability in the design and construction of four multifamily housing complexes in the Spokane, Wash., area in violation of the federal Fair Housing Act.

Christopher Handley, 39, of Glenwood, Iowa, pleaded guilty today in Des Moines, Iowa, to possessing obscene visual representations of the sexual abuse of children and mailing obscene material.

Three HealthEast Care System hospitals have agreed to pay the United States $2.28 million to settle allegations that the health care facilities submitted false claims to Medicare. All three hospitals are located in the Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minn., area. The settlement resolves allegations that the St. Paul-based hospitals overcharged Medicare from 2002 to 2007 by thousands of dollars each time they performed kyphoplasty, a minimally-invasive procedure used to treat certain spinal fractures that often are due to osteoporosis.

Regency Nursing and Rehabilitation Centers Inc. nursing home chain will pay the United States $4 million to settle allegations that Regency submitted false claims to Medicare and the Texas Medicaid program. The Victoria, Texas-based chain currently owns and operates 24 nursing home facilities located through the state.

The Maine Department of Education (MDE) has agreed to pay the United States $1.5 million to settle allegations that it submitted false information to the U.S. Department of Education regarding the state education agency’s eligibility to receive federal funds under the Migrant Education Program.

Tony West, Assistant Attorney General (AAG) for the Justice Department’s Civil Division, today announced four new members of the Division’s leadership team.

The Justice Department today filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Norfolk, Va., on behalf of U.S. Coast Guard Reserve member Paul Sutton against the city of Chesapeake alleging violations of the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 (USERRA).

In a lawsuit filed today on behalf of U.S. Navy Reservist Porotesano Faapouli the Justice Department contends that Fresno County, Calif., violated the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 (USERRA) by failing to promptly and properly reemploy Faapouli when he returned from active military duty with a service-related injury.

A former Velda City, Mo., auxiliary reserve police officer was sentenced today to 19 years and seven months in prison, three years of supervised release and a special assessment for violating the federal civil rights of a woman he sexually assaulted during a traffic stop and for concealing evidence of his crime from federal investigators.

Five defendants were sentenced this week for their participation in a corruption scheme involving the 2000 resident commissioner and 2004 gubernatorial campaigns of a former governor of Puerto Rico.

The Justice Department today filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Newark, N.J., on behalf of U.S. Naval Reserve member George Lawton against the Newark Public Schools (NPS) alleging violations of the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 (USERRA).