Steven Walter Cooke, 47, a reputed high ranking member of the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas (ABT) prison/street gang and a previously convicted felon, has been sentenced to prison for possessing firearms.

"I believe our criminal defense system can, and will, become a source of tremendous national pride. I look forward to working with you all in achieving this goal. And I am grateful for your guidance, your engagement, and for your commitment," said Attorney General Holder.

The Justice Department today announced that it has reached an agreement with Morton’s of Chicago/Portland Inc. to settle allegations that it required two non-citizens authorized to work in the United States to present more documents than legally required to establish their work eligibility.

The Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced today the agenda and panelists for the June 25 workshop examining competition in the dairy industry.

"With your help and engagement, we’re working to ensure that the Justice Department lives up to its responsibility to provide a work environment where every employee is respected and given an equal opportunity to thrive," said Attorney General Holder.

As part of the Obama Administration’s launch of the first-ever Joint Strategic Plan on Intellectual Property Enforcement, Attorney General Eric Holder today emphasized the Department of Justice’s ongoing commitment to protecting U.S. intellectual property as central to America’s economic prosperity and public safety.

A federal grand jury in Spokane, Wash., has returned an indictment charging Ronald James Davenport of Deer Park, Wash., with filing fraudulent multi-billion-dollar liens against four government officials.

Puerto Rico Senator Hector Martinez Maldonado and Juan Bravo Fernandez, the former president of one of the largest private security firms in Puerto Rico, have been charged in an indictment returned today by a federal grand jury in Puerto Rico for their alleged roles in a bribery scheme involving legislation beneficial to Bravo Fernandez’ business.

The owner and the vice president of a Detroit-area physical therapy clinic were convicted today by a federal jury for their roles in a $23 million Medicare fraud scheme, announced the Departments of Justice and Health and Human Services.

Former Woonsocket, R.I., Police Officer John H. Douglas pleaded guilty today in federal court in Providence, R.I., to a federal criminal civil rights charge for assaulting a juvenile who was in his custody.

"In the recent past, including many miles on the campaign trail, I’ve had the pleasure of getting to know our First Lady," said Attorney General Holder.

"Over the last decade, you have redefined statistics, expectations, and, most importantly, possibilities for students across this city," said Attorney General Holder.

“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.

The state of Florida must provide Michele Haddad with services that will enable her to remain in her home, a U.S. District Court in Jacksonville, Fla., ruled Wednesday.

A federal grand jury in Mobile, Ala., has returned a three-count indictment charging Thomas Hayward Lewis, 24, of Mobile, with violating and conspiring to violate the civil rights of congregants of the Congregation Tree of Life Messianic Synagogue in Mobile, as well as possession of an unregistered firearm.

The workshop explores the appropriate role for antitrust and regulatory enforcement in the dairy industry.

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.

Technip S.A., a global engineering, construction and services company based in Paris, has agreed to pay a $240 million criminal penalty to resolve charges related to the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) for its participation in a decade-long scheme to bribe Nigerian government officials to obtain engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) 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. 

A federal jury in Chicago convicted former Chicago Police Department (CPD) Commander Jon Burge, 60, of Apollo Beach, Fla., on perjury and obstruction charges related to his denials that he participated in the torture of suspects in police custody decades ago.

"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.

The indictment, unsealed today in Hammond, Ind., charges six alleged members of the gang known as Almighty Latin King and Queen Nation for their alleged roles in a racketeering conspiracy in Hammond, Ind., and elsewhere.

A Taiwan thin-film transistor-liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD) panel producer and seller has agreed to plead guilty and to pay a $30 million criminal fine for its role in a global conspiracy to fix the prices of TFT-LCD panels.

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.

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

Attorney General Eric Holder met with Afghan President Hamid Karzai, Minister of Justice Habibullah Ghalib and Attorney General Mohammad Ishaq Aloko today to discuss the department’s ongoing efforts to foster the rule of law in Afghanistan.

Attorney Steven W. Allen pleaded guilty in federal court in Arizona to taking part in a conspiracy to defraud the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) by promoting a fraudulent offshore trust scheme to hide his clients’ income.

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.

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.

The Department of Justice challenged the state of Arizona’s recently passed immigration law, S.B. 1070, in federal court today. The Department said the Arizona law unconstitutionally interferes with the federal government’s authority to set and enforce immigration policy.

The lawsuit alleged that the Fitchburg Housing Authority and Hill violated the Fair Housing Act by adopting and implementing policies that denied tenants with disabilities other than mobility impairments the opportunity to transfer between apartments within Fitchburg’s public housing neighborhoods.

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.

Snamprogetti Netherlands B.V., has agreed to pay a $240 million criminal penalty to resolve charges related to the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act for its participation in a decade-long scheme to bribe Nigerian government officials to obtain engineering, procurement and construction contracts.

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.

Dwayne Lequire, 51, of Elgin, Ariz., was found guilty by a federal jury in Tucson, Ariz., late yesterday of eight counts of embezzling insurance premiums and one count of conspiracy.

A federal jury in Orlando, Fla., found former Bureau of Prisons corrections officer Michael Kennedy guilty late yesterday on felony federal civil rights charges related to the fatal assault of an inmate in March 2005.

The Justice Department announced today that it will monitor the primary runoff elections on July 13, 2010, in Barbour, Lee and Russell Counties, Ala., to ensure compliance with the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

The United States has asked a federal court to permanently bar a Utah man from promoting an alleged false church-based tax fraud scheme.

Six officers with the New Orleans Police Department (NOPD) were charged today in connection with the federal investigation of a police-involved shooting on the Danziger Bridge in the days after Hurricane Katrina.

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

Today, the Justice Department announced that, pursuant to its agreement with the Illinois State Board of Education, the state has finalized administrative rules that will ensure school districts throughout Illinois provide appropriate language support services to English language learner students until they no longer need them.

"Our future progress, I believe, will depend on our ability to bring innovative, evidence-based solutions to the work of addressing our most overwhelming and intractable challenges – namely, the prevalence and consequences of gun-, gang-, and drug-related violence, as well as the devastating impact of childhood exposure to violence," said Attorney General Holder.

"Today marks an important step forward in administering justice, in healing community wounds, in improving public safety, and in restoring public trust in this city’s police department," said Attorney General Holder.

The Justice Department today announced a court-approved consent decree which resolves a lawsuit against the state of New York and its public university systems for their failure to provide voter registration services at offices serving students with disabilities at each public university and college campus in New York State. 

The Justice Department today announced a settlement agreement with the city of Milton, Wash., under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) to improve access to city parks and recreational activities for persons with disabilities.

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.