The U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona today approved a consent decree filed by the Department of Justice, together with private plaintiffs and the Tucson Unified School District.

Ashu Bhandari, the former president and CEO of GEM Manufacturing LLC, a U.S. Virgin Islands-based company, was sentenced Thursday in federal court in St. Thomas, U.S.V.I., for felony customs violations for his role in a scheme to illegally import protected black coral into the United States.

Everett Dwayne Avery, 26, of Detroit, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge John Corbett O’Meara after pleading guilty to committing a hate crime by assaulting a man because the man was gay.

Sixteen people were sentenced to prison today for hate crimes arising out of a series of religiously-motivated assaults on practitioners of the Amish religion.

Michael Farnell and James Farnell, residents of Boca Raton, Fla., were sentenced to prison terms today for income tax evasion.

Antoinette Djonret was sentenced today to 144 months in prison for her involvement in two separate tax fraud schemes.

A former registered nurse was sentenced today to serve 111 months in prison for his role in a health care fraud scheme involving defunct health provider Health Care Solutions Network Inc. (HCSN).

Attorney General Eric Holder issued the following statement today on the Senate passage of the Violence Against Women Act.

A former employee of a Department of Defense contracting company at Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan, was sentenced today to serve 30 months in prison for attempting to smuggle $150,000 in kickback proceeds he received for steering U.S. government subcontracts to an Afghan company.

Big game hunting outfitter Dennis Eugene Rodebaugh, 72, of Meeker, Colo., was sentenced in Denver today to 41 months in prison to be followed by three years supervised release for six felony counts of violating the Lacey Act.

Transocean Deepwater Inc. pleaded guilty today to a violation of the Clean Water Act (CWA) for its illegal conduct leading to the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster, and was sentenced to pay $400 million in criminal fines and penalties.

Gilbert T. Lopez Jr., the former chief accounting officer of Stanford Financial Group Company, and Mark J. Kuhrt, the former global controller of Stanford Financial Group Global Management, were each sentenced today to 20 years in prison for their roles in helping Robert Allen Stanford perpetrate a fraud scheme involving Stanford International Bank (SIB). Both were convicted by a Houston federal jury on Nov. 19, 2012.

David Hausman, an antiques dealer in Manhattan, was sentenced today in Manhattan federal court to six months in jail for obstruction of justice and creating false records in connection with illegal rhinoceros horn trafficking.

A Gainesville, Fla., woman was sentenced today to serve one year and one day in prison for her role in the obstruction of a multinational investigation into the disappearance of her husband, then an employee in the U.S. Consulate in Curacao.

The principal and co-owner of North Carolina-based Integra Capital Management LLC, was sentenced today to serve 36 months in prison for his role in a scheme to defraud commodities trading investors of more than $3.2 million.

Louis Fazzini was sentenced today to serve 55 months in prison for his participation in a racketeering conspiracy involving illegal gambling and theft from an employee benefit plan.

A co-owner and operator of three Miami discount pharmacies was sentenced today to 168 months in prison for his role in a health care fraud scheme that submitted more than $23 million in false claims to Medicare.

A former owner of mental health facilities in Florida and North Carolina was sentenced today to serve 168 months in prison for his leadership role in a health care fraud scheme involving defunct health provider Health Care Solutions Network Inc. (HCSN.

The owners and operators of two Miami health care agencies were sentenced to nine years and more than four years in prison today, respectively, and ordered to pay millions in restitution for their participation in a $48 million home health Medicare fraud scheme that billed for unnecessary home health care and therapy services.

An employee of a Texas securities firm and a broker-dealer who conspired with him and others to artificially pump up the stock prices of several publicly traded companies were sentenced to prison terms today for their roles in the $1 million scheme.

Bryan Underwood, a former civilian guard at a U.S. Consulate compound under construction in China, was sentenced today to nine years in prison in connection with his efforts to sell for personal financial gain classified photographs, information and access related to the U.S. Consulate to China’s Ministry of State Security (MSS).

"I’m proud to report that the Department has made tremendous progress in combating violent crime, battling financial fraud, upholding the civil rights of all, safeguarding the most vulnerable members of society, and protecting the American people from terrorism and other national security threats," said Attorney General Holder.

Corey Means was sentenced yesterday to 20 months in prison and Melba Wilson to eight months home detention for their involvement in a million dollar identity theft tax scheme.

Hungarian nationals Beatrix Boka and Aleksandar Kunkin were sentenced today to serve 36 months and 48 months in prison, respectively, for their roles in moving approximately $550,000 in illicit proceeds derived from an international online marketplace fraud scheme.

Veteran District of Columbia defense attorney Charles F. Daum was sentenced today to serve 63 months in prison on three counts of obstructing justice in a federal drug trafficking case.

Bruce King, the founder and operator of Premier Tax, was sentenced today in Montgomery, Ala., to 70 months in prison and ordered to pay $781,305 in restitution to the Internal Revenue Service for orchestrating a tax fraud scheme at his business.

"I am very pleased to report to you today that based on our initial review of both the 2013 Chief FOIA Officer Reports and agency Annual FOIA Reports for Fiscal Year 2012, agencies have continued to take concrete steps to improve their FOIA administration," said Director Pustay.

John Hall, 27, an Aryan Brotherhood member and inmate at the Federal Correctional Institution in Seagoville, Texas, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor after pleading guilty to violating the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act stemming from his assault of a fellow inmate, whom he believed to be gay.

A Texas doctor was sentenced today to serve 63 months in prison for conspiring to commit health care fraud by falsifying plans of care for Medicare beneficiaries, including patients whom he did not treat, as part of a $17.3 million Medicare fraud scheme.

The United States and the city of New Orleans announced today that public meetings would be held regarding a consent decree court monitor for the New Orleans Police Department.

A former medical director for Biscayne Milieu, a Miami-based mental-health clinic, was sentenced today to serve 144 months in prison for his role in a fraud scheme involving the submission of more than $50 million in fraudulent billings to Medicare.

Tyrone Thompson was sentenced today to 137 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Hugh Lawson in the Middle District of Georgia for conspiracy and filing fraudulent tax returns in order to receive tax refunds, to which the defendant was not entitled.

"Clarence Earl Gideon made a difference. Now it is up to every one of us to make his vision – and the words of the U.S. Supreme Court in his case – a reality. You have started on that path here in Texas," said Acting Senior Counselor Leff.

A New York man was sentenced today in Buffalo to serve 11 years in prison for committing mail fraud and attempting to escape the charges by exerting pressure on a U.S. Attorney’s spouse and candidate for office, the Justice Department announced.

Brazilian nationals Juliana Rose Tome-Froes and her husband, Fabio Rodrigues Froes, were sentenced today in Miami to 60 months and 46 months in prison, respectively, for smuggling undocumented migrants to the United States for profit.

Peruvian national Jessie Katherine Gonzales Urquizo and Bahamian national Irene Mildred Janette Burrows were sentenced today to serve 60 months and 36 months in prison, respectively, for their roles in smuggling undocumented migrants to the United States for private financial gain.

"It has indeed changed – but it has not changed as much as we would like, or as indigent defendants need, to achieve justice," said Acting Senior Counselor Leff.

The Justice Department announced that, jointly with the Meridian Public School District in Meridian, Miss., and private plaintiffs, it has filed a landmark consent decree to prevent and address racial discrimination in student discipline in district schools.

David Marrero, a federal inmate in the custody of the Bureau of Prisons, was sentenced today to 46 months in prison for tax fraud committed while in prison.

Justin D. Schoenauer, 41, also known as Corey J. Schoenauer, a resident of Twin Falls County, Idaho, was sentenced late yesterday in U.S. District Court for the District of Idaho to 27 months in prison for income tax evasion.

Mary Bennett, Narendrakumar Patel and Eugenia Burks, all residents of Elmore County, Ala., were sentenced for their roles in an identity theft and tax fraud scheme.

Jeffrey Charles, a resident of Grimstead, Va., was sentenced today to serve 46 months in federal prison for conspiring with his daughter and son-in-law to defraud the United States, aiding and assisting in the preparation of false tax returns in his daughter’s name, and filing a false tax return in his own name.

A former U.S. Army Captain was sentenced today in Oklahoma City to serve 23 months in prison for conspiracy to accept thousands of dollars in gratuities from contractors during his deployment to Baghdad, Iraq.

A patient recruiter for a Miami health care company was sentenced today to serve 36 months in prison for his participation in a $20 million home health Medicare fraud scheme.

A former contract employee of the U.S. Defense Department (DoD) was sentenced today to serve 35 months in prison for his participation in a bribery and money laundering scheme arising from corruption in the award of defense contracts at Camp Arifjan, an Army base in Kuwait.

Vladislav Anatolievich Horohorin, aka “BadB,” was sentenced today to serve 88 months in prison for trafficking in millions of stolen credit and debit cards and for his role in the theft of more than $9 million dollars from an Atlanta-based credit card processor.

The owners and operators of Biscayne Milieu, a Miami-based mental-health clinic, and the clinic itself were sentenced today for their participation in a Medicare fraud scheme involving the submission of more than $50 million in fraudulent billings to Medicare.

The founder and president of the National Association of Special Police and Security Officers (NASPSO) was sentenced to 76 months in prison today for stealing union treasury and pension funds.

A member of the Internet piracy group “IMAGiNE” was sentenced today to serve 23 months in prison.

"The prosecution of SIRF crimes is a national priority, and, together with our law enforcement partners, we will continue to look for the most effective ways to bring this conduct to an end and to punish these wrongdoers," said Assistant Attorney General Keneally.