The Attorney General announced that new investments included in the FY 2010 budget will soon be distributed to combat mortgage fraud.

Christian Rodney Ice, of Mobile, Ala., pleaded guilty today in federal court in Mobile to one count of violating the Church Arson Act by placing threatening graffitti and neo-Nazi markings on a synagogue in Mobile.

Louisville, Ky., attorney James Reskin, 51, pleaded guilty late yesterday in U.S. District Court in Tulsa for his role in a scheme to defraud investors through the manipulation of the publicly traded stocks of three companies.

“This investigation was a model of international cooperation between the United States and the European Commission,” said Christine Varney, Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Department’s Antitrust Division.

Six Michigan residents, along with two residents of Ohio and a resident of Indiana, were indicted by a federal grand jury in Detroit on charges of seditious conspiracy, attempted use of weapons of mass destruction, teaching the use of explosive materials, and possessing a firearm during a crime of violence.

Pamrapo Savings Bank S.L.A., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Pamrapo Bancorp Inc., based in Bayonne, N.J., pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey to conspiracy to violate the Bank Secrecy Act and has agreed to forfeit $5 million to the United States

The Justice Department today announced a federal court has approved a consent decree resolving an Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) discrimination lawsuit against attorney Patric LeHouillier and his law firm, LeHouillier & Associates, P.C., based in Colorado Springs, Colo. The consent decree was approved by Judge Marcia S. Krieger in U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado

Almighty Latin King and Queen Nation (ALKQN) member John Guzman, 31, of Big Spring, Texas, was sentenced today to 210 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Sam R. Cummings, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney James T. Jacks for the Northern District of Texas

Today Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division announced the formation of the Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section (HRSP), the first new section to be formed in the Criminal Division since 2008.

Shell Chemical L.P. and Shell Chemical Yabucoa have agreed to install pollution reduction equipment on two petroleum refining facilities at an estimated cost of $6 million as part of two comprehensive Clean Air Act settlements.

A settlement with Honeywell International Inc. estimated to be worth more than $10 million will ensure that cleanup of the remaining areas of the Allied Chemical and Ironton Coke Superfund Site in Ironton, Ohio, will move forward.

Two Baton Rouge, La., tax return preparers were indicted today on charges of aiding in the preparation of false tax returns, the Justice Department and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced

Harold Hutcheson, a former captain at the Northwest Correctional Complex (NCC), in Tiptonville, Tenn., pleaded guilty today in federal court in Jackson, Tenn., to violating the civil rights of an inmate and then lying about it during the state and federal investigations.

Eight promoters of a fraudulent tax and debt elimination scheme were convicted of tax, wire fraud and money laundering charges by a federal jury following a month long trial in Pensacola, Fla.

The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Washington, alleges that KBR knowingly included impermissible costs for private armed security in billings to the Army.

Daimler AG, a German corporation, and three of its subsidiaries have resolved charges related to a Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) investigation into the company’s worldwide sales practices.

Francisco Cortes-Meza, 26, of Mexico, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Richard W. Story in the Northern District of Georgia for sex trafficking in an organization that targeted young Mexican women.

A superseding indictment unsealed this afternoon in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania charges Jamie Paulin Ramirez, a U.S. citizen and former resident of Colorado, and Colleen R. LaRose, aka "Fatima LaRose," aka "JihadJane," a resident of Pennsylvania, with conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists.

Mobil Natural Gas Inc., Mobil Exploration & Producing U.S. Inc. and their affiliates have agreed to pay the United States $32.2 million to resolve claims that they violated the False Claims Act by knowingly underpaying royalties owed on natural gas produced from federal and American Indian leases.

Miriam Freytes, 49, pleaded guilty today to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud before U.S. District Court Judge Denise Page Hood of the Eastern District of Michigan.

Learning Tree International Inc. has agreed to pay the United States $4.5 million to resolve allegations that it violated the False Claims Act when it improperly invoiced federal agencies in advance for information technology training courses and kept federal funds for training courses that were never actually provided.

Defendant Stephen Schultz was sentenced in connection with a series of Costa Rica-based business opportunity fraud ventures.

Six Miami-area residents have been charged for their alleged role in a $13.6 million health care fraud scheme involving a Miami-area HIV infusion clinic, announced the Departments of Justice and Health and Human Services (HHS).

U.S. District Judge Gray H. Miller sentenced Robert Luis Loya to three years in prison and five years of supervised release for violating the civil rights and the sexual abuse of females in his custody.

A Michigan man was sentenced today in Detroit to 81 months in prison for his role in a wide-ranging conspiracy to defraud the Medicare program.

Detroit-area residents Carlos Grana and Dwight Armstrong pleaded guilty today to engaging in a fraudulent medical testing scheme.

"Whether it is in counterterrorism, counter-narcotics, money laundering, smuggling or combating international organized crime, Spain has long been and will continue to be a strong partner for the United States," said Attorney General Holder.

A former Jackson County, Mo., sheriff’s deputy was sentenced in federal court today for violating the civil rights of a teenage girl whom he sexually assaulted in his patrol car.

Harry Abrahamsen, a resident of Oradell, N.J., pleaded guilty today to failure to file a Report of Foreign Bank or Financial Accounts.

“This forfeiture of more than $40 million in jewelry should remind criminals around the globe that they will be found, prosecuted and stripped of assets that are not theirs to keep,” said Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer.

The owner and operator of a Los Angeles durable medical equipment (DME) company pleaded guilty today to submitting nearly one half of a million dollars in false claims to Medicare.

The Department will monitor the municipal election on April 13, 2010, in the city of Walnut, Calif., to ensure compliance with the minority language requirements of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

William A. “Bill” White, the self-proclaimed commander of the neo-Nazi group the American National Socialist Workers Party, was sentenced today in federal court for threatening two individuals and for attempting to intimidate litigants in a federal housing discrimination lawsuit.

This Department of Justice will ensure that would-be human rights violators know that such crimes cannot – and will not – go unpunished. We will bear any burden and go to any length to insure that those who have committed these unspeakable crimes are brought to justice.

A federal grand jury in the District of Maryland has returned a 10-count indictment charging former National Security Agency (NSA) senior executive Thomas A. Drake with the willful retention of classified information, obstruction of justice and making false statements.

Michael Shane Minich, 35, a former Lee County, Miss., Sheriff’s Deputy, pleaded guilty today before U.S. District Judge Sharion Aycock, in Aberdeen, Miss., to depriving citizens of their civil rights under color of law by secretly removing cash from their wallets during traffic stops.

"These days of reflection are an important opportunity for us to come together in support of victims, to give voice to their suffering and to light the way toward a hopeful future," said Attorney General Holder.

The Justice Department will not pursue federal criminal civil rights charges against the eight Bay County, Fla., Boot Camp staff members involved in the incident that resulted in the death of 14-year-old Martin Lee Anderson.

The Attorney General’s annual victims’ service awards are presented as a prelude to the nation’s observance of National Crime Victims’ Rights Week, April 18-April 24, 2010.

The Department has entered into a consent decree with Milne Enterprises Inc., d/b/a Milne, Nail, Power Tool &s complaint alleging violations of the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994.

"Today, we’ve come together, from as far as Omaha and Albuquerque, Portland and Philadelphia, to recognize men and women who have found their calling in the service of others," said Attorney General Holder.

"We at the Justice Department have recommitted ourselves to this work. We’re strengthening civil rights protections in employment, housing, voting, and sentencing, and we’ve launched a new initiative aimed at expanding access to justice."

The United States has filed a civil suit on behalf of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in U.S. District Court in the Middle District of Florida, against Franck’s Compounding Lab Inc., dba Franck’s Lab, a compounding pharmacy located in Ocala, Fla.

The United States has sued an Ohio man and his company, seeking to bar them from promoting a scheme that allegedly helps customers claim improper theft loss tax deductions.

Westward Seafoods Inc., the operator of a seafood processing plant in Dutch Harbor, Alaska, will pay a $570,000 civil penalty as part of a settlement agreement to resolve alleged violations of the Clean Air Act and the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act.

Hovnanian Enterprises Inc., a national residential homebuilder, has agreed today to pay a $1 million civil penalty to resolve alleged Clean Water Act violations at 591 construction sites in 18 states and the District of Columbia.

Richard Humphrey, 22, of North Ridgeville, Ohio, was sentenced today in Cleveland to 29 months in prison by U.S. District Court Judge Lesley Wells for selling counterfeit copies of copyrighted movies through the Internet.

The Office of Special Counsel for Immigration Related Unfair Employment Practices today announced grant funding available for public education programs that provide workers or employers with information about immigration-related employment discrimination under the anti-discrimination provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act.

The Antitrust Division today issued the first ever electronic-only version of its 2010 annual newsletter

"I also am personally committed to the restoration and transformation of the Civil Rights Division, as is the Attorney General, whose support of the Division has been unwavering and complete," said Assistant Attorney General Perez.