The Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced today additional details for the August 27, 2010, public workshop in Fort Collins, Colo., which will examine competition in the livestock industry.

The United States has settled alleged violations of federal and state underground storage tank (UST) regulations at 17 gas stations in Delaware and Maryland formerly owned by Duncan Petroleum Corp.

Sergei Tšurikov, 26, of Tallinn, Estonia, has been extradited to the United States to face charges of hacking into a computer network operated by an Atlanta-based credit card processing company.

Plains All American Pipeline L.P. and several of its operating subsidiaries will spend approximately $41 million over the next three years to prevent and remediate corrosion, improve leak detection practices and capabilities, and enhance pipeline oversight on 10,420 miles of crude oil pipeline operated in the United States.

Vladislav Anatolievich Horohorin, 27, aka “BadB” of Moscow, Russia, was indicted by a federal grand jury in November 2009 on charges of access device fraud and aggravated identity theft.

A New York corporation, whose principal place of business is Newnan, Ga., was sentenced to pay a $3.3 million criminal fine for conspiring to allocate customers in the food service equipment hardware market, including walk-in refrigeration equipment.

Charles Yi and John Bostick were arrested Wednesday for violations of the Clean Air Act’s asbestos work practice standards committed during the renovation of a 204-unit apartment building in Winnetka, Calif., in January through February of 2006.

The Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced today the agenda and panelists for the Aug. 27, 2010, joint public workshop in Fort Collins, Colo., on competition in the livestock industry.

The United States has asked a federal court to permanently bar a California man from promoting alleged sham pension-plan and welfare-benefit-plan tax fraud schemes.

The Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of Agriculture today held the fourth of five joint public workshops to explore the appropriate role for antitrust and regulatory enforcement in American agriculture.

Juan Javier Cardenas of Miami pleaded guilty today to one count of conspiracy to traffic in and possess unauthorized credit card numbers with intent to defraud, and one count of trafficking in unauthorized credit card numbers, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division; U.S. Attorney Wifredo A. Ferrer for the Southern District of Florida; Special Agent in Charge Michael K. Fithen of the U.S. Secret Service, Miami Field Office; and Special Agent in Charge Kenneth T. Jenkins Jr., of the U.S. Secret Service, Criminal Investigative Division.

Cesar Carranza, a resident of Long Beach, Calif., was sentenced today to 72 months in prison for his role in laundering $2.5 million dollars in proceeds derived from several stolen credit card information schemes.

Tomme Bromseth, of Blackstone, Va., pleaded guilty today to mail fraud and structuring financial transactions to evade reporting requirements in conjunction with his role as a sales agent for A&O Life Funds and various related A&O entities.

The United States has filed a complaint asking a Virginia federal court to permanently bar three firms and three men from promoting a nationwide “HedgeLoan” scheme that the complaint alleges involves the disguised sale of more than $268 million in securities.

Three individuals pleaded guilty today in connection with a Medicare fraud scheme operated out of a Houston-area durable medical equipment (DME) company.

The Department of Justice announced today that it has reached a settlement with six high technology companies–Adobe Systems Inc., Apple Inc., Google Inc., Intel Corp., Intuit Inc. and Pixar–that prevents them from entering into no solicitation agreements for employees.

The Justice Department today announced that the Housing Authority for the city of Royston, Ga., (RHA) has agreed to pay up to $270,000 to resolve allegations that it engaged in a pattern or practice of discriminating against applicants for housing and tenants based on race.

An owner of two Houston health care companies pleaded guilty today in connection with a $6.3 million Medicare fraud scheme, announced the Departments of Justice and Health and Human Services (HHS).

Today, the Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division, and the Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights, reached a settlement agreement with the Boston School Committee, the governing body of the Boston Public Schools, and its superintendent.

Princewill Njoku, 51, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Court Judge Gray Miller in Houston to conspiracy to commit health care fraud.

A federal jury in Utica, N.Y. has found Certified Environmental Services Inc. (CES); two of its managers, Nicole Copeland and Elisa Dunn; and one of its employees, Sandy Allen, guilty of conspiring to aid and abet Clean Air Act violations, commit mail fraud, and defraud the United States.

Seven additional Houston-area residents who allegedly served as patient recruiters and a nurse have been charged for their alleged participation in a $5 million Medicare home healthcare fraud scheme.

Cynthia Garza-Williams, 49, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit health care fraud before U.S. District Court Judge Nancy Atlas in Houston.

A patient recruiter for a Houston-based home health care company pleaded guilty today in connection with a $5.2 million Medicare fraud scheme.

A securities attorney and a former stock broker were sentenced today to 188 months and 151 months in prison, respectively, for their roles in an extensive pump-and-dump stock manipulation scheme.

An Atlanta grand jury returned an indictment today against the former president and chief executive officer of a Lakewood, N.J.-based manufacturer and distributor of food service equipment hardware, for conspiring to allocate customers for the sale of commercial and institutional food service equipment hardware.

Robert Jackson, 37, of Ruston, La., was sentenced to 12 months in federal prison for placing a hangman’s noose under the carport of the home of a Honduran immigrant who moved to Ruston from New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

A jury in Rochester, N.Y., convicted Keith Gordon-Smith, and his Rochester-based asbestos abatement company, Gordon-Smith Contracting, Inc. (GSCI) of eight counts of knowing violations of the Clean Air Act asbestos work practice standards.

Juan Javier Cardenas of Miami was sentenced today in the Southern District of Florida to 121 months in prison for buying, trafficking and possessing stolen credit card information.

Houston-area residents Oliver Nkuku and Callistus Edozie were sentenced to 120 months in prison and 41 months in prison, respectively, for their roles in a durable medical equipment (DME) Medicare fraud scheme.

Attorney General Eric Holder and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius visited Boston today, where they participated in the fourth Regional Health Care Fraud Prevention Summit.

The Department of Justice has reached a settlement today with Lucasfilm Ltd. that prevents it from entering into agreements restraining employee recruitment.

Houston-area residents Dr. Howard Grant, Obisike Nwankwo and John Lachman were sentenced today to 41 months in prison, 21 months in prison, and 26 months in prison, respectively, for their roles in a multi-million dollar durable medical equipment Medicare fraud scheme.

Fastenal Company, a national hardware store distributor, has reached a settlement with the United States following an investigation of alleged false claims in connection with a General Services Administration contract.

Brian Lewis of Modesto, Calif., and Abel Mark Gonzalez of Morgan Hill, Calif., pleaded guilty today before U.S. District Judge Lawrence J. O’Neill to conspiring to violate the civil rights of congregants of Congregation Beth Shalom, a synagogue in Modesto, Calif.

Two owners of a Houston health care company pleaded guilty today in connection with an alleged $5.2 million Medicare fraud scheme.

The United States has filed a complaint against Boston Scientific Corp. and related Guidant entities under the False Claims Act for conduct relating to certain of its cardiac devices.

Andrew Kerber, 22, of Chico, Calif., pleaded guilty today before U.S. District Judge Lawrence J. O’Neill in Fresno, Calif., to violating the civil rights of congregants of Congregation Beth Shalom, a synagogue in Modesto, Calif.

An indictment unsealed today in Detroit charges stock broker Gregg M. Berger of New York for his role in a wide-ranging fraud scheme to illegally pump-and-dump thinly-traded Chinese and Israeli stocks.

The United States has sued David Champion of Pahrump, Nev., seeking to bar him from promoting an alleged tax fraud scheme designed to assist his customers evade paying federal taxes.

"Today, as we commemorate Black History Month, we honor our nation’s past. But we must also reaffirm our vision of the future that we will share and, together, must build."

Six individuals, including a securities attorney, were charged in an indictment unsealed today with defrauding investors in a stock manipulation scheme from 2003 to 2008.

"Agent Zapata’s story is one that we must not forget. And it’s one that we won’t. He was a hero in every sense of the word, a man whose acts of valor are a testament to what is best about our country and our national – and international – law enforcement community."

The United States has asked a federal court to stop Cecil Collier, who operates under the trade name “Cairo Fast Tax,” from preparing federal tax returns for others.

John Bostick pleaded guilty today to conspiracy to violate the Clean Air Act’s asbestos work practice standards during the renovation of a 204-unit apartment building in Winnetka, Calif., in 2006.

"Each February – since Black History Month was established more than half a century ago – we rededicate ourselves to racial and social equality; to the work of ensuring economic opportunity; and to the values that have defined and strengthened our nation: tolerance; compassion; and – above all – justice."

"Each year, as we commemorate Black History Month, we are called to reconnect – and to rededicate ourselves – to the principles at the core of all that we stand for, and all that we fight for, in this Department."

"It was here that I first learned to be a lawyer; where I learned my most important lessons about law and public service; and where I learned something that all of you already know: that the small steps we take in service can create giant leaps of difference."

A Houston bus company was fined $55,000 for violating passenger carrier accessibility requirements under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

Honeywell International Inc. pleaded guilty today in federal district court in Benton, Ill., to one felony offense for knowingly storing hazardous waste without a permit in violation of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA).