Computer Assets Inc. and its principals, Abraham Salazar and Damon Salazar, have agreed to pay $350,000 over three years and surrender up to $35 million in pending E-Rate applications to settle allegations that the company violated the False Claims Act in connection with the Federal Communications Commission’s E-Rate program.

Two dual Afghan/U.S. citizens were charged today with conspiracy and bribery in connection with a scheme to offer $1 million in bribes to a U.S. Army contracting official in order to influence the award of a road construction contract in Afghanistan.

The former and current owners and operators of a chemical facility in Addyston, Ohio, LANXESS Corp. and INEOS ABS USA Corp., have agreed to pay a $3.1 million civil penalty and INEOS will spend up to $2 million to install environmental controls and modify operating procedures to resolve violations of multiple environmental laws.

A Canadian citizen has been charged in an indictment unsealed yesterday for his alleged participation 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.

Attorney General Eric H. Holder, Jr., announced today the appointment John H. Guendelsberger as a new member of the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA). The BIA is part of the Justice Department’s Executive Office for Immigration Review located in Falls Church, Va., and is responsible for hearing appeals of decisions rendered by immigration judges or certain Department of Homeland Security officers.

"I stand here to celebrate the more than $12 million that has been awarded to the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department to fund the hiring and rehiring of 50 law enforcement officers in the District. These funds will provide 100 percent of the approved salary and benefits for these officers for three years, and all police departments receiving the grants will then be required to retain the grant-funded positions for a fourth year."

Aleris International Inc., one of the nation’s largest aluminum recyclers, and 13 of its subsidiaries have committed to implementing environmental improvements and controls projected to cost $4.2 million at 15 plants located in 11 states.

Paul Revere Transportation LLC, a bus company based in Boston, has agreed to pay a $650,000 civil penalty after being found liable by a jury in June for violating federal and state clean air laws for idling their buses for extended periods of time. The company was found liable on June 8, 2009, after a six-day trial in U.S. District Court in Boston, for 234 separate violations of the Clean Air Act and a Massachusetts anti-idling regulation.

The Justice Department announced an agreement with the former owners and managers of Valley View Apartments in Longview, Wash., to settle allegations that they violated the Fair Housing Act by intentionally discriminating against an individual with a disability.

"People who actually work in law enforcement, and people who actually work in our nation’s schools, know that our jobs are closely interwoven. When their neighborhoods and homes don’t feel safe, our children have a tough time paying attention in school. And when our children are not engaged at school, they’re going to be much more likely to get into trouble outside of it."

Rene Soliz of Alice, Texas, was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Corpus Christi, Texas, to serve three years of supervised probation, 250 hours of community service and pay a $1,500 fine for violating the Lacey Act by attempting to receive 15 Tanzanian leopard tortoises that were transported into the United States.

The United States has filed a lawsuit to bar a married couple’s alleged nationwide tax fraud scheme involving so-called asset protection.

A federal jury today convicted former United States Congressman William J. Jefferson, 62, of New Orleans, La., of using his office to corruptly solicit bribes.

Aggregate Industries - Northeast Region Inc., will pay a $2.75 million civil penalty and implement a regional evaluation and compliance program to resolve numerous violations of the Clean Water Act at 23 facilities in Massachusetts and New Hampshire.

Union Pacific Railroad Company (UP) has agreed to settle alleged violations of the Clean Water Act in Nevada by restoring 122 acres of mountain-desert streams and wetlands, implementing storm water controls at its construction sites, and paying a civil penalty.

Miami physician Keith Russell, 65, and physician’s assistant Jorge Luis Pacheco, 50, were each sentenced to 97 months in prison, and physician’s assistant Eda Marietta Milanes, 43, was sentenced to 63 months in prison, for their roles in fraud schemes that involved billing Medicare for $10,903,509 worth of unnecessary HIV infusion treatments.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) signed two Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) on Thursday, Aug. 6, 2009, to foster increased communication between participating agencies at the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) Fusion Center and the International Organized Crime Intelligence and Operations Center (IOC-2).

A federal jury has found Ehsanul Islam Sadequee, 23, of Roswell, Ga., guilty on all four counts of an indictment charging him with supporting terrorists and a foreign terrorist organization, after a trial that lasted seven days.

Exxon-Mobil Corporation, the world’s largest publicly traded oil and gas company, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Denver to violating the federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA) in five states during the past five years.

Fleet Management Ltd., a Hong Kong-based ship management firm, pleaded guilty today to a criminal violation of the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 for its role in negligently causing the discharge of more than 50,000 gallons of fuel oil into San Francisco Bay from the Cosco Busan when the vessel struck the San Francisco Bay Bridge in dense fog on Nov. 7, 2007.

The Boeing Company will pay the United States $25 million to resolve allegations that the company performed defective work on the entire KC-10 Extender fleet. The KC-10 Extender is a mainstay of the Air Force’s aerial refueling fleet in the Iraq and Afghanistan war theaters.

The operator and manager of the Rathbone Retirement Community in Evansville, Ind., has agreed to pay up to $116,000 to resolve a housing discrimination lawsuit. The November 2008 lawsuit alleged that the defendants violated the Fair Housing Act by prohibiting the use of motorized wheelchairs and scooters in residents’ apartments and in the home’s common dining room during meals.

Dynamics Research Corporation (DRC), a defense contractor based in Andover, Mass., has agreed to pay the United States $15 million plus interest to settle allegations that two of its former executives engaged in a fraudulent kickback scheme in connection with two technical services contracts with the Air Force.

Mohammad Shabbir Khan, the former director of operations in Kuwait and Iraq for Tamimi Global Company, a Saudi Arabian company, has been convicted of witness tampering and conspiracy to commit witness tampering.

A federal jury in San Juan, Puerto Rico, found four San Juan Municipal Police Officers guilty today of felony federal civil rights charges related to the fatal beating of Jose Antonio Rivera Robles.

A pipeline company and two of its former operating firms will jointly pay a civil penalty of $3.65 million to resolve violations of the Clean Water Act resulting from anhydrous ammonia spills in Nebraska and Kansas, the Justice Department and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced today. The spills which occurred in 2004 resulted in significant fish kills in surrounding waterways.

Albert Gonzalez, 28, of Miami, Fla., was indicted today for conspiring to hack into computer networks supporting major American retail and financial organizations, and stealing data relating to more than 130 million credit and debit cards. Among the corporate victims named in the indictment are Heartland Payment Systems, a New Jersey-based card payment processor; 7-Eleven Inc., a Texas-based nationwide convenience store chain; and Hannaford Brothers Co. Inc., a Maine-based supermarket chain.

Craig Shaber, an attorney from San Diego was arraigned today before Magistrate Judge Anthony J. Battaglia in that city on charges of conspiracy to defraud the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and tax evasion for years 2000 to 2002. On Aug. 14, 2009, Steven Wright, an accountant, pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge Jan M. Adler to one count of tax evasion for the 2000 tax year.

Five members of an extended family were sentenced to federal prison late yesterday, all receiving lengthy sentences for their roles in an international sex trafficking ring that lured young Guatemalan women and girls to the Los Angeles area and forced them into prostitution.

Miami residents Jose and Arnaldo Rosario pleaded guilty today to participating in a conspiracy to defraud the Medicare program of approximately $15.3 million. Both defendants pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud before U.S. District Judge Gerald Rosen.

Cooper Land Development, Inc., a luxury home development company headquartered in Rogers, Ark., has agreed to pay a civil penalty and implement a storm water compliance program at its construction sites to settle allegations that it violated the Clean Water Act.

A former member of the U.S. armed services was sentenced today to 28 months in prison for his role in a widespread bribery and extortion conspiracy that operated from January 2002 through March 2004.

Hansruedi Schumacher and Matthias Rickenbach, both of Switzerland, were indicted today for conspiring to defraud the United States. According to the indictment, Schumacher worked as an executive manager at Neue Zuercher Bank (NZB), a Swiss private bank located in Zurich, Switzerland. Rickenbach worked as a Swiss attorney who provided legal advice and services to U.S. clients.

Two manufacturing companies, in separate settlements, have agreed to pay civil penalties and take corrective measures to settle Clean Air Act violations resulting from explosions at two plants in 2002 and 2003 in Louisville, Ky., and Pascagoula, Miss.

Tyson Fresh Meats, Inc., the world’s largest supplier of premium beef and pork, has agreed to pay a $2,026,500 civil penalty to settle allegations that it violated terms of a 2002 consent decree and a federally-issued pollution discharge permit at its meat processing facility in Dakota City, Neb.

“We are extremely disappointed with the Scottish Executive's decision to release Abdel Basset Mohamed al-Megrahi. The interests of justice have not been served by this decision. There is simply no justification for releasing this convicted terrorist whose actions took the lives of 270 individuals, including 189 Americans. Megrahi did not show and has not shown compassion for innocent human life, and as we communicated to the Scottish authorities and the UK government, it continues to be our position that he should have been required to serve the entire sentence handed down for his crimes. Our deepest sympathies go out to the families of those whose loved ones were killed in 1988 due to Megrahi's vicious actions.”

Raschad L. “Sean” Lewis, a former fuel section employee of Kellogg Brown and Root Inc. (KBR) assigned to Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan, was sentenced today to 84 months in prison for his role in a bribery and a fuel diversion scheme. U.S. District Court Judge Leonie M. Brinkema also ordered Lewis to pay $891,000 in restitution and serve three years of supervised release.

Donald Platten of Boca Raton, Fla., was convicted today of conspiracy, securities fraud and tax charges following a jury trial before Judge Donald Middlebrooks in West Palm Beach, Fla. In December 2008, Platten was indicted on 17 charges, including conspiracy to commit securities fraud, securities fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud and impeding the internal revenue laws.

A former Congressional staffer and chief of staff in two federal agencies was indicted today by a federal grand jury in the District of Columbia on public corruption charges, the Justice Department announced. The five-count indictment charges Horace M. Cooper, 44, of Lorton, Va., with one count of conspiracy, one count of fraudulent concealment, two counts of false statements, and one count of obstruction of an official proceeding. U.S. Magistrate Judge Alan Kay today issued a criminal summons directing Cooper to make an initial appearance in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2009, at 1:45 p.m.

Attorney General Eric Holder has appointed U.S. Attorney for the District of Minnesota B. Todd Jones to chair the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee (AGAC) of U.S. Attorneys.

The Department of Justice today announced that Mohammed Jawad, a native of Afghanistan, has been transferred from the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay to Afghanistan.

Covenant Medical Center in Waterloo, Iowa has agreed to pay the United States $4.5 million to resolve allegations that it violated the False Claims Act. This settlement resolves allegations that Covenant submitted false claims to Medicare by having financial relationships with five physicians that violated the Stark Law.

Japanese electronics manufacturer Epson Imaging Devices Corporation (Epson) agreed to plead guilty and pay a $26 million criminal fine for its role in a conspiracy to fix prices in the sale of Thin Film Transistor-Liquid Crystal Display panels (TFT-LCD) sold to Motorola Inc.

Lee William Dubois, a former Department of Defense contractor, was sentenced today to three years in prison for his participation in a scheme to steal fuel worth approximately $39.6 million from the U.S. Army in Iraq.

Two demolition and salvage companies and three of their respective owners and supervisors were indicted today by a federal grand jury in Chattanooga, Tenn. The indictment describes a year-long scheme in which the former Standard Coosa Thatcher plant in Chattanooga was illegally demolished while still containing large amounts of asbestos.

A federal grand jury in Denver has charged Donald Hertz with transmitting a threat in interstate commerce and with violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act for allegedly threatening an employee of a Colorado abortion clinic.

Eugene Morris, a former correctional officer with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, was sentenced today in federal court in Houston for providing a false statement related to a federal civil rights investigation. Morris was sentenced to two years in prison and two years of supervised release.

The Justice Department today filed a lawsuit against the developer of the Riverwalk Condominiums, a condominium apartment complex in Post Falls, Idaho, for violating the Fair Housing Act by constructing apartments that do not have required accessibility for individuals with disabilities.

"Senator Kennedy’s accomplished life came to a close last night but in the struggle to provide justice and equality for all Americans we will work every day to ensure that his cause endures and that his dreams for a better America never die."

The United States and the state of Illinois have filed a civil complaint against Midwest Generation LLC, alleging that the company violated, and continues to violate, the Clean Air Act, announced the Justice Department, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Illinois Attorney General’s office.