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United States Transfers One Guantanamo Bay Detainee to Kuwait

Fouad Mahmoud al-Rabiah, a Kuwaiti national, has been transferred from the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay to the control of the government of Kuwait.



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Justice Department Settles Lawsuit Alleging Retaliation by City of Fort Pierce, Florida

“Our nation’s civil rights laws ensure that every individual can go to work each day without fear of discrimination based on the color of their skin,” said Assistant Attorney General Thomas Perez.



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Largest Environmental Bankruptcy in U.S. History Will Result in Payment of $1.79 Billion Towards Environmental Cleanup & Restoration

As a result of the largest environmental bankruptcy in U.S. history, $1.79 billion has been paid to fund environmental cleanup and restoration under a bankruptcy reorganization of American Smelting and Refining Company LLC (ASARCO).



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Statement by Attorney General Eric Holder and Education Secretary Arne Duncan on Joint Study on School Crime and Safety

“Eradicating youth violence is a priority of this administration and a priority of both these agencies," said Attorney General Holder and Education Secretary Duncan.



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Statement of Associate Attorney General Thomas J. Perrelli Before the U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee of Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security Entitled "H.r. 1924, the Tribal Law and Order Act of 2009"

"The challenges facing law enforcement in tribal communities are enormous. The basic level of police protection that most Americans take for granted simply does not exist in many parts of Indian Country. We have a duty to change that."




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Physical Therapist, Money Launderer and Patient Recruiter Plead Guilty in Connection with Multiple Detroit Health Care Fraud Schemes

Detroit-area residents Baskaran Thangarasan, Sandeep Aggarwal and Wayne Smith pleaded guilty this week for their roles in connection with several Detroit-area health care fraud schemes.



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Former Navy Master Chief Petty Officer Sentenced to Four Years in Prison for Participating in Scheme to Steal Large Quantities of Fuel from U.S. Army in Iraq

Robert Jeffery, 55, a former master chief petty officer in the U.S. Navy, was sentenced today to four years in prison for his participation in a scheme to steal approximately 10 million gallons of fuel from the U.S. Army in Iraq, announced Assistant Attorney General of the Criminal Division Lanny A. Breuer and U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia Neil H. MacBride.



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Attorney General Eric Holder at the Installation Ceremony for Assistant Attorneys General Laurie Robinson and Ronald Weich

"Laurie and Ron are not only valued colleagues, they are leaders in the Department and throughout this Administration," said Attorney General Holder.




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Terrorism Defendants Sentenced in Atlanta

Ehsanul Islam Sadequee, 23, of Roswell, Ga., and Syed Haris Ahmed, 25, of Atlanta, were sentenced today in federal court following their convictions earlier this year in separate but related criminal trials.



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Presidential Task Force on Controlled Unclassified Information Releases Report and Recommendations

Attorney General Holder and Secretary Janet Napolitano announced two major steps in their efforts to implement reforms to enhance information sharing among federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies and safeguard sensitive information used by the government—designed to expand joint capabilities to protect the United States from terrorist activity, violent crime and other threats to the homeland.



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Two Shenandoah, Pennsylvania, Men and Four Police Officers Indicted for Hate Crime and Related Corruption

A federal grand jury has returned multiple indictments arising out of a fatal racially motivated beating and related police corruption in Shenandoah, Pa.



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Los Angeles Area Tax Preparer Sentenced to Six Months in Prison for Violating Injunction

James A. Mattatall of Torrance, Calif., was sentenced to six months in prison for violating a permanent injunction.



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Medicare Fraud Strike Force Expands Operations into Brooklyn, N.Y.; Tampa, Fla.; and Baton Rouge, La.

Thirty people have been charged in three cities for their alleged roles in schemes to submit more than $61 million in false Medicare claims as part of the continuing operation of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force.



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Former Senate Employee Charged with $75,000 Wire Fraud Scheme

Ngozi T. Pole, 39, a former office manager in the U.S. Senate, was charged today in a six-count indictment for an alleged scheme to defraud the U.S. Senate of more than $75,000, Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division announced today.



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Parent Company of Two New Jersey Hospitals to Pay U.S. $7.95 Million to Settle False Claims Act Allegations

Our Lady of Lourdes Health Care Services Inc., the parent company of two New Jersey hospitals, has agreed to pay the United States $7.95 million to resolve allegations that the hospitals defrauded Medicare.



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Former State Department Employee Sentenced for Illegally Accessing Confidential Passport Files

Karal Busch, 28, of District Heights, Md., was sentenced today to 24 months of probation for illegally accessing more than 65 confidential passport application files.



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Attorney General Eric Holder at the Fatherhood Town Hall

"I’m honored to be joined here this evening by fellow dads and leaders focused on fatherhood," said Attorney General Holder.




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Assistant Attorney General for Antitrust, Christine Varney, Issues Statement on European Commission Microsoft Settlement

“The Antitrust Division commends the efforts of the European Commission and Microsoft Corporation, which have announced that they have reached a comprehensive settlement resolving their disputes under European competition law."



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Credit Suisse Agrees to Forfeit $536 Million in Connection with Violations of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and New York State Law

The forfeiture is the largest ever entered against an entity for IEEPA violations.



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Former Kansas Businessman Sentenced to 57 Months in Prison for Role in Scheme to Defraud Federal E-rate Program

Leonard Douglas “Doug” LaDuron also was ordered to pay $238,607 in restitution.



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Attorney General Eric Holder at a Press Conference Announcing the Credit Suisse Resolution

"The U.S. financial system is built on trust and transparency. Our banks must know what payments they are processing and for whom. Credit Suisse’s decades-long scheme to flout the rules that govern our financial institutions robbed our system of the legitimacy that is fundamental to it success."




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Guyanese National Charged with Smuggling Indian Nationals to the United States

Annita Devi Gerald, aka Annita Rampersad, 52, was charged in a nine-count indictment returned yesterday by a federal grand jury in the Southern District of Texas.



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Former FBI Contract Linguist Pleads Guilty to Leaking Classified Information to Blogger

Shamai Kedem Leibowitz, aka Samuel Shamai Leibowitz, 39, of Silver Spring, Md., pleaded guilty in federal court in Greenbelt, Md., to a one-count information charging him with knowingly and willfully disclosing to an unauthorized person five FBI documents classified at the "secret" level that contained classified information concerning the communication intelligence activities of the United States.



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Three New York City Home Health Agencies Pay $9.7 Million to the United States to Settle False Claims Act Claims

The United States and the state of New York have entered into settlement agreements with three home health agencies to resolve allegations that they submitted false claims to the New York Medicaid and Medicare programs.



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Roanoke, Virginia, Neo-Nazi Convicted for Threats, Witness Intimidation

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



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United States Transfers 12 Guantanamo Bay Detainees to Afghanistan, Yemen and the Somaliland Region

These transfers were carried out under individual arrangements between the United States and relevant foreign authorities to ensure the transfers took place under appropriate security measures.



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Former New York State Supreme Court Justice Thomas J. Spargo Sentenced for Attempted Extortion and Bribery

Former New York State Supreme Court Justice Thomas J. Spargo was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Gary Sharpe in Albany, N.Y. to 27 months in prison followed by two years of supervised release for attempted extortion and bribery, Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division and Special Agent in Charge John F. Pikus of the FBI’s Albany office announced.



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Duke Energy to Spend Approximately $93 Million to Resolve Clean Air Act Violations

“This important settlement resolves lengthy litigation on very favorable terms,” said Ignacia S. Moreno, Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division.



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Two Former San Juan Municipal Police Officers Sentenced for Using Excessive Force Resulting in Death

Elias Perocier Morales received a sentence of 10 years in prison and Eliezer Rivera Gonzalez received a sentence of six and a half years in prison.



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Settlement Reached at Sutton Brook Disposal Area Superfund Site in Massachusetts

A settlement estimated worth more than $30 million will ensure that cleanup of the Sutton Brook Disposal Area Superfund Site in Tewksbury, Mass., will move forward, the Justice Department and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection announced today.



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Oklahoma Hospital Group Pays U.S. $13 Million to Settle False Claims Act Allegations

“The resolution of this matter yielded a substantial recovery for taxpayers, and it underscores our commitment to ensure that services reimbursable by federal health care programs are based on the best interests of patients rather than the personal financial interests of referring physicians,” said Tony West, Assistant Attorney General for the Department’s Civil Division.



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Visiting Physicians Association to Pay $9.5 Million to Resolve False Claims Act Allegations

Visiting Physicians Association, which is based in Farmington Hills, Mich., will pay the United States and the state of Michigan $9.5 million to settle allegations that the association violated the False Claims Act by submitting false claims to Medicare, TRICARE and the Michigan Medicaid program.



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Attorney General Appoints Gary Grindler Acting Deputy Attorney General

“Gary is a great asset to the Department, and I am pleased he has agreed to take on this responsibility,” Attorney General Eric Holder said.



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Chevron to Pay U.S. More Than $45 Million to Resolve Allegations of False Claims for Royalties Underpayment

Chevron Corporation, Texaco, Unocal Incorporated and their affiliates (the Chevron companies) have agreed to pay the United States $45,569,584.74, to resolve claims that they violated the False Claims Act by knowingly underpaying royalties owed on natural gas produced from federal and Indian leases.



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Justice Department to Participate in Community Integration Case in North Carolina

The Department filed a brief as a friend of the court in Marlo M., et al. v. Cansler, et al., a community integration case in federal court for the Eastern District of North Carolina.



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Ohio Attorney Charged with Tax Fraud, Obstruction of Justice for Scheme to Hide Income and Assets Through Trusts and in Foreign Bank Account

Aristotle R. Matsa, an attorney in Columbus, Ohio, was charged with tax offenses, obstruction of justice and additional charges in a 20-count indictment unsealed today.



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Nigerian National Charged with Attempting to Destroy Northwest Airlines Aircraft

A 23-year-old Nigerian man was charged in a federal criminal complaint today with attempting to destroy a Northwest Airlines aircraft on its final approach to Detroit Metropolitan Airport on Christmas Day, and with placing a destructive device on the aircraft.



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Michigan Health Care Provider to Pay United States $669,413 to Settle False Claims Allegations

“As this case demonstrates, we are committed to vigorously pursuing those who defraud Medicare.”



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Colorado-based Spectranetics Corporation to Pay $5 Million to Resolve Allegations Relating to Its Medical Devices

“The Department of Justice will be vigilant in pursuing cases against medical device companies that break the law and defraud taxpayers,” said Tony West, Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Civil Division.



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Major International Hacker Pleads Guilty for Massive Attack on U.S. Retail and Banking Networks

Albert Gonzalez pleaded guilty to conspiracy to gain unauthorized access to the payment card networks operated by, among others, Heartland Payment Systems, 7-Eleven and Hannaford Brothers Co. Inc.



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Minnesota Hospital to Pay U.S. to Resolve Allegations of False Claims Involving Unnecessary Admissions

Wheaton Community Hospital, the City of Wheaton, Minn. and Dr. Stanley Gallagher (collectively WCH) have agreed to pay $846,461 to settle allegations that their hospital admission practices violated the False Claims Act.



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Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab Indicted for Attempted Bombing of Flight 253 on Christmas Day

"Anyone we find responsible for this alleged attack will be brought to justice using every tool -- military or judicial -- available to our government.”



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Justice Department Files Six Lawsuits to Enjoin Preparation of Fraudulent Federal Income Tax Returns

The United States this week filed five civil injunction lawsuits in Detroit, Cincinnati and Chicago against several individuals and their tax preparation services.



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Former Military Official Sentenced to Three Years in Prison for Participation in Bribery Conspiracy Involving $206 Million Telecommunications Contract in Korea

A former Army and Air Force Exchange Service (AAFES) official was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Columbus, Ga., to three years in prison for his role in a bribery conspiracy involving a multi-million dollar telecommunications contract, and for not reporting the bribes he accepted on his income tax returns.



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Two Individuals Charged with Murder and Other Offenses Related to Shooting Death of Two Afghan Nationals in Kabul, Afghanistan

Justin Cannon, 27, of Corpus Christi, Texas, and Christopher Drotleff, 29, of Virginia Beach, Va., have been charged with crimes including second-degree murder, attempted murder and firearms offenses while working as contractors for the U.S. Department of Defense in Afghanistan. Cannon and Drotleff were charged under the Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act (MEJA).



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Justice Department Files Lawsuit Alleging New Jersey’s Written Civil Service Examination for Promotion to Police Sergeant Discriminates Against African-Americans and Hispanics

The Department filed a lawsuit against the state of New Jersey and the New Jersey Civil Service Commission alleging a pattern or practice of employment discrimination against African-Americans and Hispanics, in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964



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Justice Department Reaches Agreement with New York City to Correct Conditions at Kings County Hospital Center

The Department’s Civil Rights Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York have entered into an agreement with New York City to correct conditions of confinement at the Kings County Hospital Center’s (KCHC) psychiatric emergency room and psychiatric in-patient units located in Brooklyn, N.Y.



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Attorney General Eric Holder at the Forum Club of the Palm Beaches

"We cannot ignore the fact that protecting our economy is an essential component of our larger security goals," said Attorney General Holder.




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Florida Man Sentenced to 90 Months in Prison for Extortion, Making Interstate Threats, Computer Fraud and Identity Theft

A Florida man has been sentenced to 90 months in prison for making e-mail and telephone threats, including threats intended to cause a candidate for statewide office in Florida to drop out of an election.



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Associate Attorney General Perrelli Hosts Town Hall Commemorating National Stalking Awareness Month

“This year cannot just be an anniversary – it must be a call to action.  The Department is marking this year with our renewed dedication and a recommitment to ending violence against women.”



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