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Statement by Attorney General Holder on Sentencing Commission’s Vote to Approve Reductions in Sentencing Guidelines for Nonviolent Drug Offenders

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder—who testified before the U.S. Sentencing Commission last month in support of a proposal to reduce the federal sentencing guidelines for low-level, nonviolent drug offenders—released the following statement Thursday in response to the Commission voting to formally adopt those changes.



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Queens, N.Y., Tax Preparer Indicted for Filing False Tax Returns

The Justice Department and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced that Celamour Berus, of Springfield Gardens, N.Y., was arrested for multiple tax crimes today following his indictment on April 3, 2014.



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Assistant Attorney General Bill Baer Speaks at the Pen and Pad Briefing on the Justice Department and Federal Trade Commission Joint Antitrust Policy Statement on Sharing of Cybersecurity Information

"This is an antitrust no-brainer: Companies who engage in properly designed cyber threat information sharing will not run afoul of the antitrust laws. This means that as long as companies don’t discuss competitive information such as pricing and output when sharing cybersecurity information, they’re okay," said Assistant Attorney General Baer.




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Remarks as Prepared for Delivery by Acting Assistant Attorney General Jocelyn Samuels at the Press Conference to Announce the Albuquerque Police Department Investigative Findings

"This investigation was not an easy task, but through all of these efforts, we made certain to gather the facts and apply the law to the facts to reach our conclusions."




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Remarks as Prepared for Delivery by Deputy Attorney General James M. Cole at the Pen and Pad Briefing on the Justice Department and Federal Trade Commission Joint Antitrust Policy Statement on Sharing of Cybersecurity Information

"This joint guidance is an important step in making clear that legitimate cyber threat sharing can help secure the nation’s networks and that it can occur without raising antitrust liability issues."




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Indiana Physician Sentenced for Failing to Pay Employment Taxes

Ronald Eugene Jamerson, 56, of Schererville, Ind., was sentenced to serve 12 months and one day in prison by U.S. District Judge Phillip P. Simon.



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Attorney General Eric Holder Delivers Remarks at the Bridge Drug Court Ceremony in Charleston, South Carolina

I know the paths that brought you to this courtroom have been anything but easy. But each of you is here today because you’ve decided not to let past choices – and challenges – define you. You’re working hard to stay on a constructive path. And I am proud of every one of you.




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Attorney General Eric Holder Delivers Remarks at Dedication Ceremony for Statue Honoring Judge J. Waties Waring

At the time of Judge Waring’s landmark dissent in Briggs v. Elliott, I was less than six months old, and the Supreme Court’s decision in Brown v. Board of Education was nearly three years away. Yet because of Judge Waring’s powerful words – and the legal foundation they helped to provide – my generation would be the very first to come of age in a post-Brown America. And we were the first that would never know a world in which “separate but equal” was the law of the land.




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Statement by Attorney General Holder on Weekend Shootings in Kansas

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder released the following statement Monday regarding the tragic shootings in Kansas yesterday.



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Government Settles False Claims Act Allegations Against Kansas Cancer Treatment Facility and Its Owner

Hope Cancer Institute, a cancer treatment facility in Kansas, and Dr. Raj Sadasivan, the owner of Hope Cancer Institute, have agreed to pay $2.9 million to resolve allegations that they violated the False Claims Act by submitting claims to Medicare, Medicaid and the Federal Employee Health Benefits Program for drugs and services that were not provided to beneficiaries.



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Government Intervenes in Lawsuit Against Medical Equipment Supplier Orbit Medical Inc. and Former Vice President Jake Kilgore

The government has intervened in a False Claims Act lawsuit against Orbit Medical Inc. and Jake Kilgore alleging that Orbit Medical’s sales representatives boosted power wheelchair and accessory sales by altering and forging physician prescriptions and supporting documentation.



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Utah Man Charged with Federal Hate Crime for Threatening Interracial Family

An information was filed charging Robert Keller, 70, with interfering with the housing rights of three members of an interracial family because of the family members’ races and because the family members were living in Hurricane, Utah.



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Alabama Man Sentenced for Attempting to Hire Ku Klux Klan to Kill Neighbor

Allen Wayne Densen Morgan, 29, of Munford, Ala., was sentenced in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama to serve 72 months in prison to be followed by three years supervised release for attempting to hire members of the Ku Klux Klan to torture and murder his African-American neighbor.



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Associate Attorney General Tony West Delivers Remarks at the National Indian Child Welfare Association’s Thirty-second Annual Protecting Our Children Conference

It was that promise that, nearly forty years ago, led Congress to hold a series of hearings that lifted the curtain and shed light on abusive child-welfare practices that were separating Native children from their families at staggering rates; uprooting them from their tribes and their culture. Roughly one of every three or four Indian children, according to data presented at those hearings, had been taken from their birth families and placed with adoptive families, in foster care, or in institutions that had little or no connection to the child's tribe.




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Following Mass Shooting Incidents, Attorney General Holder Urges Congress to Approve $15 Million to Train Law Enforcement Officers for 'Active Shooter' Situations

Following the recent tragedies at a Jewish Community Center in Kansas and at Ft. Hood, Attorney General Eric Holder urged Congress Tuesday to approve $15 million in funding for active shooter training for law enforcement officers to ensure they have the tools they need to effectively respond to threats, protect themselves, and save innocent lives.



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President Obama Grants Commutation

Today, President Barack Obama granted clemency to Ceasar Huerta Cantu.



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Hawaii Man Sentenced to Prison for Filing False Claim for Tax Refund and Filing False Retaliatory Liens Against Four Federal Officials

Francis E. Chandler III was sentenced to serve 37 months in prison and ordered to pay $3,066,629 in restitution for filing a false claim for tax refund and false retaliatory liens against four federal government officials.



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Tennessee Husband and Wife Sentenced to 36 Months for Tax Fraud

James E. Beavers and Beverly S. Beavers of Knoxville, Tenn., were each sentenced to serve 36 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release, the Justice Department and Internal Revenue Service announced today.



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Justice Department Sues to Shut Down Alabama Tax Return Preparers

The United States has requested that the federal district court in Montgomery, Ala., permanently bar Tonja Renee Toney and Jenika Williams from preparing federal income tax returns for others, the Justice Department announced today.



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Associate Attorney General Tony West Delivers Remarks at USCIS Naturalization Ceremony

You see, the United States is more than a place on the map -- it’s an idea; the idea that you are free to control your own destiny, for yourselves and your family; the idea that you are part of something larger than yourselves; that you have a chapter to write in the great story of our nation; the idea that no matter where you came from, or who your ancestors are, how you worship or what you look like, you have a role in shaping our shared future




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Justice Department Settles Sex Discrimination Lawsuit Against California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation

The Department of Justice announced today that it has entered into a settlement agreement that, if approved by the court, will resolve allegations that the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation discriminated against an employee because of his sex in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.



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Tennessee Substance Abuse Treatment Facility Agrees to Resolve False Claims Act Allegations for $9.25 Million

The Department of Justice announced today that CRC Health Corp. (CRC) has agreed to pay $9.25 million to the federal government and the State of Tennessee to settle allegations that CRC knowingly submitted false claims by providing substandard treatment to adult and adolescent Medicaid patients suffering from alcohol and drug addiction at its facility in Burns, Tenn.



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Two Former Officers at Roxbury Correctional Institution Sentenced in Connection with Assault of an Inmate

Two former correctional officers at Roxbury Correctional Institution in Hagerstown, Md., were sentenced today in connection with the March 9, 2008, assault of Kenneth Davis, an inmate.



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Attorney General Eric Holder Delivers Remarks at the 2014 Police Executive Research Forum

In every case and circumstance, our efforts will continue to be guided by the recognition that – while smart law enforcement will always play a critical role in protecting communities from drug crime, we will never be able to arrest or incarcerate our way to becoming a safer nation. We’ll keep relying on innovative leaders like you to apply 21st century solutions to 21st century problems. And we’ll never stop driving investments in the kinds of groundbreaking research – and data-driven strategies – that so many of you have long championed.




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Corporate-Wide Settlement with Lowe’s Protects Public from Lead Pollution During Home Renovations

Lowe’s Home Centers, one of the nation’s largest home improvement retailers, has agreed to implement a comprehensive, corporate-wide compliance program at its more than 1,700 stores nationwide to ensure its contractors minimize lead dust from home renovation activities.



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Hotel Magnate Pleads Guilty to Federal Election Campaign Spending Limits Evasion Scheme and Witness Tampering

Sant Singh Chatwal, 70, of New York – a businessman operating several restaurants, hotels and a hotel management company – pleaded guilty in the Eastern District of New York to conspiring to violate the Federal Election Campaign Act.



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Former New Mexico Detective Pleads Guilty to Sexually Assaulting Police Department Intern

Michael Garcia, a former detective with the Las Cruces Police Department who focused on child abuse and sex crimes investigations, pleaded guilty today in federal court to a one count information charging Garcia with violating the civil rights of an LCPD student intern when he sexually abused her while on duty.



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Justice Department Settles Immigration-Related Discrimination Claim Against Potter Concrete

The Justice Department reached an agreement today with Potter Concrete, a company based in Dallas, resolving claims that the company engaged in a pattern or practice of document abuse in violation of the Immigration and Nationality Act.



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Real Estate Developer Sentenced to Jail for Filling Protected Mississippi Wetlands

William R. “Rusty” Miller, a real estate developer from Fairhope, Ala., was sentenced today in federal district court in Gulfport, Miss., for the unpermitted filling of wetlands near Bay St. Louis, Miss., in violation of the Clean Water Act.



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Former Certified Nursing Assistant and Co-Conspirators Sentenced to Prison for Identity Theft Tax Scheme

Kimberly Banks, Donalene Mosley and Arneshia Austin were sentenced today in Albany, Ga., to serve 192 months, 37 months and 21 months in prison, respectively, for crimes relating to filing fraudulent income tax returns using stolen identities.



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Armenian Power Gang Leaders Convicted for Their Role in Racketeering Conspiracy

Two leaders of the Armenian Power gang were found guilty today by a federal jury in Los Angeles for their participation in a racketeering conspiracy that included extortion, bank fraud targeting elderly bank customers and a sophisticated credit and debit card skimming scheme.



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Attorney General Eric Holder Delivers Remarks at an Interfaith Service of Unity and Hope Honoring the Victims of Last Week’s Tragic Shootings

A few days ago, many of you observed the beginning of Passover, marking the start of a long and difficult journey from tyranny and persecution toward freedom in the Promised Land. Today, this community begins its own journey of healing. And although the road ahead will not be easy, I promise you that I, and millions of others throughout our nation, will be here to walk alongside you – not only today, but always. We will never stop fighting for justice. And we will never forget the names, or the stories, of those we lost.




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Attorney General Holder: Justice Department Set to Expand Clemency Criteria, Will Prepare for Wave of Applications from Drug Offenders in Federal Prison

In an important step to reduce sentencing disparities for drug offenders in the federal prison system, Attorney General Eric Holder on Monday announced that the Justice Department will soon detail new, more expansive criteria that the Department will use in considering when to recommend clemency applications for the President’s review.



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Department of Justice Announces University Tour by Administration Officials to Raise Awareness of Campus Sexual Assault

In recognition of the 20th anniversary of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), the Department of Justice announced a nationwide university tour by top administration officials to raise awareness of campus sexual assault.



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Justice Department Settles Immigration-Related Discrimination Claim Against SK Food Group Inc.

The Justice Department reached an agreement today with SK Food Group Inc., a company based in Seattle, resolving claims that the company used discriminatory document practices when verifying the work authority of non-citizens.



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Environment and Natural Resources Division Releases FY 2013 Accomplishments Report

The Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division (ENRD) today released its Fiscal Year (FY) 2013 Accomplishments Report detailing its work alongside other federal agencies.



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City of New Orleans Agrees to Settlement to Resolve Housing Discrimination Lawsuit

The Justice Department announced today that the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana approved its settlement with the city of New Orleans regarding a housing discrimination lawsuit late yesterday.



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Remarks as Prepared for Delivery by Deputy Attorney General James M. Cole at the Environment and Natural Resources Division Event Commemorating Earth Day 2014

"Earth Day is another reminder to me of that commitment, a commitment that the Department of Justice is dedicated not only to protecting the people of our country, but also to protecting its natural resources."




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Announcing New Clemency Initiative, Deputy Attorney General James M. Cole Details Broad New Criteria for Applicants

As part of the Justice Department’s new clemency initiative, Deputy Attorney General James M. Cole announced six criteria the department will consider when reviewing and expediting clemency applications from federal inmates.



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Pennsylvania Firm and Chief Officer Charged with Shipping Machinery to Iran in Violation of U.S. Export License Requirements

A criminal information has been filed against a Pennsylvania firm and its chief officer, charging them with conspiracy to evade export reporting requirements and with attempting to smuggle to Iran a lathe machine in violation of U.S. export regulations.



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Former Officer at Roxbury Correctional Institution Sentenced for Assaulting Inmate

U.S. District Judge James K. Bredar sentenced Michael Morgan, formerly an officer at Roxbury Correctional Institution (RCI) in Hagerstown, Md., to serve 30 months in prison for depriving an inmate of his civil rights.



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Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority Signs Agreement That Will Bring It into Compliance with the Clean Air Act

Under an agreement announced today by the U.S Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Justice, the Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority (VIWAPA) will come into compliance with air pollution control requirements in the federal Clean Air Act at its Estate Richmond Generating Facility located on St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands.



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Remarks as Prepared for Delivery by Deputy Attorney General James M. Cole at the Press Conference Announcing the Clemency Initiative

We are launching this clemency initiative in order to quickly and effectively identify appropriate candidates, candidates who have a clean prison record, do not present a threat to public safety, and were sentenced under out-of-date laws that have since been changed, and are no longer seen as appropriate.




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Associate Attorney General Tony West at the at the Department of Justice Diversity and Inclusion Speaker Series

And then there came this moment during the ceremony, after everyone had taken the citizenship oath in unison, when everyone proudly pulled out miniature American flags and started waving them furiously. All of a sudden this auditorium of people distinguished by their differences became awash in red, white and blue -- everyone bound together by a shared identity; bound together by an idea, this bold experiment in self-government we call the United States of America.




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Justice Department Announces Joseph F. Klimavicz as New Chief Information Officer

The Department of Justice today announced that Joseph F. Klimavicz will become its new chief information officer (CIO), arriving in late May.



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Barrio Azteca Lieutenant Who Ordered the Consulate Murders in Ciudad Juarez Sentenced to Life in Prison

Arturo Gallegos Castrellon, aka “Benny,” “Farmero,” “51,” “Guero,” “Pecas,” “Tury,” and “86,” 35, of Chihuahua, Mexico, the Barrio Azteca Lieutenant who ordered the March 2010 murders of a U.S. Consulate employee, her husband and the husband of another U.S. Consulate employee, was sentenced today to serve life in prison.



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U.S. Seeks to Recover Over $700,000 in Kleptocracy Proceeds of Former South Korean President Chun Doo-hwan

The Department of Justice filed a civil forfeiture complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California seeking to recover more than $700,000 in alleged corruption proceeds of Chun Doo-hwan, the former president of the Republic of Korea.



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Justice Department Settles Immigration-Related Discrimination Claim Against Supermarket Chain

The Justice Department reached an agreement today with Mexico Foods LLC, aka El Rancho Corp., a supermarket chain based in Garland, Texas, resolving claims that the company engaged in discrimination during the employment eligibility verification process in violation of the Immigration and Nationality Act.



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Alabama Woman Sentenced for Stolen Identity Refund Fraud

Ivory Bolen, of Dothan, Alabama, was sentenced to serve 42 months in prison today to be followed by three years of supervised release for committing stolen identity refund fraud crimes.



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Maryland Man Sentenced for Defrauding Thousands of Homeowners in $4 Million Nationwide Home Loan Modification Scam

A Maryland man was sentenced today to serve one year and a day in prison for defrauding thousands of homeowners in a $4 million nationwide home loan modification scheme.



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