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.

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.

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.

Cristina Andres Perfecto of Nashville, Tenn., was sentenced late yesterday in federal court in Memphis to 190 months in prison for sex trafficking by force, fraud and coercion, sex trafficking of a juvenile and conspiracy.

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.

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

“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.

UTStarcom Inc. (UTSI) has entered into an agreement with the Department of Justice, agreeing to pay a $1.5 million fine for violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act by providing travel and other things of value to foreign officials, specifically employees at state-owned telecommunications firms in the People’s Republic of China.

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.

Johnny Pires, 24, was sentenced today to five years in prison and five years of supervised release following his prison term for attempting to receive and possessing child pornography. Pires was also ordered to register as a sex offender.

The findings reported in the Bureau of Justice Statistics’ (BJS) report, Sexual Victimization in Juvenile Facilities Reported by Youth, 2008-2009, bring into focus the dire circumstances that too many youth in juvenile correctional facilities have to endure.

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

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).

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

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.

A federal grand jury in Las Vegas today returned indictments against 10 Nevada-certified emissions testers for falsifying vehicle emissions test reports.

Michael Sayklay, the former vice president of Economy Cash & Carry Inc., a Texas-based grocery wholesaler, pleaded guilty today in federal court in El Paso, Texas, to a criminal violation of the Plant Protection Act.

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

“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.”

The new directive is part of a larger Justice Department initiative to create better communication and coordination to fight crime and promote justice in Indian Country.

"We want to use this year not merely to commemorate an anniversary, but to recommit ourselves to ending violence against women. Our government and this Department have a responsibility to speak out and act on issues of violence against women."

The national coordinator is charged with formulating and implementing a national strategy to combat child exploitation, and with submitting the strategy and relevant reports to Congress.

The Department announced separate agreements under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) with Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Pace University in New York City and Reed College in Portland, Ore., regarding the use in a classroom setting of the electronic book reader, the Kindle DX, a hand-held technological device that simulates the experience of reading a book.

Anthony Mowl, the former assistant vice president of business development for Viable Communications Inc. (Viable), and Donald Tropp, the former human resources manager for Viable, pleaded guilty today to engaging in a conspiracy to defraud the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) Video Relay Service (VRS) program of more than $2.5 million, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division.

The jury returned guilty verdicts on all four counts of the indictment that charged Michael Anthony Higgins with violating federal law by willfully stealing money from motorists that he had stopped on the highway while working as a trooper.

The lawsuit alleges that the Valley Club adopted a racially-discriminatory policy to bar summer camps from using its facilities after a group of predominantly African-American school children visited the facility.

The United States has asked a federal court in Dublin, Ga., to permanently bar James J. King from preparing federal income tax returns for others.

Thirteen Detroit-area residents were arrested today by federal agents from the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Inspector General (HHS-OIG) and FBI in connection with an alleged home health care scheme to defraud the Medicare program of more than $14.5 million.

A federal grand jury today returned a superseding indictment adding three defendants, including Tahawwur Rana, to charges filed last month against David Coleman Headley, alleging that they and others participated in conspiracies involving a planned terrorist attack against a Danish newspaper and the November 2008 terrorist attacks in Mumbai, India, that killed approximately 164 people, including six Americans.

On Jan. 13, 2010, Dilraj Mathauda entered a guilty plea in federal district court in Miami Federal to one count of an indictment pending against him, charging conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud.

Gunther Wenzek, a German national, was sentenced today to serve three years on probation and pay a criminal penalty of over $35,000 by Judge Anna J. Brown of the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon for smuggling coral into the Port of Portland, Ore.

"We must be vigilant in our efforts to safeguard and strengthen the American economy. Our efforts to fight economic crime are a vital component of our broader strategy - a strategy that seeks to foster confidence in our financial system, integrity in our markets, and prosperity for the American people."

The United States has filed a civil False Claims Act complaint against drug manufacturer Johnson & Johnson (J&J) of New Brunswick, N.J., and two of its subsidiaries, Ortho-McNeil-Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Johnson & Johnson Health Care Systems Inc.

The position was established as part of the Department’s ongoing efforts, initiated last year at the direction of the Attorney General, to review and improve its criminal discovery and case management policies and procedures.

The 16 indictments unsealed today represent the largest single investigation and prosecution against individuals in the history of DOJ’s enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

As a part of the tax conspiracy, Ronald Boyarsky assisted in paying approximately $2.6 million in commissions earned by a printing services broker to third parties, so that the broker and his companies could avoid paying taxes on the income they earned.

The Department has reached a settlement in its lawsuit against the city of Milwaukee on behalf of Michael Crivello, a detective in the Milwaukee Police Department, alleging the city violated the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 (USERRA).

The Department announced the settlement of an Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) discrimination lawsuit against Wales West LLC, owner and operator of Wales West RV Resort and Train and Garden Lovers Family Park in Silverhill, Ala.

The United States alleged that FORBA was liable for causing the submission of claims for reimbursement for a wide range of dental services provided to low-income children that were either medically unnecessary or performed in a manner that failed to meet professionally-recognized standards of care.

General Re has admitted that its most senior management engaged in a scheme to falsely inflate AIG’s reported loss reserves, a key indicator of financial health to insurance industry analysts and investors.

"Today’s settlement resolves the department’s antitrust concerns and allows readers to continue to have a choice between two independent local daily newspapers–the Charleston Gazette and the Charleston Daily Mail."

Pacific Pipeline Systems LLP, a Long Beach, Calif.-based oil transport company, has agreed to pay a $1.3 million civil penalty and discontinue the use of a section of pipeline through an unstable section of mountains to resolve a Clean Water Act violation.

The United States filed two major Clean Air Act settlements to reduce air emissions from container glass and Portland cement plants throughout the country.

Dennis G. Sartain of Hilliard, Ohio; and Bonnie Helt, of Columbus, Ohio, pleaded guilty today to conspiring to commit mortgage fraud, money laundering and obstruction of justice.

To date, nine current or former State Department employees or contractors have pleaded guilty in this continuing investigation.

Dallas S. Hale of Reston, Va., pleaded guilty today to willful failure to file a tax return.

Two Algerian detainees, Hasan Zemiri and Adil Hadi al Jazairi Bin Hamlili, have been transferred from the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay to the custody and control of the Government of Algeria.

“There is nothing more basic, or more important, to our work than keeping our law enforcement officers safe,” Attorney General Holder said.

James Wilbur Fondren Jr. was sentenced today to 36 months in prison, followed by two years of supervised release, for charges involving espionage and making false statements to the FBI.

The Department's Antitrust Division, along with state attorneys general from Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin, filed a lawsuit today seeking to require Dean Foods to sell the dairy processing plants it acquired from Foremost Farms.