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.

Two dual Afghan/U.S. citizens today pleaded guilty for their roles in a scheme to offer $1 million in bribes to a U.S. Army contracting official in Afghanistan.

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.

The Justice Department today announced an agreement with the city of Port St. Lucie, Fla., to improve access to all aspects of civic life for persons with disabilities. The agreement was reached under the Department’s Project Civic Access initiative to bring state and local governments into compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

Ohio Edison Company, a subsidiary of FirstEnergy Corp., has agreed in a consent decree to repower one of its coal-fired power plants using primarily renewable biomass fuels.

Hayden B. Greene, 31, of Tulsa, Okla., and James Robert Roy, 42, of Tomball, Texas, pleaded guilty today to conspiring to manufacture and sell counterfeit pipe couplings.

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.

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.

Two former employees of Edward H. Okun, who was sentenced to 100 years in prison on Aug. 4, 2009, after a three-week jury trial, were sentenced today before U.S. District Judge Robert E. Payne for their roles in a scheme to defraud and obtain approximately $126 million in client funds held by The 1031 Tax Group LLP (1031TG).

On Aug.11, 2009, two individuals were sentenced in connection with South Florida business opportunity scams. Stewart Pope was sentenced in connection with his participation in fraudulent business opportunity sales at a Miami firm called Global Resources (“Global”).

The North Eastern Massachusetts Law Enforcement Council (NEMLEC) will pay the United States $200,000 to settle allegations that it made false claims related to the use of Justice Department grant funds. Based in Boston, NEMLEC is a non-profit corporation and a law enforcement council. It is comprised of a consortium of 47 police departments in Middlesex and Essex Counties, as well as two county sheriff’s departments.

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.

Bill Melot, a resident of Hobbs, N.M., appeared in federal court today before Magistrate Karen B. Molzen in Las Cruces, N.M., on tax and false statement charges. Melot, a farmer who owns approximately 250 acres in Lea County, N.M., was charged with tax evasion, failing to file tax returns, corruptly impeding the IRS, and making false statements to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

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 federal grand jury in San Francisco has returned an indictment against a former executive of a large Taiwanese color display tube (CDT) manufacturing company for participating in a global conspiracy to fix prices of CDTs, a type of cathode ray tube used in computer monitors and other specialized applications.

The Justice Department and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) today announced that the agreement with the Swiss government has been finalized. As a result of the agreement, the United States will receive substantially all of the accounts of interest when it initiated the John Doe summons against UBS on June 30, 2008.

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.

Seven individuals from around New England have been indicted in federal court in Boston for conspiracies to defraud the United States through the promotion and use of multiple tax fraud schemes.

The Department has reached a proposed settlement with Microsemi Corporation that requires the company to divest all of the assets that it acquired from Semicoa Inc. on July 14, 2008. The Department said that without this divestiture, there would be little or no competition in the development, manufacture and sale of certain semiconductor devices used in military and space programs essential to the security of the United States.

A federal grand jury in Houston has returned an indictment charging two crewmembers of the oil tanker Georgios M with making false statements, violating federal law designed to prevent pollution from ships and obstruction of justice.

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.

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.

A former sand and gravel subcontractor was sentenced today to serve five years in prison and to pay a $5,000 criminal fine by U.S. District Judge Carl J. Barbier after being convicted by a federal jury of conspiracy and bribery in connection with a $16 million hurricane protection project for the reconstruction a New Orleans levee.

"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.

Former New York State Supreme Court Justice Thomas J. Spargo was convicted today by a federal jury in Albany, N.Y., of attempted extortion and soliciting a bribe.

Nathaniel James Nicholson, 25, of Eugene, Oregon, appeared before U.S. District Judge Anna J. Brown and pled guilty to the crimes of conspiracy to act as an agent of a foreign government and conspiracy to commit money laundering.

The Justice Department announced the indictment of Alec Souphone Sou and Mike Mankone Sou, owners of Aloun Farm in Hawaii, and Thai labor recruiter William Khoo late yesterday for engaging in a conspiracy to commit forced labor and visa fraud.

The Department of Justice today announced that two Syrian nationals have been transferred from the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay to the control of the government of Portugal.

The Department has initiated removal proceedings against a Troy, Mich., resident based on his participation in violent acts of persecution while serving as an armed member of the Nazi-sponsored Ukrainian Auxiliary Police (UAP) in occupied L’viv, Ukraine, during World War II.

A federal court in Newark, N.J., denied Schering-Plough Corp. a $473 million refund in connection with two transactions in which Schering-Plough sought to avoid taxation on $690 million in profits it repatriated from offshore subsidiaries into the United States.

A federal judge in Tampa, Fla., has permanently barred a Spring Hill, Fla., tax preparer from preparing federal tax returns. U.S. District Court Judge James D. Whittemore of the Middle District of Florida entered the permanent injunction order against Gerard Mirabella, who consented to it.

An Oklahoma man pleaded guilty today for his role in a scheme to solicit kickbacks in connection with the award of a private security services subcontract to protect U.S. government personnel and contractors in Afghanistan. Bryan Lee Burrows, 42, of Wagoner, Okla., pleaded guilty today before U.S. District Court Judge Leonie M. Brinkema in the Eastern District of Virginia to one count of conspiracy to solicit a kickback.

Two former Department of Defense contractors who worked as inspectors at the U.S. Army installation at Ft. Hamilton in Brooklyn, N.Y., pleaded guilty for seeking and receiving bribes in connection with the award and performance of contracts to move and store military household goods. Today’s charges are the first to arise from an ongoing investigation into the moving and storage of military household goods between New York and New Jersey and other states or overseas military installations.

The Department filed a lawsuit in federal court in Los Angeles charging Ventura County, Calif., with discrimination in its employment practices by refusing to hire a qualified applicant because she is deaf.

The former director of sales and marketing for Pacific Consolidated Industries LP (PCI) pleaded guilty today to charges related to the bribery of a U.K. Ministry of Defense (UK-MOD) official in order to obtain lucrative equipment contracts with the U.K. Royal Air Force, in violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA).

The Department will not challenge a proposal by Memorial Health Inc. (Memorial), and St. Joseph’s/Candler Health System (St. Joseph’s/Candler) to enter an exclusive joint purchasing agreement with respect to the purchase of certain medical and surgical supplies.

The Department filed a lawsuit against an Atlanta condominium association, as well as the owner of a unit and the real estate agent who sold it, for violating the Fair Housing Act by discriminating against families with children.

The Department will not challenge a proposal by seven regional less-than-truckload (LTL) freight transportation companies to bid jointly and engage in other collaborative activity as part of their nationwide LTL truck transportation services joint venture.

A federal judge in Sacramento, Calif., has barred Placerville, Calif.-based Teresa Marty and her business, Advanced Financial Services, LLC, from acting as a federal tax return preparer. U.S. District Court Judge Frank C. Damrell, Jr., of the Eastern District of California entered the preliminary injunction order, which adopted an earlier recommendation of U.S. Magistrate Judge Edmund F. Brennan.

Four individuals were indicted today by a federal grand jury in the Eastern District of Virginia with conspiracy to commit copyright infringement for allegedly obtaining and illegally releasing copyrighted music.

Delmar Dwayne Spier, the chief executive officer and managing director of United States Protection and Investigations, LLC (USPI), today pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to conspiracy, major fraud and wire fraud arising from an alleged scheme to defraud the United States; and his wife, Barbara Edens Spier, the president and owner of USPI, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud the United States in connection with U.S.-sponsored rebuilding efforts in Afghanistan.

An international computer hacker pleaded guilty today to multiple charges relating to hacking activity and credit card fraud. More than 40 million credit and debit card numbers were stolen from major U.S. retailers as a result of the hacking activity. Albert Gonzalez, 28, of Miami, pleaded guilty today to 19 counts of conspiracy, computer fraud, wire fraud, access device fraud and aggravated identity theft relating to hacks into numerous major U.S. retailers.

A Newark grand jury indicted three individuals for their participation in fraud and kickback conspiracies related to contracts at a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)-designated Superfund site, Federal Creosote, located in Manville, N.J.

The Department will monitor the Sept. 15, 2009, municipal elections in Springfield, Mass., and Newburgh, N.Y., to ensure compliance with the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Federal observers will be assigned to monitor polling place activities in Springfield and Newburgh. The observers will watch and record activities during voting hours at polling locations.