Eric M. Kurz, 46, of The Woodlands, Texas, pleaded guilty today to conspiracy to commit mail fraud and money laundering in conjunction with his actions as a wholesaler of investment products for A&O, a group of businesses that acquired and marketed life settlements to investors.

The Justice Department announced today that the owners and manager of Mountain View Apartments in Longview, Wash., have agreed to pay $12,500 as a civil penalty to settle allegations that they discriminated against families with children in violation of the federal Fair Housing Act.

A citizen of Uzbekistan residing in Mission, Kan., pleaded guilty late yesterday to charges for his role as the leader of a criminal enterprise that engaged in forced labor, fraud in foreign labor contracting, visa fraud, mail fraud, identity theft, tax evasion and money laundering.

Craig Shaber, a practicing attorney from San Diego County, Calif., pleaded guilty Thursday in federal court before U.S. Magistrate Judge Anthony J. Battaglia to one count of tax evasion for the 2000 tax year.

Glenn Duffie Shriver, 28, of Detroit, Mich., pleaded guilty today before U.S. District Court Judge Liam O’Grady to conspiring to provide national defense information to intelligence officers of the People’s Republic of China (PRC).

The Justice Department announced today that a Munster, Ind., condominium association and its three member board of directors have agreed to pay $120,000 to resolve allegations that they refused to approve the sale of a condominium to an African-American couple because of their race and because they had children.

Brooklyn-area resident Yefim Drakhler pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn for his participation in a Medicare fraud scheme operated out of the Solstice Wellness Center, a Brooklyn-area clinic purportedly providing physical therapy and various diagnostic services.

The Justice Department today sought the federal court’s approval of a consent decree with Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) to resolve a lawsuit under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) on behalf of individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing, and individuals who use wheelchairs, who took NCL cruises of the Hawaiian Islands.

The Justice Department today announced that Polk County, Fla., has agreed to pay $400,000 in monetary damages and civil penalties to settle a lawsuit alleging that it violated the Fair Housing Act when it denied New Life Outreach Ministries the right to operate a faith-based transitional residency program in Lakeland, Fla., for homeless men with disabilities, including those in recovery from drug and alcohol abuse.

SB Pharmco Puerto Rico Inc., a subsidiary of GlaxoSmithKline, PLC (GSK), has agreed to plead guilty to charges relating to the manufacture and distribution of certain adulterated drugs made at GSK’s now-closed Cidra, Puerto Rico, manufacturing facility.

Miami-area residents Emilio and Maria Haber and Detroit-area residents Genna Yates and Darryl Nichols pleaded guilty yesterday for their roles in a Detroit-area diagnostic testing fraud scheme.

A former executive from HannStar Display Corporation has agreed to plead guilty and to serve jail time in the United States for participating in a global conspiracy to fix the price of thin-film transistor liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD) panels.

A patient recruiter who sold the personal information of Medicare beneficiaries from San Diego and Los Angeles to fraudulent Los Angeles medical clinics and durable medical equipment (DME) companies was sentenced late yesterday to 21 months in prison in connection with a scheme to defraud Medicare.

U.S. Army Major Roderick D. Sanchez pleaded guilty today to a one-count criminal information charging him with bribery for accepting money and items of value in return for being influenced in the awarding of Army contracts.

A patient recruiter for a Houston-based home health care company pleaded guilty today in connection with a $5.2 million Medicare fraud scheme.

John T.C. Yeh, the owner of Viable Communications Inc., and his brother, Joseph Yeh, the former vice president for corporate strategy and second in charge for Viable, pleaded guilty today to engaging in a conspiracy to defraud the Federal Communications Commission’s Video Relay Service program.

Joseph Barringer, 55, the owner of a Florida pool cue company, pleaded guilty today in federal court in Orlando to violating the Endangered Species Act in connection with the illegal export of African elephant ivory through an online auction site.

A Philadelphia man has pleaded guilty for his role in organizing and financing a network of high-tech, indoor marijuana grow facilities stretching from Florida to Connecticut.

All Nippon Airways Co. Ltd. (ANA) has agreed to plead guilty and to pay a $73 million criminal fine for its role in two separate conspiracies to fix prices in the air transportation industry.

Axel Rafael Mercado pleaded guilty to one count of tax evasion before U.S. District Court Judge Patricia A. Seitz in the Southern District of Florida.

An Atlanta grand jury returned an indictment today against the former president and chief executive officer of a Lakewood, N.J.-based manufacturer and distributor of food service equipment hardware, for conspiring to allocate customers for the sale of commercial and institutional food service equipment hardware.

Offshore Vessels LLC (OSV) was sentenced to pay a criminal fine of $1,750,000 and remit a payment of $350,000 as community service to the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation.

Brooke E. Reyna, 28, of Barrington, N.H., pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Joseph N. Laplante in U.S. District Court for the District of New Hampshire to making false statements.

Robert Jackson, 37, of Ruston, La., was sentenced to 12 months in federal prison for placing a hangman’s noose under the carport of the home of a Honduran immigrant who moved to Ruston from New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

Harold James Nicholson, 59, appeared before U.S. District Judge Anna J. Brown and pleaded guilty to the crimes of conspiracy to act as an agent of a foreign government and conspiracy to commit international money laundering.

Remy Heath, aka “Remy,” “King Remy,” and “King Mellow,” 26, of Hyattsville, Md., pleaded guilty today to conspiracy to participate in a racketeering enterprise, in connection with his gang activities as a member and leader of the Almighty Latin King and Queen Nation.

The Justice Department today announced a settlement of its lawsuit alleging that Lee Enterprises Inc. and its subsidiary, Lee Publications Inc., violated the Fair Housing Act (FHA) by publishing an advertisement that discriminated on the basis of familial status in the Elko Daily Free Press.

Richard Chu, a former "VIP host" at Pure Nightclub located in Caesars Palace Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, pleaded guilty in federal court to one count of filing a false federal income tax return for the 2006 tax year.

The Justice Department announced today that it has sued the owners and managers of Park Towers Apartments, a federally-subsidized apartment complex in Waterloo, Iowa, alleging a pattern or practice of sexual harassment in violation of the Fair Housing Act.

Gerald Diodati, 61, of Seekonk, Mass., pleaded guilty today before Chief U.S. District Judge Mary M. Lisi to one count of tax evasion.

The Justice Department today announced that Harry Norman Realtors (HNR) and Jennifer Sherrouse have agreed to pay monetary damages and civil penalties of $60,000 to settle a Fair Housing Act lawsuit alleging that they discriminated against families with children.

Kevin Shaffer of Sarasota, Fla., and Washington D.C., pleaded guilty to bank fraud and tax evasion before Alexandria, Va., federal district court Judge Gerald Bruce Lee.

The United States has settled two whistleblower lawsuits for $16.25 million alleging that Hewlett-Packard Co. (HP) violated the competitive bidding rules of the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) E-Rate Program at the Dallas and Houston Independent School Districts in connection with technology services contracts with those school districts.

Brent Oncale, 36, of Houston, pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Richmond, Va., to conspiracy charges in connection with his role as a principal of the A&O entities, a group of businesses that acquired and marketed over $100 million of investments in life settlements to more than 800 victims across the United States and Canada.

The Department of Justice announced today that it has reached a settlement agreement with Essex County, N.J., that, will resolve the department’s lawsuit against Essex County for refusing to permit a corrections officer to wear a religiously-mandated headscarf.

Today a federal jury in Washington convicted Kevin A. Ring, a former lobbyist who worked with Jack A. Abramoff, on five counts related to a scheme to corrupt public officials by providing a stream of things of value.

Jeffery Leon Ceaser, a resident of Montgomery, Ala., pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring to defraud the United States and one count of identity theft.

Four student aid lenders have paid the United States a total of $57.75 million to resolve allegations that they improperly inflated their entitlement to certain interest rate subsidies from the U.S. Department of Education in violation of the False Claims Act.

The owner of a Langhorne, Penn., asbestos abatement company pleaded guilty to participating in a conspiracy to defraud the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

Senior U.S. District Judge Jack T. Camp Jr., pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Atlanta to possession of controlled substances and conversion of government property.

A former Consolidated Edison of New York (Con Edison) manager pleaded guilty today to charges that he accepted and agreed to accept approximately $807,000 in bribes from two Con Edison industrial pipe supply vendors.

The Justice Department today announced that it has filed a lawsuit alleging that Titan Laboratories Inc., and its owner Harvey Berger willfully violated the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 by discriminating against and failing to reemploy U.S. Army reservist Miguel Orozco Garduño.

On Monday, after a one-week trial in federal court in Los Angeles, a jury found Donna K. Wells, 52, guilty of one count of health care fraud.

A former employee of two Massachusetts-based customer relationship management agencies that purchase direct mail advertising has agreed to plead guilty to charges relating to his receipt of more than $1.8 million in kickbacks.

The Justice Department has reached an agreement with Stonecleave Village Association, Inc. to resolve allegations that Stonecleave engaged in a pattern or practice of familial status discrimination by imposing excessive fines on residents with children for alleged violations of Stonecleave’s rules.

Russell Mackert, 51, of Spring, Texas, pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Richmond, Va., to conspiracy charges in connection with his role as a lawyer for the A&O entities, a group of businesses that acquired and marketed more than $100 million of fraudulent investments in life settlements to more than 800 victims across the United States and Canada.

A federal jury today convicted Amador Cortes-Meza, 36, of Mexico, of multiple charges of sex trafficking and human smuggling offenses related to a scheme to force women and juveniles into prostitution.

The Department of Justice has reached a settlement that will require GrafTech International Ltd., a major producer of graphite electrodes, to make significant modifications to its supply agreement with ConocoPhillips Company, along with reporting and firewall obligations, in order to proceed with its proposed acquisition of Seadrift Coke LP.

Singapore Airlines Cargo Pte Ltd. has agreed to plead guilty and to pay a $48 million criminal fine for its role in a conspiracy to fix prices in the air transportation industry.

The Department of Justice announced today the filing of a lawsuit against the Policía de Puerto Rico alleging the PRPD retaliated against Agent Investigator Sofía Figueroa Rossy for complaining about a hostile work environment based on sex, in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended.