Two individuals pleaded guilty today to conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud for their roles in business opportunity fraud schemes.

“Driven by bigotry and hate, the defendants threatened a member of their own family with violence simply because she associated with persons of another race,” said Thomas E. Perez, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division.

Henry Clay Glaspell, of Arlington, Texas, pleaded guilty today to a hate crime charge stemming from the ethnically-motivated arson of a children’s playground at the Dar El-Eman Islamic Center in Arlington in July 2010.

James Bobby Butler Jr. and Marlin Jackson Butler pleaded guilty today in federal court in Wichita, Kan., to felony conspiracy and wildlife trafficking charges stemming from the illegal sale of guided deer hunts in southern Kansas.

Hawk Field Services LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Houston-based Petrohawk Energy Corporation, pleaded guilty today in federal court in Little Rock, Ark., to charges stemming from the illegal take of endangered species in north-central Arkansas.

A registered nurse employed by a Houston health care company pleaded guilty today in connection with an alleged $5.2 million Medicare fraud scheme.

Two officers with the New Orleans Police Department (NOPD) have been convicted of civil rights and obstruction of justice crimes in connection with the beating death of civilian Raymond Robair in July 2005, and a subsequent cover-up.

Under a settlement between the United States, state of Connecticut, and the town of Greenwich, Conn., the town will pay a $200,000 penalty and rehabilitate a critical wastewater collection system that serves three of the town’s major wastewater pump stations.

Jeremy Matthew Moro, Joshua James Moro and Sonya Marie Hart were sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Donald E. Walter in connection with a conspiracy to violate the civil rights of an interracial couple by burning a cross near their home in Athens, La., in October 2008.

A federal jury in Houston convicted four defendants today in connection with a $5.2 million Medicare fraud scheme that operated from April 2006 to August 2009, announced the Departments of Justice and Health and Human Services.

Following a two-week trial, a federal jury in Miami today convicted Sirtaj “Tosh” Mathauda on 12 felony counts related to a fraudulent business opportunity scheme.

Gregory Britt Fleming was sentenced today in connection with a series of Costa Rica-based business opportunity fraud ventures.

Miami resident Reynel Betancourt, 51, was sentenced today to 77 months in prison for his participation in a $9 million Medicare fraud scheme.

Jarell Sanderson, of New Britain, Conn., was sentenced today to 310 months in prison on child sex trafficking charges.

Bruce Schwartz, 53, Sam Wongsesanit, 40, and Shane Germann, 42, have pleaded guilty to human trafficking violations involving the Los Angeles based recruiting company Global Horizons.

A federal jury in New Haven, Conn., today voted unanimously to impose the federal death penalty against Azibo Aquart for his role in the murder of three individuals.

A Texas man was sentenced today in federal court in Wichita on felony charges of conspiracy, wildlife trafficking and obstruction of justice related to the illegal sale of guided deer hunts in southern Kansas.

An owner of a Houston health care company pleaded guilty today to committing health care fraud and making false statements relating to health care matters.

The Justice Department today announced a settlement agreement with Beach Babies Learning Center LLC, located in Old Saybrook, Conn., to resolve allegations that the center terminated the enrollment of a then two-year-old child from its program because the child has autism.

A former employee of the United Nations (U.N.) was arrested today for allegedly obtaining more than $100,000 in salary payments as a result of holding jobs at the U.N. and the National Labor Relations Board at the same time.

A patient recruiter for three Detroit-area clinics was sentenced to 27 months in prison for his role in fraud schemes that attempted to defraud the Medicare program of more than $15 million.

Sirtaj Mathauda, a former resident of South Florida, was sentenced today in connection with a series of Costa Rica-based business opportunity fraud ventures.

The United States has filed a civil lawsuit against Robert S. Luce, founder and president of MDR Mortgage Corp., a mortgage lending business located in Palatine, Ill.

Edk Kenit, 29, and Choimina Lukas, 31, a Micronesian couple living in Longview, Wash., pleaded guilty today to document servitude in connection with a scheme to compel the labor of an 18-year-old woman, also from Micronesia.

Steven Wark, 54, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Lloyd D. George in the District of Nevada to one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud.

Steven Scott Cantrell, of Crane, Texas, pleaded guilty today to hate crime charges stemming from a series of racially-motivated arsons in December 2010, including the arson of a historic African-American church as part of an effort to murder a disabled African-American man.

A Las Vegas man pleaded guilty today for his role in a scheme to fraudulently gain control of condominium homeowners’ associations (HOA) in the Las Vegas area so that the HOAs could direct business to a certain law firm and construction company.

Marcella Triana pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Kent J. Dawson in the District of Nevada to one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud.

Two former New Orleans Police Department (NOPD) officers were sentenced today in relation to the beating death of Raymond Robair and subsequent cover-up.

A Las Vegas woman pleaded guilty today for her role in a scheme to fraudulently gain control of condominium homeowners’ associations (HOA) in the Las Vegas area so that the HOAs would direct business to a certain law firm and construction company.

Peter Labovitz of Alexandria, Va., was sentenced to six months in prison for failing to pay employment taxes to the Internal Revenue Service.

Donny Eugene Mower of Madera, Calif., pleaded guilty in federal court today to one count of arson, one count of damaging religious property and one count of violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act.

A Las Vegas woman pleaded guilty today for her role in a scheme to fraudulently gain control of condominium homeowners’ associations (HOA) in the Las Vegas area so that the HOAs would direct business to a certain law firm and construction company.

Edk Kenit, 28, and Choimina Lukas, 30, a Micronesian couple living in Longview, Wash., were sentenced today for their roles in a scheme to compel the labor of an 18-year-old woman, also from Micronesia.

Edward Lugo, 47, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Lloyd D. George in the District of Nevada to one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud.

A Las Vegas woman pleaded guilty today for her role in a scheme to fraudulently gain control of condominium homeowners’ associations (HOAs) in the Las Vegas area so that the HOAs would direct business to a certain law firm and construction company.

Ekpedeme Obot, 35, of Houston, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Lee Rosenthal in Houston.

A former lieutenant with the New Orleans Police Department (NOPD), was sentenced today for his role in a conspiracy to obstruct justice and for misprision of a felony, in connection with a federal investigation of two police-involved shootings that left two civilians dead and four others seriously wounded in the area of the Danziger Bridge in the days after Hurricane Katrina.

A federal jury today convicted Spokane, Wash., Police Officer Karl F. Thompson Jr., 64, of civil rights and obstruction charges stemming from his March 18, 2006, beating of an unarmed citizen and an extensive cover-up that followed.

Zafar Mehmood, 45, allegedly masterminded a $30 million scheme involving the submission of fraudulent claims submitted to Medicare for services that were medically unnecessary and/or never provided through at least four home health agencies.

Two individuals – a loan officer and a title agent – have been sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge William P. Dimitrouleas in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., for their participation in a nationwide $2.5 million reverse mortgage fraud scheme.

Michael Eisenberg, a resident of Long Island, N.Y., was sentenced Monday in connection with a series of fraudulent business opportunity ventures.

Santiago Villa-Restrepo, 33, of Miami, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Arthur J. Tarnow in the Eastern District of Michigan to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud.

Steven Scott Cantrell, 26, of Crane, Texas, was sentenced today for hate crime charges stemming from a series of racially-motivated arsons in December 2010, including the arson of a historic African-American church as part of an effort to murder a disabled African-American man.

Dora Binimelis, 53, of Miami, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Arthur J. Tarnow in the Eastern District of Michigan to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud. At sentencing, Binimelis faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

The investigation found that EHPD intentionally targets Latinos for traffic enforcement and treats Latino drivers more harshly after traffic stops in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment, Title VI and the Safe Streets Act.

John Incandela, 25, of Palm Beach, Fla., was sentenced to 41 months in prison, three years of supervised release and ordered to pay over $1.9 million in restitution.

Detroit-area resident Tausif Rahman pleaded guilty today for his role in organizing a $14 million Detroit-area home health care fraud and money laundering scheme.

Frederic Alan Gladle, 53, was charged on Dec. 9, 2011, in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles with one count of bankruptcy fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft.

Donny Eugene Mower, 38, of Madera, Calif., was sentenced in federal court today following his October 2011 guilty pleas to one count of arson, one count of damaging religious property and one count of violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act, which makes it a federal crime to damage the property of a reproductive health services facility. These charges stem from Mower’s lighting a fire inside a Planned Parenthood clinic and throwing a brick at a mosque in Madera.