The Justice Department today announced that it has reached an agreement with Wisconsin officials to help ensure that military service members and U.S. citizens living overseas have an opportunity to participate fully in the Nov. 2, 2010, federal general election.

The Justice Department announced today that it has filed a lawsuit against the city of Walnut, Calif., alleging that the city violated the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000 (RLUIPA), when, in 2008, it denied a conditional use permit to the Chung Tai Zen Center so that it could build and operate a Buddhist house of worship at property it then owned in the city.

Juan Carlos Moreira, aka “Stokey” and “Stocky,” was sentenced today by Chief U.S. District Court Judge Deborah K. Chasanow to life in prison for conspiracy to participate in a racketeering enterprise known as MS-13, conspiring to and committing murder in aid of racketeering, witness tampering murder and assault with a dangerous weapon in aid of racketeering.

Martin Raffol, 54, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Court Judge Richard G. Stearns in Boston to one count of engaging in a scheme to conceal material information from the FEC and one count of witness tampering.

The owner of a guiding and outfitting company was charged today in a three count indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Baton Rouge, La., for illegally hunting a threatened species of alligator, the Justice Department announced.

Forest Pharmaceuticals Inc. has agreed to plead guilty to charges relating to obstruction of justice, the distribution of Levothroid, which at the time was an unapproved new drug, and the illegal promotion of Celexa for use in treating children and adolescents suffering from depression.

Hundreds of American Indian and Alaskan Native communities will receive almost $127 million to enhance law enforcement, bolster justice systems, prevent youth substance abuse, serve sexual assault and elder victims, and support other efforts to combat crime.

Jeffrey Robert Libman, the vice president and co-director of Webe Web Corporation, a Florida corporation, pleaded guilty today to 16 counts of transporting child pornography, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance of the Northern District of Alabama.

Two intermediaries were indicted for their alleged roles in a conspiracy to pay and launder bribes to Mexican government officials at the Comisión Federal de Electricidad (CFE), a state-owned utility company, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division; U.S. Attorney André Birotte for the Central District of California; Steven M. Martinez, Special Agent-in-Charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office; and Leslie DeMarco, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation’s (IRS-CI) Los Angeles Field Office

The Justice Department today announced that it has reached an agreement with Alaska officials to help ensure that military service members and other U.S. citizens living overseas have an opportunity to participate fully in the Nov. 2, 2010, federal general election. The agreement was necessary to ensure Alaska’s compliance with the 2009 Military and Overseas Voter Empowerment Act (MOVE Act)

Three former employees and a partner of Nexus Technologies Inc., a Philadelphia-based company, were sentenced late yesterday for their roles in a conspiracy to bribe officials of the Vietnamese government in exchange for lucrative contracts to supply equipment and technology to Vietnamese government agencies, in violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

Former Indianapolis and Marion County, Ind., City-County Councilman Lincoln Plowman has been charged with attempted extortion and soliciting a bribe.

Paul Solofa, the director of the school lunch program for the government of the U.S. Territory of American Samoa, has been arrested on charges of witness tampering and obstruction of justice.

Cesar Carranza, a resident of Long Beach, Calif., was sentenced today to 72 months in prison for his role in laundering $2.5 million dollars in proceeds derived from several stolen credit card information schemes.

Tomme Bromseth, of Blackstone, Va., pleaded guilty today to mail fraud and structuring financial transactions to evade reporting requirements in conjunction with his role as a sales agent for A&O Life Funds and various related A&O entities.

Gilberto Jordan, a former Guatemalan special forces soldier, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge William J. Zloch in the Southern District of Florida to 10 years in prison for unlawfully procuring his U.S. citizenship by lying about his participation in a 1982 massacre at a Guatemalan village known as Dos Erres.

The Justice Department today announced that a scientist and his wife, who both previously worked as contractors at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, have been indicted on charges of communicating classified nuclear weapons data to a person they believed to be a Venezuelan government official and conspiring to participate in the development of an atomic weapon for Venezuela, among other violations.

A federal grand jury sitting in the Northern District of Ohio today charged Ronald J. Pudder with intentionally damaging, destroying and attempting to destroy religious property because of the race, color and ethnic characteristics of individuals associated with that property, and for willfully and knowingly using fire to commit a felony offense.

A federal judge in St. Louis has permanently barred a Missouri attorney and his law firm from promoting any Individual Retirement Account-based arrangement.

Sophia Manuel and Alfonso Baldonado Jr., owners of Quality Staffing Services Corporation, a labor contracting service, pleaded guilty to conspiring to hold 39 Filipino nationals in compelled service in country clubs and hotels in Southeast Florida.

The Justice Department today settled a lawsuit against the city of Satsuma, Ala., and the city’s Board of Adjustment, alleging housing discrimination against individuals with disabilities.

Three alleged members and associates of the MS-13 gang have been indicted for various violent crimes stemming from a home invasion last year in the District of Columbia in which several persons were held at gunpoint.

The Justice Department today announced that it has reached agreements with Colorado, District of Columbia, U.S. Virgin Islands and Hawaii officials to help ensure that military service members and U.S. citizens living overseas have an opportunity to participate fully in the Nov. 2, 2010 federal general election.

A federal court in Pensacola, Fla., has sentenced three of nine promoters of a fraudulent tax-and-debt-elimination scheme to prison terms for their roles in tax fraud, wire fraud and money laundering.

Bidemi Bello, formerly of Buford, Ga., and presently from Nigeria, was arraigned today, following an indictment returned by a federal grand jury on Sep.10, 2010.

The Justice Department today issued a report marking the 10th anniversary of the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA), showing that the law has had a positive impact on protecting the religious freedom of a wide range of faith groups, and had a particularly significant impact protecting the religious freedom of minorities.

U.S. District Judge J. Frederick Motz sentenced Irika Shipping S.A., a ship management corporation registered in Panama and doing business in Greece, today to pay a $4 million penalty, which includes a $3 million criminal fine and $1 million in organizational community service payments that will fund various marine environmental projects.

An Atlanta grand jury returned an indictment today against an executive of Martinair Holland N.V. for participating in a conspiracy to fix and coordinate certain surcharges on air cargo shipments to and from the United States.

A federal judge in Buffalo, N.Y., has sentenced John Weisberg to 12 months in prison for failing to file tax returns.

Roberto Trevizo Corral, a resident of Nampa, Idaho, was sentenced to 12 months and one day in prison and ordered to pay $771,252.11 in restitution for failing to collect and pay over employment taxes.

Roy W. Bradford pleaded guilty in federal district court in Dayton, Ohio, to willfully filing a false tax return for 2004.

The Justice Department announced that it reached agreements this week with the city of Kings Mountain, N.C., and the city of Sandy Springs, Ga., in the form of consent decrees filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

Jeffrey Lehrmann, a former New Orleans Police Department (NOPD) detective, was sentenced today to three years in prison for misprision of a felony in connection with the cover-up of two police-involved shootings on the Danziger Bridge in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina that left two civilians dead and four others seriously injured.

"The Department of Justice is busy investigating and prosecuting financial fraud in all its forms, including investment fraud schemes, mortgage-related fraud, securities fraud, insider trading, money laundering, and other crimes," said Assistant Attorney General Breuer

Attorney General Holder officially unveiled Defending Childhood, a new Department of Justice initiative focused on addressing children’s exposure to violence.

Three individuals pleaded guilty today in connection with a Medicare fraud scheme operated out of a Houston-area durable medical equipment (DME) company.

The Justice Department announced that it filed a lawsuit today against Post Properties Inc., Post Apartment Homes L.P. and Post GP Holdings Inc. in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia for failing to provide accessible features required by the Fair Housing Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act at multi-family housing developments in six states.

The Department of Justice announced today that it has reached a settlement with six high technology companies–Adobe Systems Inc., Apple Inc., Google Inc., Intel Corp., Intuit Inc. and Pixar–that prevents them from entering into no solicitation agreements for employees.

Paul Magliocchetti, the founder and president of PMA Group Inc., a lobbying firm, pleaded guilty today in federal court in Arlington, Va., to making hundreds of thousands of dollars in illegal campaign contributions and making false statements to a federal agency.

A former U.S. Army staff sergeant pleaded guilty today to bribery in connection with a fuel theft scheme to solicit more than $400,000 in bribes from a government contractor in Afghanistan.

Three Miami-area residents were sentenced to prison today for their participation in a $22 million Medicare fraud scheme operated through two Miami home health agencies, ABC Home Health Care Inc. and Florida Home Health Care Providers Inc.

"Mr. Keeney’s dedication to the Department and to his colleagues is – quite simply – unparalleled," said Attorney General Holder.

"For those of us in the Criminal Division, though, Mr. Keeney is also a wonderful colleague, a thoughtful mentor, and, right through to the end of his tenure, an enormously hard‑working and prodigious prosecutor," said Assistant Attorney Breuer.

"Mr. Keeney’s advice is always sound, and to the point because it is built upon decades of experience, in fact, nearly six decades of service, under 12 Presidents and 23 Attorneys General," said Acting Deputy Attorney General Grindler.

"It’s a special honor for me to address the American College of Trial Lawyers, and to share the stage today with such impressive and distinguished speakers as Justice Cromwell, Justice Kirby, Judge Sparks, and Professor Coffee."

China Airlines Ltd. has agreed to plead guilty and to pay a $40 million criminal fine for its role in a conspiracy to fix prices in the air transportation industry.

The Justice Department and the Department of Transportation announced $55,000 in fines against Tornado Bus Company Inc., of Dallas, for violating passenger carrier accessibility requirements under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

A federal grand jury has indicted Christopher Shane Montgomery, a resident of Bastrop, La., for conspiring to commit a hate crime, tampering with a witness and lying to federal authorities.

The Justice Department today announced that the Housing Authority for the city of Royston, Ga., (RHA) has agreed to pay up to $270,000 to resolve allegations that it engaged in a pattern or practice of discriminating against applicants for housing and tenants based on race.

Detroit-area resident Hassan Akhtar pleaded guilty today for his role in managing a home health care fraud scheme.