A federal jury late last night convicted two Harlan County, Ky., men on federal kidnapping charges and conspiracy charges, exposing them to a maximum of life imprisonment. The jury also acquitted the men of violating the sexual orientation provision of the Matthew Shepard James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act. David Jason Jenkins, 37, and Anthony Ray Jenkins, 20, were convicted on the kidnapping and conspiracy charges for their roles in kidnapping and assaulting 28-year-old Kevin Pennington, a gay man.

A federal court has permanently barred Cynthia Carter, a Columbus, Miss., tax return preparer, from preparing federal tax returns for others, the Justice Department announced today. The civil injunction order, to which Carter consented without admitting the allegations against her, was signed by Judge Sharion Aycock of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi.

A company that operates payday loan and check cashing stores in at least nine states has settled with the government over allegations that it violated federal regulations, the Justice Department announced today. In April 2010, law enforcement officers retrieved boxes of intact consumer documents, including credit reports, from trash cans and dumpsters near four PLS Financial Services stores in the Chicago area. The improper disposal of these documents led to an investigation by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

Two German shipping companies pleaded guilty today in federal court in Houston to criminal charges that they concealed the illegal dumping of oil at sea from U.S. Coast Guard inspectors.

Willie Lambert, 57, of Pittston, Pa., was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Arenda L. Wright Allen in the Eastern District of Virginia to serve 30 months in prison, three years of supervised release and $449,514 in restitution, jointly and severally with co-defendants. Sean M. Lovelady, 28, of Pomona, Calif., was sentenced today by Judge Wright Allen to 23 months in prison, three years of supervised release and $7,500 in restitution.

Freeman Health System, a healthcare provider and hospital system located in Joplin, Mo., has agreed to pay $9,316,139 to resolve allegations that it violated the Stark Law and the False Claims Act by knowingly providing incentive pay to physicians in a manner that violated federal law, the Justice Department announced today.

Manuel Antonio Mares, 57, of Miami; Jeremy Hart Yost, 26, of West Bend, Ore.; Richard Phillip Allen, 66, of Redondo Beach, Calif.; and James Calvin Boyd, 58, of Pell City, Ala., pleaded guilty today before Senior District Judge Norman K. Moon in the Western District of Virginia to one count of conspiring to receive, distribute, possess and access with the intent to view child pornography. Jesse Leon Coleman, 48, of Lynchburg, Va., pleaded guilty today before Judge Moon to one count of receiving child pornography.

Alba Serrano, 66, of Miami, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Patricia A. Seitz in the Southern District of Florida.

Two Pakistani nationals have been indicted by a federal grand jury in the District of Columbia on charges alleging that they operated Internet sites that illegally shipped pharmaceuticals from Pakistan and the United Kingdom to customers in the United States.

An owner and sole operator of an environmental laboratory has been charged in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi with falsification of records and obstructing a federal criminal investigation.

William R. “Rusty” Miller, a real estate developer from Fairhope, Ala., has been indicted by a federal grand jury in Jackson, Miss., for the unpermitted filling of wetlands near Bay St. Louis, Miss., in violation of the Clean Water Act.

The Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division issued a statement today regarding Entergy Corp.’s commitments to join a regional transmission organization (RTO) and divest its transmission system; Entergy’s proposed acquisitions of the Hinds and Hot Spring generating facilities in Mississippi and Arkansas, respectively, from KGen Power Corporation; and the division’s open investigation into Entergy’s alleged anticompetitive conduct.

An executive at the Ohio subsidiary of a Japanese automotive supplier pleaded guilty today for his role in a conspiracy to fix prices and rig bids of anti-vibration rubber parts sold in the United States and elsewhere.

Program director Lydia Ward, 47, and therapist Nichole Eckert, 35, were each found guilty of one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud.

Morton Plant Mease Health Care Inc. and its affiliated hospitals (Morton Plant) have agreed to pay $10,169,114 to the federal government to resolve allegations that they violated the False Claims Act by submitting false claims for services rendered to Medicare patients, the Justice Department announced today. Morton Plant owns and operates, or is affiliated with, Morton Plant Hospital, St. Joseph’s Hospital, Morton Plant North Bay Hospital, St. Anthony’s Hospital, Mease Countryside Hospital and Mease Dunedin Hospital. These hospitals are part of the BayCare Health System in Florida’s Pinellas, Hillsborough and Pasco counties.

Curtis L. Morris, age 43, of Elizabeth, Colo., was sentenced Monday in Denver to 120 months in prison followed by 3 years of supervised release by U.S. District Court Judge Robert E. Blackburn, the Justice Department and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced. Judge Blackburn also ordered Morris to pay $$1,916,831 in restitution to the IRS.

The Department of Justice, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality announced today a comprehensive Clean Water Act settlement with the city of Jackson, Miss.

Harmony Care Hospice Inc. (Harmony) and Harmony owner and chief executive officer Daniel J. Burton have agreed to pay the United States $1,286,999.32 to settle allegations that the South Carolina-based company submitted false claims to Medicare for patients under care at its hospice facilities, the Justice Department announced today.

A federal jury sitting in Santa Ana, Calif., on Wednesday, Nov. 21, 2012, convicted Safieh Fard of one count of conspiracy to defraud the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and one count of conspiracy to launder the proceeds of bank fraud obtained after submitting fraudulent mortgage applications, the Justice Department and IRS Criminal Investigation announced. Fard’s co-conspirators, her sister Sedigheh Bahramian, and two of her sons, Mohsen Kikalaye and Ahmad Kikalaye, pleaded guilty to related counts of bank fraud in 2010.

A federal jury in Winston-Salem, N.C., has convicted two members of the North Carolina Almighty Latin King and Queen Nation (ALKQN) and one associate of the gang for a racketeering conspiracy involving violent crimes and drug distribution for the benefit of the criminal organization.

Dr. Juan Tomas Van Putten, 66, of Ladera Heights, Calif., pleaded guilty today before U.S. District Judge George Wu in the Central District of California to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud.

A member of the Latin Kings street gang and two associates were sentenced to prison this week in Hammond, Ind., federal court for racketeering conspiracy and other crimes in support of the gang.

A third member of the Internet piracy group “IMAGiNE” was sentenced today to 40 months in prison, and a fifth member of IMAGiNE pleaded guilty today for his role in the conspiracy.

Two Wisconsin men and a Missouri man were sentenced to prison for their role in a conspiracy to advertise, distribute and possess child pornography.

William Kirk Montgomery, 23, from Puckett, Miss., and Jonathan K. Gaskamp, 20, from Brandon, Miss., pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Jackson, Miss., to conspiracy and federal hate crime charges in connection with their roles in the assault of African-Americans in Jackson, the Justice Department announced today. Defendants Deryl Paul Dedmon, 20; John Aaron Rice, 19; and Dylan Wade Butler, 21, all from Brandon, Miss., have previously entered guilty pleas in connection with their roles in these offenses. The conspiracy culminated in the death of James Craig Anderson, who was assaulted and killed on June 26, 2011.

British contractor APTx Vehicle Systems Limited agreed today to plead guilty to conspiracy to defraud the United States, the Coalition Provisional Authority that governed Iraq from April 2003 to June 2004, the government of Iraq and JP Morgan Chase Bank.

Two Alabama real estate investors and their company pleaded guilty today for their roles in conspiracies to rig bids and commit mail fraud at public real estate foreclosure auctions in southern Alabama.

Following a three-week trial, a federal jury in San Francisco today convicted an executive of the largest Taiwan liquid crystal display (LCD) producer for his participation in a worldwide conspiracy to fix the prices of thin-film transistor-liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD) panels sold worldwide.

The Justice Department announced today that it reached an agreement with Holliswood Hospital, a hospital in Queens, N.Y., resolving claims that the hospital violated the anti-discrimination provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), when it required newly hired lawful permanent residents to provide more or different documents during the Form I-9 employment eligibility verification process.

A former financial services broker was sentenced today in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, for his participation in conspiracies related to bidding for contracts for the investment of municipal bond proceeds and other municipal finance contracts.

Joseph Dominick, 21, from Brandon, Miss., pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Jackson, Miss., to one count of conspiracy to commit federal hate crimes in connection with his role in the assault of African-Americans in Jackson.

The leader of the Internet piracy group “IMAGiNE” was sentenced today to serve 60 months in prison.

Thomas William Quintin, 65, formerly of Denver, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States with respect to claims, and one count of misuse of a Social Security number, before U.S. District Court Judge R. Brooke Jackson.

Michael Carlow, a resident of Pittsburgh, pleaded guilty today to corruptly endeavoring to obstruct the Internal Revenue Service.

An associate of the Barrio Azteca (BA), a trans-national border gang allied with the Juarez Cartel, was sentenced today to serve 18 months in prison.

Roland Kaufmann, CEO of Axius Inc., pleaded guilty today in Brooklyn for conspiring to bribe stock brokers.

Husband and wife John and Sandra Cote, both of Brooklyn, Conn., were arrested on tax charges, the Justice Department and Internal Revenue Service announced today.

Masood Chotani, a CPA and tax return preparer from Los Angeles County, Calif., pleaded guilty today to conspiracy to defraud the United States, the Justice Department and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced.

The Department of Justice announced today that it will not challenge a proposal by the Greater New York Hospital Association (GNYHA) to offer a gainsharing program to member hospitals in New York.

Mary and Christian Young and Octavious Reeves were indicted by a federal grand jury in the Middle District of Alabama on a variety of charges stemming from an identity theft and tax fraud conspiracy.

A federal grand jury in Salt Lake City returned an indictment Wednesday afternoon charging Gerrit Timmerman III, 70, of Midvale, Utah, and Carol Sing, 73, of Henderson, Nevada, with one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States.

Connie M. Knight, 46, previously of Belle Chasse, La., pleaded guilty in federal court in New Orleans today to three felony criminal charges and one misdemeanor criminal charge for creating false identification documents an impersonating a federal official.

PNC Bank N.A. has agreed to pay the United States $7.1 million to settle claims under the False Claims Act that it failed to engage in prudent underwriting practices in connection with the issuance of loans guaranteed by the Small Business Administration (SBA).

Miami-area resident Nichole Eckert, former therapist at the mental health care company American Therapeutic Corporation (ATC), was sentenced today to serve 48 months in prison for participating in a $205 million Medicare fraud scheme.

Following a two-week trial, a federal jury in Puerto Rico today convicted a former executive of a Florida-based coastal water freight transportation company for his participation in a conspiracy to fix rates and surcharges for water transportation of freight between the continental United States and Puerto Rico.

Ryan Lohr, 26, a former correctional officer at the Roxbury Correctional Institution (RCI) in Hagerstown, Md., pleaded guilty today to conspiring to obstruct justice and destroy evidence from a March 9, 2008, assault of an inmate by RCI officers.

Jesus Enrique Rejon Aguilar, aka “Mamito” and “Caballero,” a high ranking member of the “Los Zetas” drug cartel, pleaded guilty today to conspiracy to import multi-ton quantities of cocaine and marijuana into the United States.

A Maryland man was found guilty by a federal jury yesterday and sentenced today to serve 30 years in prison for his participation in a global online child pornography conspiracy.

St. Joseph’s Medical Center, a hospital located in Towson, Md., has reached a settlement with the United States to pay $4.9 million in connection with its submission of false claims to Medicare, Medicaid and other federal healthcare programs.

The Justice Department announced today that Texas Champion Bank of Alice, Texas, will establish uniform pricing policies, conduct employee training and pay $700,000 as part of a settlement to resolve allegations that it engaged in a pattern or practice of discrimination on the basis of national origin.