Everett Cooney waived indictment and pleaded guilty in court in Little Rock, Ark., to a federal charge of sex trafficking an underage female. Chief U.S. District Judge J. Leon Holmes accepted Cooney’s guilty plea.

Deputy Attorney General David W. Ogden today announced plans by the Department of Justice to significantly expand its training and education operations at the National Advocacy Center (NAC), the core training facility for local, state and federal attorneys, law enforcement agents and support personnel.

Today the Departments of Justice, State and Treasury announced coordinated actions against the Gulf Cartel/Los Zetas drug trafficking organization, now known as the "Company," in the latest in a series of efforts by the U.S. government to neutralize and dismantle this violent cartel.

The Department filed a lawsuit against the owner and employees of Rolling Oaks Apartments, a 72-unit complex in Clanton, Ala., for violating the Fair Housing Act by discriminating on the basis of race or color in the rental of apartments. The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Alabama, alleges that the employees, Kenneth R. Scott and Frankie L. Roberson, told white testers that a selling point of Rolling Oaks Apartments was the lack of African American tenants and that they had adopted rental policies intended to discourage African American rental applicants.

Warren Mumpower of Spokane, Wash., was sentenced to life in prison today for his activity in a global child pornography trafficking enterprise.

A federal judge today sentenced Waquita Wallace to 20 years in prison and five years of supervised release for a federal civil rights charge of sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion for compelling a young St. Louis woman to commit acts of prostitution.

The Department announced an agreement with Gregg County, Texas, to improve access for persons with disabilities to its programs, services, activities and facilities. The agreement was reached under the Department’s Project Civic Access initiative, which helps bring localities into full compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). This agreement is the 163rd entered into under Project Civic Access.

Mark Edwin Cairnes, 51, of Jonestown, Texas, has been charged with advertising, receiving and possessing child pornography. A grand jury in the Western District of Texas returned the indictment against Cairnes on July 21, 2009, which was unsealed today after his arrest yesterday in Jonestown.

Juan Cortes-Meza, a Mexican National, pleaded guilty in federal district court in Atlanta to sex trafficking offenses involving young Mexican women and girls. Otto Jaime Larios Perez, a Guatemalan National, also pleaded guilty today to making a false statement to law enforcement and, thereby, obstructing a human trafficking investigation.

The Department has reached a settlement that will require Sapa Holding AB and Indalex Holdings Finance Inc. to divest a North Carolina aluminum sheathing facility in order to proceed with Sapa’s proposed $150 million acquisition of Indalex.

The Department has reached a settlement that will require Sapa Holding AB and Indalex Holdings Finance Inc. to divest a North Carolina aluminum sheathing facility in order to proceed with Sapa’s proposed $150 million acquisition of Indalex.

Computer Assets Inc. and its principals, Abraham Salazar and Damon Salazar, have agreed to pay $350,000 over three years and surrender up to $35 million in pending E-Rate applications to settle allegations that the company violated the False Claims Act in connection with the Federal Communications Commission’s E-Rate program.

Almighty Latin King and Queen Nation (ALKQN) member David Hellums, aka "CutThroat," pleaded guilty today to a superseding indictment charging him and 16 co-defendants with various offenses related to alleged narcotics and weapons trafficking, as well as violent activities throughout Texas.

The Justice Department today announced a settlement that, pending court approval, will resolve allegations that those involved in the design and construction of the Summerland Heights Apartments, a 318-unit apartment complex in Woodbridge, Va., discriminated on the basis of disability in the design and construction of the project.

The Justice Department announced an agreement with the former owners and managers of Valley View Apartments in Longview, Wash., to settle allegations that they violated the Fair Housing Act by intentionally discriminating against an individual with a disability.

Exxon-Mobil Corporation, the world’s largest publicly traded oil and gas company, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Denver to violating the federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA) in five states during the past five years.

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.

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.

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.

A former member of the U.S. armed services was sentenced today to 28 months in prison for his role in a widespread bribery and extortion conspiracy that operated from January 2002 through March 2004.

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.

A federal judge in Dallas has permanently barred Lennon Madzima from preparing federal tax returns for others. The court found Madzima repeatedly understated his customers’ income tax liabilities “by negligently and willfully claiming frivolous and meritless federal fuel tax credits that had no realistic possibility of being sustained on the merits” and “by negligently and willfully inflating or fabricating telephone excise tax refund credits.”

Four men and one woman have been arrested on charges of conspiracy and sex trafficking of children, as well as forcing and coercing adults to engage in commercial sex acts.

Eugene Morris, a former correctional officer with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, was sentenced today in federal court in Houston for providing a false statement related to a federal civil rights investigation. Morris was sentenced to two years in prison and two years of supervised release.

The Justice Department today announced an agreement with the owner of College Square Apartments, in Davie, Fla., to settle allegations of discrimination against African Americans. Under the consent decree, approved today in U.S. District Court in Miami, the defendants must pay a total of up to $140,000 to victims of discrimination and a civil penalty of $74,000 to the government.

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.

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.

Madhatta Haipe, a citizen of the Philippines, has been extradited from the Philippines to face trial in the District of Columbia for various crimes relating to the hostage taking of U.S. and Philippine citizens in 1995.

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).

Defendant Paul Raymond Green was sentenced late last week to 52 months in prison and three years of supervised release for his role in a scheme to prostitute minor females. Green, 23, previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit sex trafficking.

Adam S. Pretti, a former deputy with the Shelby County, Tenn., Sheriff’s Office, was sentenced today in federal court in Memphis to 18 months in prison and two years of supervised release for using excessive force during an encounter with a citizen. Pretti was also ordered to pay a $4,000 fine and a $100 special assessment.

Richard David Mitchell was arraigned yesterday on sex tourism charges in the U.S. District Court for the District of Hawaii, after being deported from Cambodia.

Sexual violence is not just an issue for the victim, or his or her family. We believe the community must be involved in addressing the needs of survivors and holding offenders accountable.

Gerald Green and Patricia Green, Los Angeles-area film executives, were found guilty late last Friday of conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and money laundering laws of the United States, as well as substantive violations of the FCPA and U.S. money laundering laws in relation to a sophisticated bribery scheme that enabled the defendants to obtain a series of Thai government contracts, including valuable contracts to manage and operate Thailand’s yearly film festival.

Teresa Vogt, a resident of Anaheim, Calif., pleaded guilty on Sept. 15, 2009, to one count of obstruction of justice before U.S. District Court Judge Dale S. Fischer in Los Angeles. Vogt and eight co-defendants were indicted in May 2005 on tax fraud, conspiracy, money laundering and other charges related to the operation of the Genesis Fund.

Thomas S. Pendleton of Wilmington, Del., was found guilty today of traveling in foreign commerce to engage in illicit sexual conduct with a minor under the age of 16.

Patrick Cochran, 47, of Lake Jackson, Texas, was sentenced late on Monday in Phoenix to 76 months in prison for travel with intent to engage in sex with minors and possession of child pornography.

A Dutch aviation services company, its director and sales manager pleaded guilty today in the District of Columbia to federal charges related to a conspiracy to illegally export aircraft components and other items from the United States to entities in Iran via the Netherlands, the United Arab Emirates and Cyprus.

Mark Edwin Cairnes of Jonestown, Texas, pleaded guilty today to advertising and possessing child pornography.

Joseph Hirko, former co-chief executive officer of Enron Broadband Services (EBS), Enron’s failed telecommunications business, was sentenced today to 16 months in prison.

Suresh Chand pleaded guilty today to participating in multiple conspiracies to defraud the Medicare program and to launder the proceeds of the fraud.

Formosa Plastics Corp., Texas, and Formosa Plastics Corp., Louisiana, will spend more than $10 million on pollution controls to address air, water, and hazardous waste violations at two petrochemical plants in Point Comfort, Texas, and Baton Rouge, La.

A federal district court in Texas has permanently enjoined Ludivina Salinas of Mission, Texas, from preparing federal income tax returns for others.

Tommy Handy, aka “Tom Tom,” waived indictment and pleaded guilty in federal court in Little Rock, Ark., to a federal charge of sex trafficking of an underage female.

“This is a critical and exciting time for the Department of Justice and I will rely heavily on these U.S. Attorneys as we work to further the Department’s efforts to reduce violent crime and gang violence, promote civil rights, ensure fairness in the marketplace and above all, preserve our national security,” said Attorney General Holder.

Rodolfo Rodriguez Cabrera, 43, a Cuban national, was arraigned today in U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada on charges of producing and selling counterfeit slot machines and counterfeit computer programs.

Donald Mathias, 64, has been indicted for allegedly traveling to the Philippines in 2007 and 2008 to engage in sexual conduct with minors.

A Beverly Hills, Calif.-based financial products and services firm, two of its executives and one former executive were indicted today for their participation in bid-rigging and fraud conspiracies related to contracts for the investment of municipal bond proceeds and other related municipal finance contracts.

A hospital group based in McAllen, Texas, has agreed to pay the United States $27.5 million to settle claims that it violated the False Claims Act, the Anti-Kickback Statute and the Stark Statute between 1999 and 2006, by paying illegal compensation to doctors in order to induce them to refer patients to hospitals within the group