Ninety-one members and associates of seven organized crime families of La Cosa Nostra (LCN), including the New England LCN family, all five New York-based families and the New Jersey-based Decavalcante family have been charged with federal crimes in 16 indictments returned in four judicial districts.

"Today, more than 800 federal, state and local law enforcement officials have arrested over 110 individuals, including dozens of La Cosa Nostra members and associates."

In fiscal year 2010, the Department of Justice secured approximately $2.072 billion in judgments and settlements as a result of enforcement actions led by the Criminal Division, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division.

A judge sentenced Thomas Hayward Lewis to 12 months and one day in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for violating the civil rights of congregants of the Congregation Tree of Life Messianic Synagogue, as well as possession of an unregistered firearm.

Robert C. Welti, a resident of Ripley, Ohio, was sentenced today in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio.

A Detroit-area patient recruiter was sentenced today to 40 months in prison for his role in a conspiracy to defraud the Medicare program.

"Thank you for inviting me to speak with you today about the many ways in which the Department of Justice protects American taxpayer dollars by bringing criminal fraud prosecutions."

"Since I became Assistant Attorney General, in April 2009, I have spoken to many audiences about the recent reinvigoration of our criminal enforcement efforts; and in this era of heightened enforcement, I think organizations like WMACCA, which allow business leaders and lawyers to come together and share ideas, serve an especially important function."

A federal jury in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., has convicted Matthew Nestor and William Moyer of falsifying information related to the investigation into the beating death of Luis Ramirez.

The former owner of Buddy’s Carpet, Leif D. Rozin, and Alan W. Koehler, the company’s former in-house counsel, were sentenced to prison for their roles in a tax fraud scheme for which they were convicted in 2008.

Oracle America Inc. has agreed to pay the United States $46 million to settle claims that Sun Microsystems Inc., a corporation that merged with Oracle in 2010, submitted false claims and caused others to submit false claims to the General Services Administration and other federal agencies.

Maxwell Technologies Inc. has agreed to pay an $8 million criminal penalty to resolve charges related to the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) for bribing Chinese government officials to secure sales of Maxwell’s products to state-owned manufacturers of electric-utility infrastructure in several Chinese provinces.

Andrew Kerber, 22, of Chico, Calif., pleaded guilty today before U.S. District Judge Lawrence J. O’Neill in Fresno, Calif., to violating the civil rights of congregants of Congregation Beth Shalom, a synagogue in Modesto, Calif.

Colleen R. LaRose, aka “Jihad Jane,” 47, pleaded guilty today to all counts of a superseding indictment charging her with conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists, conspiracy to kill in a foreign country, making false statements and attempted identity theft. LaRose faces maximum potential sentence of life in prison and a $1 million fine when she is sentenced.

The Justice Department today announced a settlement of its lawsuit alleging that Chandi Biswas, Kenneth R. Scott and Frankie L. Roberson violated the Fair Housing Act by making discriminatory statements against African-American renters at Rolling Oaks Apartments in Clanton, Ala.

A federal jury in Baton Rouge, La., today convicted a former research scientist of stealing trade secrets from Dow Chemical Company and selling them to companies in the People’s Republic of China, as well as committing perjury.

Two Iowa ready-mix concrete executives were sentenced to serve jail time and pay criminal fines for their participation in separate conspiracies to fix prices and rig bids for sales of ready-mix concrete.

The United States has filed six lawsuits in five states to stop tax return preparers from fraudulently claiming the first-time homebuyer tax credit and the earned-income tax credit.

Forty-one members of various street gangs have been charged in indictments or criminal complaints unsealed today in five judicial districts.

Michael Francis Bealonis, of Robinson, Penn., pleaded guilty today a charge related to the burning of a cross in the yard of an African-American juvenile in November 2009

Tyson Foods Inc. has agreed to pay a $4 million criminal penalty to resolve an investigation into improper payments by company representatives to government-employed inspection veterinarians in Mexico.

A Massachusetts man was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Providence, R.I., to 12 months and one day in prison for tax evasion related to an FBI investigation of organized crime activity in Rhode Island.

The Justice Department announced today that Dalton Township, Mich., will pay $62,500 to settle a lawsuit alleging that the township discriminated against a group home for persons recovering from drug and alcohol addiction, in violation of the federal Fair Housing Act and Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The construction manager for a renovation project at the Equitable Building in Des Moines, Iowa, pleaded guilty today in federal court to conspiracy to violate the Clean Air Act and for violating the Clean Air Act’s work practice standards related to asbestos removal.

Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano and Attorney General Eric Holder today met to discuss the shooting by unknown assailants of two U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) special agents in the line of duty yesterday while driving in Mexico.

One hundred and two members and associates of transnational organized criminal groups operating in the United States have been charged in indictments unsealed today in Los Angeles; Santa Ana, Calif.; Miami and Denver.

The United States and Croatia today signed an Agreement on Preventing and Combating Serious Crime.

“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.

"I am pleased to be here today with my friend, U.S. Attorney Birotte, and our law enforcement partners to announce these indictments, and the arrest of more than 80 members and associates of transnational organized crime groups, including a particularly powerful one based here in California."

The former president of Infinia Healthcare LLC, a company that operated long-term healthcare facilities in several states, was indicted by a federal grand jury in the U.S. District Court in Utah for three counts of tax evasion.

An owner of bar in Guam was found guilty today of sex trafficking, and coercion and enticement for prostitution related to a scheme to force young women and one juvenile girl into prostitution.

"Today, as we commemorate Black History Month, we honor our nation’s past. But we must also reaffirm our vision of the future that we will share and, together, must build."

Marco Parenti Adami, Emanuel Agustino, Michele Bergantino and Roger Schaerer, bankers at an international bank, were indicted by a federal grand jury in the Eastern District of Virginia and charged with conspiring with other Swiss bankers to defraud the United States.

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.

BlueCross BlueShield of Illinois, a division of Health Care Service Corporation, has agreed to pay the United States and the state of Illinois $25 million to settle False Claims Act allegations.

As part of continued efforts to close the chapter on allegations that discrimination occurred at U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) in past decades.

Four alleged members and associates of the New England La Cosa Nostra (LCN), including an alleged former boss, were charged with crimes involving racketeering, extortion and related crimes in a superseding indictment unsealed today in Providence, R.I.

Drug manufacturer Forest Pharmaceuticals Inc. was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Nancy Gertner to pay a criminal fine of $150 million and forfeit assets of $14 million.

The owners and operators of Summerhill Place Apartments, a 268 apartment complex in Renton, Wash., have agreed to pay $110,000 in damages and civil penalties to settle a lawsuit alleging that the complex had discriminated against African-Americans, Hispanic Americans, Indian Americans and families with children in violation of the Fair Housing Act.

American Education and Travel Services Inc. (AETS) in Antioch, Calif., has agreed to pay $10,000 in back pay and compensatory damages to a lawful permanent resident who was denied a residential counselor position because he was not a U.S. citizen or native English speaker.

Chairman Sensenbrenner, Ranking Member Scott, and members of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security, thank you for inviting me to testify today concerning the three provisions of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (“FISA”) that were recently reauthorized but are scheduled to sunset again in May.

Thank you for inviting me to speak with you today about the Department of Justice’s efforts to combat health care fraud through criminal prosecution.

From the very first day of this investigation, prosecutors from the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Office in El Paso have worked around-the-clock with our law enforcement partners in Mexico and the United States to find those responsible for these heinous crimes and bring them to justice.

Kenneth L. Richardson of Nashville, Tenn., was arraigned in Nashville on charges of making and subscribing a false income tax return for 2004, and for failure to file a tax return for years 2005, 2006 and 2007.

The government’s lawsuit, filed on Oct. 15, 2009, alleged that former property manager Ann Wagner and former maintenance supervisor Corey Anderson created a racially hostile housing environment for one African-American family and two white families who associated with the African-American family while they were tenants at Lakeport Village.

The Department of Justice marked the start of Sunshine Week today with the launch of FOIA.gov, the “flagship initiative” of the department’s Open Government Plan and one of the most significant contributions yet toward making this the most transparent administration in history.

A Kentucky couple and their caviar companies were charged today with trafficking in and falsely labeling illegally harvested paddlefish.

Jeffrey Chatfield of San Diego was sentenced before U.S. District Judge Michael M. Anello to three years probation for hiding assets in secret offshore UBS bank accounts.

Attorney General Eric Holder and Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius visited Detroit today to participate in the fifth regional health care fraud prevention summit.

The Justice Department announced today that it has resolved a lawsuit alleging that Kimberly Sathoff was subjected to pregnancy discrimination by the Hertford County, N.C., Public Health Authority, in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.