A financial investor who purchased municipal tax liens at auctions in New Jersey, as well as a company in which he was a partner, pleaded guilty today for their roles in a conspiracy to rig bids for the sale of tax liens auctioned by municipalities throughout the state.

Tokyo-based Fujikura Ltd. has agreed to plead guilty and to pay a $20 million criminal fine for its role in a conspiracy to fix prices of automotive wire harnesses and related products installed in U.S. cars.

The Justice Department today filed a lawsuit against the city of Jacksonville, Fla., alleging that the city is engaged in a pattern or practice of employment discrimination against African-Americans in its fire and rescue department in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The lawsuit challenges the fire department’s use of written examinations for the promotion of firefighters to four ranks – Lieutenant, Captain, and District Chief, all in the suppression line, and Engineer.

On April 20, 2012, U.S. District Court Senior Judge Ewing Werlein Jr. sentenced Michael Burkett, 34, aka “Redneck,” to 27 months in prison and Shane Dallmeyer, 31, aka “Lock Jaw,” to 33 months in prison.

Tahn Le, 44, of Philadelphia, was sentenced today to 400 months in prison for his participation in a conspiracy to commit violent home invasion robberies of successful Asian business owners in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland and Virginia.

ATK has agreed to pay the United States $21 million in cash and provide necessary in-kind services worth $15,967,160 to fix the 76,000 unsafe para-flares remaining in the government’s inventory. The settlement resolves a False Claims Act suit filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah.

My time at the division has been a remarkable experience and I welcome this opportunity to highlight the division’s great work and achievements on behalf of American consumers.

At the final hearing of Attorney General Eric Holder’s National Task Force on Children Exposed to Violence in Detroit, officials from the Justice Department and the city of Detroit underscored efforts to keep kids safe and prevent youth violence. The task force is a key part of Attorney General Holder’s Defending Childhood Initiative to prevent and reduce children’s exposure to violence.

Mevlid Jasarevic, 23, a citizen of Serbia, was indicted today by a federal grand jury in the District of Columbia on charges of attempted murder and other violations in connection with his alleged machine gun attack on the U.S. Embassy in Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina, on Oct. 28, 2011.

The United States has intervened in a lawsuit against Japanese company, Toyo Ink Manufacturing Co. Ltd. and its U.S. subsidiaries: Toyo Ink International Corp., located in New York; Toyo Ink America LLC, located in Illinois; and Toyo Ink Manufacturing America LLC, located in New Jersey, the Justice Department announced today. Toyo Ink, which has operations worldwide, is a leading provider of printing inks.

Mix, 50, of Katy, Texas, was charged with two counts of obstruction of justice in a criminal complaint filed in the Eastern District of Louisiana and unsealed today.

Gary D. Osborn and his corporation, ApothéCure Inc., pleaded guilty today in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas to two misdemeanor criminal violations of the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act (FDCA). The pleas are in connection with ApothéCure’s interstate shipment of two lots of misbranded colchicine injectable solution that led to the deaths of three people in the Pacific Northwest.

The Department of Justice and the Department of the Interior announced today that Freeport-McMoRan Corporation and Freeport-McMoRan Morenci Inc. have agreed to pay $6.8 million to settle federal and state natural resource damages claims related to the Morenci copper mine in southeastern Arizona.

Four individuals have been charged in the Eastern District of Virginia for their alleged roles in an Internet piracy group that distributed via the Internet copies of movies showing only in theaters.

Kevin P. Mahoney of Attleboro, Mass., was sentenced today to 60 months in prison, following trial convictions on corruptly endeavoring to obstruct the administration of the Internal Revenue laws, filing false tax returns with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and criminal contempt of court, the Justice Department and the IRS announced. U.S. District Judge Joseph L. Tauro presided over the trial and imposed the sentence. A Boston jury convicted licensed stockbroker, insurance agent and financial advisor Mahoney on Jan. 25, 2012. Mahoney was charged with one count of corruptly endeavoring to obstruct the administration of the Internal Revenue laws, eight counts of contempt of court and eight counts of filing false tax returns. He was convicted on all counts. Judge Tauro also ordered Mahoney to pay $367,000 in restitution to the IRS. Mahoney was remanded to prison immediately following the sentencing hearing.

"When it comes to violence, the challenges our children face are clear. We know that over 60 percent -- regardless of race – are exposed to some form of violence, crime, or abuse. Whether it's at home, in school, on the streets, or online, our children are witnessing and experiencing intolerable levels of violence. We also know that understanding the nature and extent of children’s exposure to violence is essential to effectively combating its effects," said Acting Associate Attorney General West.

"This evening, we have come together to focus on such an issue; and contribute to an important national dialogue – about how we can advance our nation’s long struggle for fairness and freedom; and, specifically, how we can more successfully identify, assist, and seek justice on behalf of the millions of human trafficking victims who have been trapped in some form of slavery, bonded labor, or forced prostitution," said Attorney General Holder.

Hess Corporation has agreed to pay an $850,000 civil penalty and spend more than $45 million in new pollution controls to resolve Clean Air Act violations at its Port Reading, N.J., refinery.

A federal court in New Orleans has permanently barred Cathy and Lashanda Vinnett from preparing federal tax returns for others, the Justice Department announced today. The civil injunction order, to which the Vinnetts agreed without admitting the government’s allegations, was signed by Judge Helen G. Berrigan of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana.

U.S. District Judge Ursula Ungaro in Miami sentenced Roberto Gonzalez to 120 months in prison, Olga Gonzalez to 87 months in prison and Fabian Gonzalez to 87 months in prison.

Anthony L. Dinunzio, 53, of East Boston, Mass., the alleged leader of the New England organized crime family of La Cosa Nostra (NELCN), was arrested today on racketeering and extortion charges.

Garth Peterson, 42, an American citizen living in Singapore, pleaded guilty to one-count criminal information charging him with conspiring to evade internal accounting controls that Morgan Stanley was required to maintain under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

The Justice Department today announced that it has reached a consent decree with Waupaca County, Wis., to resolve allegations that the county discriminated against an employee by denying her a promotion because of her sex.

McKesson Corporation has agreed to pay the United States more than $190 million to resolve claims that it violated the False Claims Act by reporting inflated pricing information for a large number of prescription drugs, causing Medicaid to overpay for those drugs.

Following a comprehensive investigation, the Justice Department today announced its findings regarding the Juvenile Court of Memphis and Shelby County (JCMSC), and the Shelby County Juvenile Detention Center in Tennessee. The Justice Department found that the juvenile court fails to provide constitutionally required due process to all children appearing for delinquency proceedings, that the court’s administration of juvenile justice discriminates against African-American children, and that its detention center violates the substantive due process rights of detained youth by not providing them with reasonably safe conditions of confinement. The investigation, opened in August 2009, was conducted under provision of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

An executive of Japanese-based DENSO Corporation has agreed to plead guilty and to serve 14 months in a U.S. prison for his role in a conspiracy to fix prices and rig bids for heater control panels (HCPs) installed in U.S. cars.

Two alleged members of the Philadelphia organized crime family of La Cosa Nostra (LCN) were arrested today on racketeering charges contained in a second superseding indictment.

Two northern California real estate investors have agreed to plead guilty for their roles in conspiracies to rig bids and commit mail fraud at public real estate foreclosure auctions in northern California.

The seizures are the result of Operation Wreaking hAVoC, an FBI and Justice Department operation targeting the sale of stolen credit card numbers via the Internet.

Former District of Columbia Department of Corrections Officer Victor Bell, 25, pleaded guilty today to a criminal civil rights charge for assaulting an inmate in the District of Columbia Central Detention Facility (D.C. jail).

Former Tuscaloosa County Sheriff’s sergeant, Althea Mallisham, 52, has been sentenced to 61 months in prison for civil rights convictions for wrongfully using a Taser against three detainees during separate incidents over a four month period in 2008.

Howard Levine, owner of a Dix Hill, N.Y., tax preparation business was sentenced to 37 months in prison for tax crimes, the Justice Department and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced today.

Billie Ray Pratt, age 24, of Halethorpe, Md., pleaded guilty today to his involvement in hanging a raccoon on the porch of a family from Africa.

The Attorney General made the following statement today on the Senate’s approval of the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA).

Integrated Production Services Inc. (IPS), a Houston-based natural gas and oil drilling contractor, was sentenced today in federal court in Muskogee, Okla., to pay a criminal fine of $140,000 for violations of the Clean Water Act at its hydraulic fracturing operation in Atoka County, Okla., the Justice Department announced.

"The Department of Justice has an important legal and moral responsibility to prosecute violent crime in Indian country, because under current law, in much of Indian country, we alone have the authority to seek an appropriate sentence when a serious crime has been committed. Our role as the sole prosecutor for serious violent crime makes our responsibility to citizens in Indian country unique, and we take it seriously," said Deputy Attorney General Cole.

"This month is an invitation. It’s an invitation for us to stand together and confront the enormity of sexual violence; to re-dedicate ourselves to bringing justice to victims and their families; to break the silence and to redouble our efforts to hold perpetrators of sexual assault accountable," said Acting Associate Attorney General West.

"Over the past couple of years OVW has made a concerted effort to prioritize sexual violence by providing grants to address the gap in services and resources for victims and survivors of rape and sexual violence," said Acting Director Hanson.

"The racial disparities in the treatment of African-American children raise serious constitutional concerns under the equal protection clause," said Assistant Attorney General Perez.

"Every day, Legal Aid attorneys are in the courtroom – standing up for survivors of domestic violence; helping families facing eviction, and veterans who have been denied their benefits; and making sure adults and children alike have an understanding of the rights and protections to which they are entitled. And, because of your consistent focus on pro bono work, you are helping to rally the entire bar to this cause," said Attorney General Holder.

An Alabama real estate investor has agreed to plead guilty and to serve one year in prison for his role in conspiracies to rig bids and commit mail fraud at public real estate foreclosure auctions in southern Alabama.

Richard Jaensch, 54, of Annandale, Va., was sentenced today to 36 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Gerald Bruce Lee, the Justice Department and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced. Jaensch had been found guilty on Dec. 7, 2011, by a federal jury sitting in Alexandria, Va., of corruptly endeavoring to impede the IRS, filing a false claim for a refund and four counts of failing to file tax returns for 2004 through 2007. Judge Lee also sentenced Jaensch to three years supervised release and ordered him to pay $197,984 in restitution to the IRS.

The Justice Department and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Texas announced today that there is insufficient evidence to pursue federal criminal charges against a U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Office of Border Patrol agent for the fatal shooting of the late Sergio Hernandez-Guereca, a 15-year-old Mexican national shot within a spillway of the Rio Grande River along the United States – Mexico border on June 7, 2010.

Ira Isaacs, 60, was found guilty today in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles on one count of engaging in the business of producing and selling obscene videos and four counts of distributing obscene videos, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney André Birotte Jr. of the Central District of California, Assistant Director in Charge Steve Martinez of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office, and Los Angeles Police Department Chief Charlie Beck.

"Over the past three years, the President and federal agencies throughout the government have taken crucial steps to support LGBT individuals and their families," said Acting Assistant Attorney General Delery.

An executive of Korean-based Hitachi-LG Data Storage Inc. (HLDS) has agreed to plead guilty and to serve time in a U.S. prison for his participation in a series of conspiracies to rig bids for the sale of optical disk drives.

The Department of Justice announced today that it has settled its lawsuit against the Mortgage Guaranty Insurance Corporation (MGIC) for discriminating against women on maternity leave in violation of the Fair Housing Act. This settlement is the department’s first involving discrimination against women and families in mortgage insurance.

National Express Corporation and Petermann Partners Inc. will divest several school bus contracts and associated assets in the states of Washington and Texas in order to proceed with their proposed merger.

Joseph Hines of Tempe, Ariz., was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Virginia A. Phillips. In December 2010, Hines, 24, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to solicit child pornography.

The president of a Costa Rican company that sold reinsurance bonds to life settlement companies was found guilty by a federal jury in Richmond, Va., today for carrying out a half-billion-dollar fraud scheme that affected more than 2,000 victims throughout the United States and abroad.