"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.

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.

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.

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.

The Department of Justice today announced a series of investigations stemming from allegations of sexual assault and sexual harassment at the University of Montana and in the greater Missoula, Mont., community. These investigations will seek to determine whether gender discrimination affected the prevention, investigation and prosecution of sexual assaults and sexual harassment in Missoula.

The Justice Department announced today that former Bryan County, Okla., Sheriff’s Office Lieutenant Kevin Bennett Holt, 48, from Achille, Okla., pleaded guilty in federal court to using a Taser to assault a detainee inside of the Bryan County Jail in Durant, Okla., thereby depriving the detainee of his civil rights.

An executive of South Korean-based Hyosung Corporation has agreed to plead guilty and to serve time in a U.S. prison for obstruction of justice charges in connection with an automated teller machine (ATM) merger investigation conducted by the Antitrust Division.

The $44 million in funds were forfeited to the United States as a result of the 2007 federal conviction of Qwest’s chief executive officer, Joseph P. Nacchio, for securities fraud.

"Sex trafficking is a big money-maker for criminals and a scourge to society. Traffickers callously seek to furnish their market with women, girls, and boys who have been cast out by society and whose options are few. In many cases, they are young people – not even teenagers – who are looking for the home they’ve never had. What they find, instead, are betrayal, cruelty, and abuse. And sadly, too often our systems of support and justice have offered no quarter," said Acting Assistant Attorney General Leary.

Global Health Care Company Abbott Laboratories Inc. has pleaded guilty and agreed to pay $1.5 billion to resolve its criminal and civil liability arising from the company’s unlawful promotion of the prescription drug Depakote for uses not approved as safe and effective by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Justice Department announced today. The resolution – the second largest payment by a drug company – includes a criminal fine and forfeiture totaling $700 million and civil settlements with the federal government and the states totaling $800 million. Abbott also will be subject to court-supervised probation and reporting obligations for Abbott’s CEO and Board of Directors.

An indictment filed in the Northern District of Alabama and unsealed today charges Robert E. Taylor Jr., 41, of Warrior, Ala., with conspiring to bribe and bribing a public official in order to protect his interest in an illegal gambling business.

"These agreements provide an example of the kind of resolution we will seek from companies that misguidedly put profits over patients," said Acting Associate Attorney General West.

George Anderson, 57, an anesthesiologist from Farmville, Va., pleaded guilty today to two counts of filing a false corporate and false individual income tax return, the Justice Department and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced.

A federal jury in New York City today convicted three former financial services executives for their participation in conspiracies related to bidding for contracts for the investment of municipal bond proceeds and other municipal finance contracts

The Department of Justice today announced the filing of a lawsuit against the Nevada Division of Forestry (NDF) alleging that NDF discriminated against Ms. Tawnya Meyer, a former employee, when they fired her soon after she announced her pregnancy.

Alan James Watson, 47, of Clinton Township, Mich., was sentenced today to 12 years in prison for fraudulently soliciting and accepting $40 million from more than 900 members of his investment club, Cash Flow Financial LLC (CFF).

The Residential Mortgage-Backed Securities (RMBS) Working Group announced new resources today in the ongoing effort to investigate misconduct, including the launch of a RMBS website to report fraud and the creation of a coordination team to facilitate the various investigations underway around the country.

F. Harvey Whittemore, 55, of Reno, Nevada, was charged with one count of making excessive campaign contributions, one count of making contributions in the name of others and two counts of making a false statement to a federal agency.

Acting Associate Attorney General Tony West today joined U.S. Attorney Michael W. Cotter and Vice-Chairman of the Crow Nation Calvin Coolidge Jefferson to announce a multi-agency collaboration with tribal governments to establish sexual assault response teams (SARTs) in the six Montana reservations under federal jurisdiction.

"As someone who spent over a dozen years as a prosecutor and then nearly twenty more as a defense attorney, I know firsthand the importance that discovery plays in ensuring criminal defendants fair trials. But, at the same time, I am acutely aware of the other critical interests – such as the safety and privacy of witnesses and victims – that our criminal justice system properly takes into account," said Deputy Attorney General Cole.

"We hope that establishing SART teams on every Montana reservation will bring healing and justice to victims of sexual violence – the kind of help that will also strengthen the faith and confidence that native women have in their criminal justice system," said Acting Associate Attorney General West.

" am proud of the work that’s been done – by the Department’s 116,000 employees, as well as our government and law enforcement partners worldwide – to help fulfill the promises that I made before this Committee more than three years ago," said Attorney General Holder.

Attorney General Eric Holder issued the following statement today on the assignment of U.S. Attorneys to lead investigations of possible unauthorized disclosures of classified information.

Former Fort Deposit, Ala., Police Officer Carlos Tyson Bennett was arrested today on charges of stealing money from motorists on Interstate 65 in central Alabama and subsequently trying to conceal his criminal activity, announced the Justice Department.

"I am proud of all that’s been achieved by the 116,000 men and women who serve the Department in offices around the world. Their dedicated efforts – and those of our government and law enforcement partners at every level – have allowed me to fulfill the commitments that I made during my first appearance before this Committee as Attorney General," said Attorney General Holder.

R. Allen Stanford, the former board of directors chairman of Stanford International Bank (SIB), was sentenced today in Houston to a total of 110 years in prison for orchestrating a 20-year investment fraud scheme in which he misappropriated $7 billion from SIB to finance his personal businesses.

Andrew James Miller, 23, of Devon, Penn., was arrested this morning on charges contained in a four-count indictment filed in the District of Massachusetts.

"So as we continue to bring our law enforcement tools to bear to investigate, prosecute and punish elder abuse perpetrators, we at the Department also know that the most effective elder abuse case is the one we prevent," said Acting Associate Attorney General West.

"Ultimately, however, the role that science plays in forming our policies and practices -- that will depend on each of you: your commitment; your vigilance; your dedication to ensuring that our work to create a criminal justice system that is more effective, more efficient, more just, will rest not merely on a foundation of hope, or goodwill, or good intentions, but on a bedrock of integrity born of science and research," said Acting Associate Attorney General West.

Three former executives of Fair Financial Company, an Ohio financial services business, were found guilty for their roles in a scheme to defraud approximately 5,000 investors of more than $200 million, Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; Joseph H. Hogsett, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana; and Special Agent in Charge Robert Holley of the FBI in Indiana announced today.

Laura Pendergest-Holt, 38, the former chief investment officer of Houston-based Stanford Financial Group, pleaded guilty today to obstructing a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) investigation into Stanford International Bank (SIB), the Antiguan offshore bank owned by convicted financier Robert Allen Stanford.

"The Department’s Olmstead enforcement activities are dynamic and ongoing," said Assistant Attorney General Perez.

Veteran District of Columbia defense attorney Charles F. Daum, 66, of Arnold, Md., was found guilty today of one count of conspiracy to obstruct justice, three counts of obstruction of justice and two counts of subornation of perjury, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; Chief Cathy L. Lanier of the Washington, D.C., Metropolitan Police Department; and James W. McJunkin, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office.

The United States has filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin against Dan Nolan Livestock LLC. and its owner Daniel W. Nolan to block them from violating the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act (FDCA) in connection with their alleged unlawful use of new animal drugs in cows slaughtered for food. The Justice Department filed the suit on behalf of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Khalid Ali-M Aldawsari, 22, a citizen of Saudi Arabia and resident of Lubbock, Texas, was convicted by a federal jury today on an indictment charging one count of attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction in connection with his purchase of chemicals and equipment necessary to make an improvised explosive device (IED) and his research of potential U.S. targets, including persons and infrastructure.

A federal grand jury in Mobile, Ala., returned an indictment today against two real estate investors and their company, charging them with participating in conspiracies to rig bids and commit mail fraud at public real estate foreclosure auctions held in southern Alabama.

"In our system, antitrust and intellectual property policy function together to provide consumers with high-quality products and services at competitive prices, while at the same time preserving strong incentives for the innovation that creates and improves those products," said Acting Assistant Attorney General Wayland.

John Bryan Villegas, 21, of Kittery, Maine, was arrested yesterday and made his initial appearance today in federal court in New Hampshire.

A former financial services executive was indicted yesterday for his participation in a far-reaching conspiracy and scheme to defraud related to bidding for contracts for the investment of municipal bond proceeds and other municipal finance contracts.

A Deputy Sheriff for the Starr County, Texas, Sherriff’s Office has been ordered detained by a federal magistrate judge in the Southern District of Texas on charges of conspiracy, federal programs bribery, extortion and drug possession with intent to distribute.

After a seven week trial in federal court in Camden, N.J., multiple defendants were convicted on various felony counts of creating false records, trafficking in illegally possessed oysters, obstructing the Food and Drug Administration’s regulation of public health and safety, and conspiring to commit those crimes.

Through an application to register and enforce two orders from United Kingdom courts, the Department of Justice has secured a restraining order against more than $3 million in corruption proceeds located in the United States related to James Onanefe Ibori, the former governor of Nigeria’s oil-rich Delta State.

William B. Clayton, a residential builder formerly of Corolla, N.C., was arrested yesterday on charges of obstructing the tax laws and converting government property.

An Alabama real estate investor pleaded guilty today for his role in conspiracies to rig bids and commit mail fraud at public real estate foreclosure auctions in southern Alabama.

Miami-area resident Emilio Haber, 53, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Patrick Duggan in the Eastern District of Michigan in Detroit.

"Attorney General Holder often says that fighting violence in our cities and building a fair and effective justice system – a system that keeps citizens safe and maintains its legitimacy in the eyes of everyone it serves – has never been more difficult, nor more urgent, than right now," said Acting Associate Attorney General West.

North Carolina’s Waccamaw River watershed will benefit from a $1 million restitution order from a federal court, funding environmental projects to acquire and preserve wetlands in an area damaged by illegal releases of wastewater from a corporate hog farm.

The Department of Justice announced today that it will require United Technologies Corporation (UTC) to divest certain assets used in the production of electrical power systems and aircraft engine control systems in order to proceed with its acquisition of Goodrich Corporation.

"In the year since I last appeared before this Subcommittee, the Civil Rights Division has continued our vigorous, fair and independent enforcement of civil rights laws. It is fitting that I come before you today, on the 22nd anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, a landmark law that represents a bipartisan tradition of evenhanded civil rights enforcement," said Assistant Attorney General Perez.

"My wish for all of you is that the experience of this week will transform your present and give momentum to your future as proud members of your tribe and proud Americans, working to bring about the best for you as an individual and for your tribal nation," said Acting Associate Attorney General West.