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Associate Attorney General Tony West to Visit Alaska

Associate Attorney General Tony West will visit Alaska next week to discuss the Department of Justice’s efforts to protect civil rights and strengthen public safety in American Indian and Alaska Native communities.



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Attorney General Holder Suggests New Proposal to Boost Voting Access for American Indians and Alaska Natives

"As a nation, we cannot, and we will not, simply stand by as the voices of Native Americans are shut out of the democratic process. I am personally committed to working with tribal authorities – and with Congress – to confront disparities and end misguided voting practices once and for all.”



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Associate Attorney General Tony West Speaks at the National Congress of American Indians 2014 Midyear Conference

"Standing by as Native voices, for whatever reason, are shut out of the democratic process is not an option. That is why the Attorney General and I support legislative steps that will guarantee voters have access to polling places on Indian reservations and in Alaska Native villages," said Associate Attorney General West.




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Department of Justice Reaches Landmark Agreement to Improve Missoula County Attorney’s Office’s Response to Reports of Sexual Assault

The Department of Justice announced today that it has reached a comprehensive agreement with the Missoula County Attorney’s Office, as well as Missoula County, Montana, and the Montana Attorney General’s Office, to resolve the department’s investigation of alleged gender bias in the prosecution of sexual assaults by the Missoula County Attorney’s Office (MCAO).



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City of San Jacinto, California, Agrees to End Discriminatory Housing Practices

The Justice Department today announced a settlement with the city of San Jacinto, California, that resolves a lawsuit alleging disability discrimination filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. Under the settlement, San Jacinto has changed its laws to comply with the Fair Housing Act (FHA) and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).



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Attorney General Eric Holder Delivers Remarks at the Congressional Black Caucus on Black Men and Boy’s Father’s Day Event

When I think about what it means to be an engaged citizen and a role model, I think of – and am thankful for – my own wonderful father, whom I loved, admired and miss every day.




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Attorney General Eric Holder Delivers Remarks at the 2014 LGBT Pride Month Celebration

Today, we have the privilege of hearing from two of the tenacious legal advocates who made last year’s landmark Supreme Court decision possible. First, it’s my pleasure to hand things over to our keynote speaker, Roberta Kaplan – who argued the Defense of Marriage Act challenge on behalf of Edith Windsor.




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Attorney General Eric Holder Delivers Remarks at the 14th Annual Lambda Legal Reception

And it’s not enough until the circle of opportunity and equality is so wide – and so accessible – that the American Dream is available to everyone with the heart to dream it.




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Deputy Attorney General James M. Cole Delivers Remarks at the “Pills to Needles: the Pathway to Rising Heroin Deaths” Event

As the Attorney General recently observed, heroin and opiate addiction and abuse “is impacting the lives of Americans in every state, in every region, and from every background and walk of life.”




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U.S. Attorney for the District of Montana Michael Cotter Speaks at Press Conference Announcing Agreement with Missoula County Attorney’s Office

"These agreements embody a sound plan and a solid program which will improve safety of women, enhance the capacity of the County Attorney’s Office to efficiently and effectively prosecute sexual assault crimes, and increase the community’s confidence in the County Attorney’s Office response to sexual assault."




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Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division Jocelyn Samuels Speaks at Press Conference Announcing Agreement with Missoula County Attorney’s Office

"Today’s groundbreaking agreement represents another important step forward in our ongoing effort to ensure that survivors of sexual assault in Missoula are treated with dignity and respect and have the full protection of the criminal justice system"




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Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division Pamela Karlan Speaks at the 2014 LGBT Pride Month Celebration

..."the velocity of the change should not blind us to the fact that if other civil rights struggles in America are any lesson, we have decades to go and we may need to fight as hard to preserve the gains we’ve won as to achieve new ones."




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Associate Attorney Tony West Speaks at the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee on American Indian and Alaska Native Children Exposed to Violence Hearing

"We have come to Anchorage to lessen the number of suffering children. We come to continue the important work we began six months ago when this Advisory Committee held its first hearing in Bismarck," said Associate Attorney General West




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Federal District Court Shut Down California Tax Return Preparers

A federal court in Fresno, California, has permanently barred Ken Mendoza and Alice Mendoza from preparing federal tax returns for others, the Justice Department announced today. Ken Mendoza and Alice Mendoza, who operated under the business name “Mendoza Business Services” in Fresno, consented to the civil injunction order, which was signed by U.S. District Judge Lawrence J. O’Neill in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California



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Former Ku Klux Klan Officer Pleads Guilty to Committing Perjury During Investigation into Cross-Burning

Pamela Morris, former secretary of a chapter of the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) in Ozark, Alabama, pleaded guilty today to committing perjury during a grand jury’s investigation into a racially motivated cross-burning in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Alabama



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Statement by Attorney General Holder on the Passing of Ruby Dee

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder released the following statement Friday on the passing of actress Ruby Dee



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Attorney General Holder Delivers Remarks at the Focus: Hope “Heroes for Hope” Event

Ultimately, as your history reminds us, these efforts will be successful only if we take responsibility not just for ourselves, but for our families, our neighbors, our friends, and our fellow citizens. Among them are the future “heroes for hope” that this city, this state, and this country desperately need.




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Georgia Resident Pleads Guilty in Connection with International Lottery Scheme Based in Jamaica

A man from Atlanta, Georgia, pleaded guilty today for his role in a Jamaican-based fraudulent lottery scheme



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Court Bars Miami Tax Return Preparers from Preparing Returns for Others

A federal district judge in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida permanently barred Lazaro Jesus Toyos and his daughter Dilma Carida Garcia, aka Dilma Toyos Garcia, and their respective companies, L. Toyos Tax Service Inc. and Toyos Garcia Tax Service Inc., from preparing federal income tax returns for others, the Justice Department announced today



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Attorney General Holder Delivers Statement on the Arrest of Ahmed Abu Khatallah for His Role in Attack in Benghazi, Libya

Attorney General Eric Holder released the following statement Tuesday regarding the arrest of Ahmed Abu Khatallah for his role in the attack on the U.S. facilities in Benghazi, Libya



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Federal Government and State Attorneys General Reach Nearly $1 Billion Agreement with SunTrust to Address Mortgage Loan Origination as Well as Servicing and Foreclosure Abuses

The Justice Department, Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), along with 49 state attorneys general and the District of Columbia’s attorney general have reached a $968 million agreement with SunTrust Mortgage Inc. (SunTrust) to address mortgage origination, servicing, and foreclosure abuses



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Alabama Tax Return Preparer Pleads Guilty to Filing False Tax Returns

Russell Burroughs pleaded guilty today to aiding in the preparation of false tax returns in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Alabama, the Justice Department and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced



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Department of Justice Reaches Settlement with Clay County, Alabama School District to Ensure Equal Opportunities for English Language Learner Students

The Justice Department announced today a settlement agreement with the Clay County School District in Alabama



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Attorney General Holder Delivers at the ONDCP Summit on Heroin and Prescription Drugs

You know as well as anyone that the challenges we face are daunting. You’ve shown us that, as we seek to address the problem of substance abuse, it makes sense to focus on the most dangerous types of drugs. And right now, few substances are more lethal than prescription opioids and heroin.




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Remarks by Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division Jocelyn Samuels at GE Capital Retail Bank Press Conference

The settlement resolves claims that the bank discriminated against Hispanic borrowers by excluding them from two credit card debt-repayment programs. It is the federal government’s largest credit card discrimination settlement in history.




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One Year After Supreme Court’s Historic Windsor Decision, Attorney General Holder Issues Report Outlining Obama Administration’s Work to Extend Federal Benefits to Same-sex Married Couples

Following the Supreme Court’s historic decision striking down Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act, Attorney General Eric Holder on Friday issued a formal report on the yearlong effort by the Justice Department and other federal agencies to implement the decision smoothly across the entire government



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Attorney General Holder Vows Justice Department Will Continue to Look at Banks That Help Payment Processors Carry out Consumer Scams, Says More Cases to Be Resolved Soon

Attorney General Eric Holder on Monday said that the Justice Department will continue to investigate financial institutions that knowingly facilitate consumer scams, or that willfully look the other way in processing such fraudulent transactions. He acknowledged that multiple investigations were ongoing in this area, and said he expected several of those cases to be resolved in the coming months



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District Court Enters Permanent Injunction Against California-Based Firm and Individuals to Prevent Distribution of Adulterated Dietary Supplements

The Justice Department announced today that U.S. District Court Judge Otis D. Wright II of the Central District of California entered a consent decree of permanent injunction against GM Manufacturing Inc. (GMM) and Mao L. Yang, Mary Chen and David Yang on Friday, June 20, 2014, to prevent the distribution of adulterated dietary supplements



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Air Force NCO Sentenced to 120 years in Prison for Sexually Exploiting Toddlers and Children to Produce Child Pornography

Earlier today, William S. Gazafi, age 44, of Lusby, Maryland, was sentenced to 120 years in prison, for six counts of sexually exploiting a minor to produce child pornography



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Attorney General Holder Pledges Support for Legislation to Provide E.U. Citizens with Judicial Redress in Cases of Wrongful Disclosure of Their Personal Data Transferred to the U.S. for Law Enforcement Purposes

Attorney General Eric Holder announced today that the Obama administration, as part of successfully concluding negotiations on the E.U.-U.S. Data Protection and Privacy Agreement (DPPA), would seek to work with Congress to enact legislation that would provide E.U. citizens with the right to seek redress in U.S. courts if personal data shared with U.S. authorities by their home countries for law enforcement purposes under the proposed agreement is subsequently intentionally or willfully disclosed, to the same extent that U.S. citizens could seek judicial redress in U.S. courts for such disclosures of their own law enforcement information under the Privacy Act



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Criticizing Wisconsin’s Voter Id Statute, Attorney General Holder Pledges Aggressive Enforcement of Remaining Parts of Voting Rights Act

On the one-year anniversary of the Supreme Court decision that struck down a key part of the Voting Rights Act, Attorney General Eric Holder pledged Wednesday that the Justice Department would remain aggressive in using Section 2 of the law—which was left intact by the Court’s decision—to guard against unjust voting restrictions



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Former Jenkens & Gilchrist Attorney Sentenced to 15 Years in Prison for Orchestrating Multibillion Dollar Criminal Tax Fraud Scheme

Deputy Assistant Attorney General Ronald A. Cimino for the Tax Division of the Department of Justice and U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara for the Southern District of New York announced that Paul M. Daugerdas, 63, a tax attorney and certified public accountant, was sentenced today in Manhattan federal court to serve 15 years in prison for orchestrating a massive fraudulent tax shelter scheme in which he and his co-conspirators designed, marketed and implemented fraudulent tax shelters used by wealthy individuals to evade over $1.6 billion in taxes owed to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).



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California Operators of Myredbook.com Website Arrested for Facilitating Prostitution and Money Laundering

Eric Omuro, of Mountain View, California, a.k.a “Red,” was arrested today following his indictment by a federal grand jury on charges involving the use of the mail and the Internet to facilitate prostitution, and multiple counts of money laundering



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Associate Attorney General West Delivers Remarks at the International Conference on Access to Legal Aid in Criminal Justice Systems

And equally important, I want to thank all of you -- the gathered Ministers, Deputy Ministers, Attorneys General, Supreme Court Justices, and criminal legal aid providers and experts -- for participating in this conference. Your presence here epitomizes the dual truths that all free people, wherever they may live, lay valid claim to equality in the eyes of the law, and that the majesty of the law finds its best and highest use in the service of justice.




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Alaska Attorney Pleads Guilty to Failing to File Income Tax Returns

Paul D. Stockler pleaded guilty today in the U.S. District Court in Anchorage, Alaska, to three counts of willful failure to file income tax returns, the Justice Department and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced



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California Woman Pleads Guilty to Conspiracy to Defraud Internal Revenue Service and Wire Fraud

Kathryn Darlene Coryell, a Fresno, California, resident, pleaded guilty yesterday to conspiracy to defraud the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and wire fraud, announced Deputy Assistant Attorney General Ronald A. Cimino for the Justice Department’s Tax Division and U.S. Attorney Melinda Haag for the Northern District of California



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Attorney General Holder Speaks at the White House Champions of Change Recognition Ceremony

"These groundbreaking efforts [Smart on Crime, Federal Interagency Reentry Council] are enabling us to tear down unnecessary barriers to opportunity and independence – while building up programs and policies that enable returning individuals to successfully reintegrate into their communities."




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Attorney General Holder Delivers Remarks at Press Conference Announcing Significant Law Enforcement Action

Today, the Department of Justice submitted to the United States District Court a criminal information against BNP Paribas, one of the largest banks in the world, for conspiring with other entities to deliberately and repeatedly violate longstanding U.S. sanctions against Sudan, Cuba, and Iran.




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Acting Assistant Attorney General Jocelyn Samuels Speaks at “Celebrating Our History &

"Five decades after its passage, the Civil Rights Act continues to touch the lives of Americans across the country – and to serve as a potent tool for combating discrimination. As we contemplate a half-century of progress—and look to the work that remains—the Civil Rights Division remains committed to its mission to protect, defend and advance civil rights in our nation."




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Court Prohibits Mississippi Tax Preparer from Preparing Tax Returns for Others

A federal court has permanently barred Kavivah Branson, aka Kavivah Bradley, of Clinton, Mississippi, and her Jackson, Mississippi, business, Branson Tax Service, from preparing federal tax returns for others, the Justice Department announced today. The civil injunction order, to which Branson consented, was signed by Judge Tom S. Lee of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi



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Former U.S. Navy Officer Pleads Guilty in International Bribery Scandal

A retired Navy official who started a second career working for defense contractor Glenn Defense Marine Asia (GDMA) pleaded guilty in federal court today, admitting that he and others overcharged the Navy by up to $2.5 million for port services to American ships and then used some of the proceeds to treat Navy officials to lavish dinners, cocktails and entertainment



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Associate Attorney General West Delivers Remarks at Mount Vernon Naturalization Ceremony

George Washington himself conceived and designed them, but it was Mount Vernon’s other residents -- the hundreds of men and women who worked for Washington -- it was their hands that built and tended this splendor. Like you, those men and women had origins that stretched around the globe. They were Christians and Muslims; Africans and Europeans.




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Southern California Man Sentenced to 121 Months in Prison for Medicare Fraud and Identity Theft

A Southern California man who was convicted at trial of conspiracy to commit health care fraud, six counts of health care fraud and six counts of aggravated identity theft was sentenced to serve 121 months in prison today in federal court in Los Angeles



  • OPA Press Releases

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Attorney General Holder Urges International Effort to Confront Threat of Syrian Foreign Fighters

In a speech Tuesday, Attorney General Eric Holder called Syria "a cradle of violent extremism" and urged multilateral law enforcement action to confront the security threat posed by radicalized individuals from the United States and Europe traveling there



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Readout of Deputy Attorney General’s Tour of Border Station in McAllen, Texas

Deputy Attorney General James Cole made a return trip today to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s McAllen Station and processing facility to discuss steps the Department of Justice is taking to help address the influx of migrants crossing the southwest border



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Chicago Businessman Pleads Guilty to Failing to File Tax Returns

Jaime Viteri, a Chicago businessman, pleaded guilty to two counts of willfully failing to file federal individual income tax returns today, announced the Justice Department and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).



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Caribbean-Based Investment Advisors and Attorney Plead Guilty to Using Offshore Accounts to Launder and Conceal Funds

Joshua Vandyk, a U.S. citizen, and Eric St-Cyr and Patrick Poulin, Canadian citizens, have each pleaded guilty to conspiring to launder monetary instruments, the Justice Department and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced today



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Attorney General Eric Holder to Deliver Keynote Address at Justice Department and Howard University Celebration of the 50th Anniversary of Civil Rights Act of 1964

Attorney General Eric Holder will deliver the keynote address at the Department of Justice’s 50th anniversary celebration of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Secretary of Labor Thomas Perez, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton, Deputy Attorney General James Cole, Associate Attorney General Tony West, Ambassador Andrew Young and Howard University Interim President Dr. Wayne A.I. Frederick will also deliver remarks at the event co-hosted by Howard University, on TUESDAY, JULY 15, 2014, at 10:00 a.m. EDT, to honor the civil rights movement and celebrate the groundbreaking act



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Two California Men Plead Guilty to Conspiracy to Engage in Sex Trafficking by Force, Fraud and Coercion

Two Long Beach, California, men pleaded guilty today to conspiracy charges arising from a sex trafficking scheme that exploited adult women for prostitution. Roshaun Nakia Porter, 39, and Marquis Monte Horn, 35, both pleaded guilty before Judge Josephine L. Staton in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California to conspiring to engage in sex trafficking by force, fraud and coercion



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Former University of Virginia Dean Sentenced on Child Pornography Charges

A Crozet, Virginia man who previously pleaded guilty to child pornography charges was sentenced today in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia in Charlottesville for distribution and possession of child pornography



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