A 76-count indictment was unsealed yesterday charging four former officials of the Peanut Corporation of America and a related company with numerous charges relating to salmonella-tainted peanuts and peanut products.

A Florida couple who owned a military contracting company pleaded guilty today in federal court in Salt Lake City for their roles in a bribery and fraud scheme involving federal procurement contracts.

"Today, as we come together to commemorate Black History Month, it is not only a chance to reflect on how far our nation and the African-American community has traveled on the long road toward equality and freedom. It’s also a time to rededicate ourselves to the principles at the core of all that we stand for in this Department," said Deputy Attorney General Cole.

The Justice Department’s Consumer Protection Branch secured nearly $2 billion in criminal fines, forfeiture, restitution, and civil disgorgement in 2012, Stuart F. Delery, Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division, announced today at the Consumer Protection Working Group’s Second Annual Consumer Protection Summit.

The Justice Department announced today that Chattanooga, Tenn., based nursing home manager Grace Healthcare LLC and its affiliate Grace Ancillary Services LLC (collectively, Grace) have agreed to pay $2.7 million, plus interest, to resolve allegations that they violated the False Claims Act by knowingly submitting or causing the submission to the Medicare and TennCare/Medicaid programs of false claims for medically unreasonable and unnecessary rehabilitation therapy.

"We have made protecting consumers a centerpiece of the Department’s overall anti-fraud efforts because consumer fraud affects ordinary people every day and can devastate victims," said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Delery.

A former web producer for a Tribune Company-owned television station in Sacramento, Calif., was charged today in an indictment for allegedly conspiring with members of the hacker group “Anonymous” to hack into and alter a Tribune Company website.

"We also gather this morning to reflect on the contributions - and sacrifices - that DOJ’s women have made in advancing the Justice Department’s mission as well as how women have made significant contributions to all aspects of our nation’s cultural, academic, economic, and military institutions," said Deputy Attorney General Cole.

The Justice Department announced today that it has reached a cooperative settlement agreement with the Arapahoe, Colo., County Sheriff’s Office under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). This agreement is a companion to one reached on March 8, 2013, with the city of Englewood, Colo.

The Unified Government of Wyandotte Co. and Kansas City, Kan., has agreed to a settlement to address unauthorized overflows of untreated raw sewage and to reduce pollution levels in urban stormwater.

The Justice Department’s Office of Justice Programs is planning to invest more than $20 million to strengthen the firearm background check system by improving states’ abilities to share information with the National Instant Criminal Background Check System.

A federal jury in Montgomery, Ala., found James Timothy Turner, also known as Tim Turner, guilty late Friday of conspiracy to defraud the United States, attempting to pay taxes with fictitious financial instruments, attempting to obstruct and impede the Internal Revenue Service, failing to file a 2009 federal income tax return and falsely testifying under oath in a bankruptcy proceeding.

The Department of Justice today filed a motion to dismiss its antitrust lawsuit against Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan after the state of Michigan passed a law that prohibits health insurers from using most favored nation clauses in contracts with health care providers.

The Department of Justice today declined to state its enforcement intentions regarding the implementation of a proposal submitted by IPXI Holdings LLC and its wholly-owned subsidiary Intellectual Property Exchange International Inc. (IPXI) to develop an exchange for the trading of unit license rights (ULRs) to sets of patents.

The Justice Department today announced recent results of its civil injunction efforts to combat unscrupulous tax return preparers and tax fraud promoters.

The Justice Department announced today that Fluor Hanford LLC has agreed to pay $1.1 million to settle allegations that Fluor violated the False Claims Act by using federal funds for lobbying.

The Justice Department announced today that, as part of its Barrier-Free Health Care Initiative, over the past year it has reached seven settlements with eight health care providers from across the United States to ensure that they are providing effective communication to people who are deaf or have hearing disabilities.

U.S. District Court Judge Melinda Harmon entered an order of permanent injunction against Chung’s Products LP, a Houston-based producer of egg rolls and other foods, Charlie A. Kujawa, Chung’s president of operations, and Gregory S. Birdsell, Chung’s former director of quality assurance.

The Justice Department today reached an agreement with Milestone Management Company, a nationwide residential property management firm headquartered in Dallas, resolving claims that the staffing company violated the anti-discrimination provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act.

Derek Matthews, 46, of Harwood, Md., pleaded guilty today to accepting bribes from a government contracting company in exchange for using his position to help the company find and win contracts.

"For more than three decades now, my colleagues and I at the United States Department of Justice have been deeply privileged to pursue justice on behalf of Jewish victims of the Holocaust and also on behalf of victims of Nazi crimes committed against other groups," said Director Rosenbaum.

The Department of Justice and the Council of State Governments (CSG) highlight 17 states that have cut corrections costs while reducing recidivism and improving public safety. With funding from the Justice Department’s Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), staff from the CSG Justice Center – in partnership with the Pew Center on the States – worked with lawmakers, policymakers, and a wide range of justice system professionals and stakeholders from each state to identify crime and corrections trends and formulate strategies that would save money and improve safety.

Today, a federal court in Denver approved a comprehensive consent decree between the Department of Justice, the Congress of Hispanic Educators (CHE), and the Denver Public Schools (DPS) that requires DPS to provide language services to the more than 28,000 English Language Learner (ELL) students enrolled in the district’s 170 schools.

"The issues you’re discussing here at this summit – the intersection of drugs and crime, gang and youth violence, the future of juvenile justice – are all issues the Department of Justice and my office, the Office of Justice Programs, are working diligently to address," said Acting Assistant Attorney General Leary.

"In the days ahead – as my Justice Department and FBI colleagues continue to work closely with our federal, state, and local partners to investigate the tragedy that took place in Boston on Monday – your continued support will be more critical than ever," said Attorney General Holder.

Attorney General Eric Holder today announced a revised version of the National Protocol for Sexual Assault Medical Forensic Examinations (SAFE Protocol, 2d.) The SAFE Protocol is a voluntary best practices guide to conducting sexual assault medical forensic examinations protocols.

"The goal of Vision 21 is to create a framework to address these enduring and emerging challenges – in short, to re-define the role of victim services in the 21st century," said Acting Assistant Attorney General Leary

"We’re doubling down on our support for victims because the challenges they and their advocates face continue to be significant, and they’re growing," said Acting Assistant Attorney General Leary.

The Justice Department announced today that it reached a settlement agreement with the Metropolitan School District of Decatur Township, Ind., to prevent and respond to peer on peer harassment in schools.

The International Competition Network advanced convergence through important initiatives on international enforcement cooperation and investigative processes in competition cases.

Odalis Castillo-Lopez, a citizen of the Dominican Republic and a resident of New York, pleaded guilty today to theft of government property and money laundering in connection with a scheme to cash U.S. Treasury tax refund checks fraudulently obtained using the stolen identities of Puerto Rican residents.

A New York woman was sentenced to 19 months in prison today for her role in a scheme to defraud consumer product manufacturers.

The United States has filed suit against Chemed Corporation and various wholly owned hospice subsidiaries, including Vitas Hospice Services LLC and Vitas Healthcare Corporation, alleging false Medicare billings for hospice services.

A Texas man was sentenced today to serve 30 years in prison for producing and distributing material relating to the sexual exploitation of children.

Safieh Fard, 52, of Escondido, Calif., was sentenced late yesterday to 63 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Cormac J. Carney. Fard was also ordered to pay $594,000 in restitution to the Internal Revenue Service for unpaid individual income taxes.

A former program coordinator at the defunct health provider Health Care Solutions Network Inc. (HCSN) was sentenced in Miami to 70 months in prison today for her role in a $63 million fraud scheme.

Attorney General Eric Holder and Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced today that a nationwide takedown by Medicare Fraud Strike Force operations in eight cities has resulted in charges against 89 individuals, including doctors, nurses and other licensed medical professionals, for their alleged participation in Medicare fraud schemes involving approximately $223 million in false billings.

Attorney General Eric Holder and Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Justice Programs Mary Lou Leary announced several improvements to the Public Safety Officers’ Benefits (PSOB) Program following the completion of a comprehensive review of the program ordered by the Attorney General in May 2012.

The Justice Department today paid tribute to nine individuals for their extraordinary efforts to recover missing children, rescue children from abuse and prosecute sexual predators during its annual commemoration of National Missing Children’s Day.

Mississippi-based Hancock County Land LLC (HCL) pleaded guilty today to the unpermitted filling of wetlands near Bay St. Louis, Miss., and agreed to pay a $1 million fine and take remedial measures for two felony violations of the Clean Water Act/

I want to take this opportunity not only to congratulate our honorees, but to thank all of you – everyone here – for your commitment to finding missing, abducted, and exploited children.

For more than 40 years, the federal Witness Security (WitSec) Program has enabled the government to bring to justice the most dangerous criminals by providing critical protection for witnesses fearing for their safety.

The Justice Department today announced a settlement with the architects and civil engineers involved in the design and construction of multifamily housing complexes located in Mississippi, Louisiana and Tennessee.

The Department of Justice has filed a lawsuit and sought a preliminary injunction against N.Y. Fish Inc.; New York City Fish Inc.; Maxim Kutsyk, Pavel Roytkov, Leonid Staroseletesky, and Steven Koyfman under the federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FDCA).

Anthony K. Mastrogiovanni, 30, of Crofton, Md., pleaded guilty today to the sexual exploitation of minors to produce child pornography

The Department of Justice released today a report to Congress entitled Indian Country Investigations and Prosecutions which provides a range of enforcement statistics required under the Tribal Law and Order Act of 2010.

The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi today approved a landmark consent decree filed by the Justice Department, together with private plaintiffs and the Meridian Public School District in Meridian, Miss., to prevent and address racial discrimination in student discipline

A forfeiture judgment was executed today against real property with an estimated value of more than $700,000 in Rockville, Md., that had been purchased with corruption proceeds traceable to Diepreye Solomon Peter Alamieyeseigha, a former Governor of Bayelsa State, Nigeria.

American Commercial Colleges Inc. (ACC) has agreed to pay the United States up to $2.5 million, plus interest, to resolve allegations that it violated the civil False Claims Act by falsely certifying that it complied with certain eligibility requirements of the federal student aid programs.

Attorney General Eric Holder today welcomed Karol V. Mason as the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Justice Programs (OJP).