Brenda Stevenson, an officer with the city of Highland Park, Mich., Police Department, was indicted today by a federal grand jury in Detroit on charges of using unlawful and excessive force and making a false statement to an FBI agent.

Dustin I. Nix, 21, of Donaldson, Ark., pleaded guilty today in federal court in Hot Springs, Ark., to two federal civil rights charges for his role in a conspiracy to force a woman and her young children from their home in Donaldson because she associated with African Americans.

Everett Cooney waived indictment and pleaded guilty in court in Little Rock, Ark., to a federal charge of sex trafficking an underage female. Chief U.S. District Judge J. Leon Holmes accepted Cooney’s guilty plea.

Rene Oswald Cobar, a Guatemalan national, and Luis Angel Gonzalez-Largo, a Colombian national, were each sentenced today to 235 months in prison on federal drug charges. Cobar and Gonzalez-Largo were sentenced by U.S. District Judge James C. Mahan for the District of Nevada. Cobar and Gonzalez-Largo were indicted on May 5, 2004, in the District of Nevada for conspiracy to distribute cocaine.

Antonio McWherter, a police officer in the East St. Louis, Ill., Police Department, was charged today in a two-count federal indictment stemming from a January 2006 incident in which the officer allegedly punched a handcuffed arrestee in the mouth. The indictment charges McWherter with a felony civil rights violation and with making false statements to the FBI.

A federal jury in Orlando, Fla, found Erin Sharma, a Bureau of Prisons corrections officer, guilty today on felony federal civil rights charges related to a fatal assault on an inmate in March 2005.

Juan Cortes-Meza, a Mexican National, pleaded guilty in federal district court in Atlanta to sex trafficking offenses involving young Mexican women and girls. Otto Jaime Larios Perez, a Guatemalan National, also pleaded guilty today to making a false statement to law enforcement and, thereby, obstructing a human trafficking investigation.

A Greek citizen who oversaw the engineering department on board a Dominica-flagged bulk cargo ship pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in New Orleans for violating environmental laws designed to prevent pollution from ships and making false statements to the U.S. Coast Guard.

Fourteen members of the Outlaws Motorcycle Club have pleaded guilty in Detroit to charges including violent crimes in aid of racketeering, illegal drug distribution and firearms violations.

Johnny Pires, 24, of Middleboro, Mass., was convicted today by a federal jury in Boston of attempting to receive child pornography and possessing child pornography.

Control Components Inc. (CCI), a Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif.-based company, pleaded guilty today to violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and the Travel Act in a decade-long scheme to secure contracts in approximately 36 countries by paying bribes to officials and employees of various foreign state-owned companies as well as foreign and domestic private companies.

A federal jury today convicted former United States Congressman William J. Jefferson, 62, of New Orleans, La., of using his office to corruptly solicit bribes.

Diego Montoya Sanchez, 48, one of the leaders of the Norte Valle Colombian drug cartel and a former FBI Top Ten Fugitive, pleaded guilty today in Miami to drug trafficking, murder and racketeering charges.

Mohammad Shabbir Khan, the former director of operations in Kuwait and Iraq for Tamimi Global Company, a Saudi Arabian company, has been convicted of witness tampering and conspiracy to commit witness tampering.

A federal jury in San Juan, Puerto Rico, found four San Juan Municipal Police Officers guilty today of felony federal civil rights charges related to the fatal beating of Jose Antonio Rivera Robles.

Tyson Fresh Meats, Inc., the world’s largest supplier of premium beef and pork, has agreed to pay a $2,026,500 civil penalty to settle allegations that it violated terms of a 2002 consent decree and a federally-issued pollution discharge permit at its meat processing facility in Dakota City, Neb.

A former Congressional staffer and chief of staff in two federal agencies was indicted today by a federal grand jury in the District of Columbia on public corruption charges, the Justice Department announced. The five-count indictment charges Horace M. Cooper, 44, of Lorton, Va., with one count of conspiracy, one count of fraudulent concealment, two counts of false statements, and one count of obstruction of an official proceeding. U.S. Magistrate Judge Alan Kay today issued a criminal summons directing Cooper to make an initial appearance in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2009, at 1:45 p.m.

A federal grand jury in Denver has charged Donald Hertz with transmitting a threat in interstate commerce and with violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act for allegedly threatening an employee of a Colorado abortion clinic.

James M. Davis, 60, the former chief financial officer of Houston-based Stanford Financial Group (SFG), pleaded guilty today to fraud and obstruction charges related to a $7 billion scheme to defraud investors.

Three members of the violent gang known as the Almighty Latin King and Queen Nation (ALKQN) were sentenced today for their participation in narcotics and weapons trafficking.

Jacob A. Wingo, Richard W. Robbins, Clayton D. Morrison and Darren E. McKim pleaded guilty today and yesterday to conspiring to drive a woman and her children from their home in Donaldson, Ark., because they associated with African Americans. A fifth defendant, Dustin Nix, 21, pleaded guilty to similar charges in July 2009.

A former Ft. Campbell, Ky., soldier was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Thomas B. Russell to life in prison after being convicted on May 7, 2009, of charges arising out of the rape of a 14-year-old Iraqi girl and the murder of the girl and her family.

The Department filed a lawsuit against an Atlanta condominium association, as well as the owner of a unit and the real estate agent who sold it, for violating the Fair Housing Act by discriminating against families with children.

Richard David Mitchell was arraigned yesterday on sex tourism charges in the U.S. District Court for the District of Hawaii, after being deported from Cambodia.

A federal grand jury in Miami returned a three-count indictment on Sept. 11, 2009, charging former Dade Correctional Institution (DCI) officers Cordell J. White and Christopher W. Bonnet, current DCI Sergeant Obe D. L’Bert, and former DCI inmate Larry T. Williams with violating, and conspiring to violate, the civil rights of other inmates at DCI.

Timothy L. Lantz was sentenced today to 15 years in prison for transporting child pornography in interstate commerce and failing to update his sex offender registration in violation of the Adam Walsh Act.

Clinic owners and operators Jose Martinez and Denisse Martinez pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Detroit to participating in a conspiracy to defraud the Medicare program.

Today, a federal grand jury returned a superseding criminal indictment in the Daniel Patrick Boyd matter. While the superseding indictment returned today includes all of the charges alleged in the original indictment of July 22, 2009, it also includes new charges against three defendants, Daniel Patrick Boyd, aka "Saifullah," Hysen Sherifi, and Zakariya Boyd, aka "Zak."

Detroit residents Dierdre Teagen, Robert Wynn, Ernest Neal, James Harris and Steve Sherman pleaded guilty for their roles in various Medicare fraud schemes.

Theresa Jeanne Baker was sentenced for her participation in two separate bribery conspiracies relating to DOD contracts at Camp Vistory, Iraq.

Guilty pleas were entered today in federal court in Lubbock, Texas, by three admitted gang members who were charged for their participation in a violent drive-by shooting in which two people, a man and a pregnant woman, were killed, and four others were wounded.

James M. Tanksley, 52, pleaded guilty today to receipt of child pornography and possession of child pornography and was sentenced to 80 months in prison.

Twenty defendants have been charged in seven cases for allegedly participating in Medicare fraud schemes that resulted in more than $26 million in fraudulent bills to the Medicare program.

Medicare fraud charges have been filed against six individuals in the continuing operation of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force in Houston.

Tommy Handy, aka “Tom Tom,” waived indictment and pleaded guilty in federal court in Little Rock, Ark., to a federal charge of sex trafficking of an underage female.

Erin Sharma, a former corrections officer with the Federal Bureau of Prisons, was sentenced today in federal court in Orlando, Fla., on federal civil rights charges related to the fatal assault of an inmate.

Michael Kennedy was charged with one count of conspiring with others to violate the federal civil rights of inmate Richard Delano and one count of violating Delano’s civil rights by arranging for another inmate to assault Delano.

Dustin Nix of Donaldson, Ark, was sentenced today in federal court in Fort Smith, Ark, on federal civil rights charges related to a conspiracy to drive a woman and her children from their home because they associated with African-Americans.

Former U.S. Congressman William J. Jefferson, 62, of New Orleans, La., was sentenced today to 13 years in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for using his office to corruptly solicit bribes.

Wayne Nelson Corliss, 60, of Union City, N.J., was sentenced to 235 months in prison today in Newark, N.J., on three charges of traveling in foreign commerce with the intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct and a single count each of producing and possessing child pornography.

Daniel Melgoza, a Bexar County, Texas, Corrections Officer, was charged today in a four-count federal indictment with violating the civil rights of two detainees and obstructing justice.

Kristine Lafoe was sentenced to serve one year in prison and two years of supervised release for her role in covering up systematic detainee abuse.

After three years of satisfying obligations under a deferred prosecution agreement, the charges against Statoil ASA for violating the anti-bribery and accounting provisions of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) have been dismissed with prejudice.

According to the charging documents, the offenses include providing financial support to those who traveled to Somalia to fight on behalf of al-Shabaab, a designated foreign terrorist organization; attending terrorist training camps operated by al-Shabaab; and fighting on behalf of al-Shabaab.

Thomas Howard Blue Sr., Thomas Howard Blue Jr. and Judson Hartley Talbert pleaded guilty today in federal court in Florence, S.C., to charges relating to the assault of an African-American man and two white men in December 2007.

Jacob Wingo, Clayton Morrison, Darren McKim and Richard Robins were sentenced today and yesterday in federal court in Hot Springs, Ark., on federal civil rights and obstruction of justice charges related to a conspiracy to drive a woman and her children from their home in Donaldson, Ark., because the victims associated with African-Americans.

A federal grand jury in Providence, R.I., has indicted an officer with the Woonsocket Police Department, charging him with violating the civil rights of a 16 year-old juvenile by physically assaulting him, as well as obstruction of justice.

Cristina Andres Perfecto of Nashville, Tenn., was sentenced late yesterday in federal court in Memphis to 190 months in prison for sex trafficking by force, fraud and coercion, sex trafficking of a juvenile and conspiracy.

Johnny Pires, 24, was sentenced today to five years in prison and five years of supervised release following his prison term for attempting to receive and possessing child pornography. Pires was also ordered to register as a sex offender.

The jury returned guilty verdicts on all four counts of the indictment that charged Michael Anthony Higgins with violating federal law by willfully stealing money from motorists that he had stopped on the highway while working as a trooper.