A Dallas-area home health services company owner today admitted his role in a $374 million home health fraud scheme in which he and others conspired to bill Medicare for unnecessary services that were never performed.

Steven R. Hinz pleaded guilty today to tax fraud and mortgage fraud charges in Cleveland federal court, the Justice Department and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced. Hinz’s guilty pleas followed recent guilty pleas of three other defendants – Heather L. English, Patricia A. Polk and William E. Phillips III – who were charged in indictment in December 2011 on a tax conspiracy and various false return charges. The case is assigned to U.S. District Judge Patricia A. Gaughan, who scheduled the sentencing for January 2013.

Ramiro Anturi Larrahondo, 55, a Colombian national, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge John D. Bates in the District of Columbia to one count of conspiracy to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine, knowing and intending that the cocaine would be illegally imported into the United States.

The administrator of CardioMax EMS, a Houston-based ambulance company, pleaded guilty today to charges that he submitted approximately $1,734,550 in fraudulent claims to Medicare.

The Justice Department today announced an agreement with the city of North Adams, Mass., to improve access for people with disabilities to civic life in North Adams. The agreement was reached under Project Civic Access (PCA), the Justice Department’s initiative to ensure that cities, towns and counties throughout the country comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The compliance review was initiated in response to a complaint that the city’s police station was physically inaccessible.

A Taiwan aftermarket auto lights manufacturer and its U.S. distributor pleaded guilty to an indictment charging them with participating in a seven-year, international conspiracy to fix the prices of aftermarket auto lights, and were sentenced today in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

"As we continue to work with reentry projects and learn about them, we realize more and more that they need to be sustained and continuous if they are to be successful. They need to start the first day an individual arrives at the prison," said Deputy Attorney General Cole.

"For more than half a century, Americans have come together every October to celebrate the achievements of workers with disabilities, to call attention to the obstacles and challenges that have yet to be overcome, and to ensure that all employers fulfill their responsibilities to create the conditions and opportunities for citizens with disabilities to grow, to thrive, and to fulfill their full potential – both personally and professionally," said Attorney General Holder.

Manssor Arbabsiar, aka Mansour Arbabsiar, pleaded guilty today in federal court in the Southern District of New York to participating in a plot to murder the Saudi Arabian Ambassador to the United States while the Ambassador was in the United States.

Two former high-ranking employees of facilities operations at New York Presbyterian Hospital (NYPH) were sentenced in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, in Manhattan, by Judge George B. Daniels today for their participation in two separate conspiracies involving kickbacks.

Two owners and operators of clinics that claimed to specialize in treating HIV and other conditions pleaded guilty today for their roles in an infusion therapy scheme carried out at two Detroit-area clinics that submitted millions of dollars in fraudulent claims to Medicare.

Several family members, all residents of Montgomery, Ala., pleaded guilty in the Middle District of Alabama to their involvement in a million dollar stolen identity refund fraud scheme, the Department of Justice and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced today.

The Justice Department and U.S. Attorney Thomas G. Walker announced today the filing of a complaint in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina against the Warren County, N.C., Board of Education for violating the employment rights of Army Reserve Sergeant Dwayne Coffer under the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 (USERRA).

Two former officers of Arizona-based residential mortgage loan originator American Mortgage Specialists Inc. (AMS) pleaded guilty today for their roles in a $27 million scheme to defraud North Dakota-based BNC National Bank.

The Justice Department and U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Georgia Michael J. Moore announced today that Stacy Bloodsworth, the former sheriff of Wilcox County, Ga., pleaded guilty to assaulting an inmate inside the Wilcox County jail and subsequently conspiring to cover up the assault. Bloodsworth’s son, Austin Bloodsworth, also pleaded guilty to conspiring to cover up the same assault. Three other defendants had previously pleaded guilty to civil rights and obstruction of justice crimes in connection with the July 23, 2009, assault.

"At the Department of Justice, we are fully aware of how critically important, and oftentimes life-saving, this work really is for countless children nationwide," said Deputy Attorney General Cole.

The Justice Department announced today that it reached a settlement with Mrs. K’s Tollhouse Restaurant of Silver Spring, Md., to remedy alleged violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The agreement resolves allegations that the restaurant failed to remove architectural barriers that made parts of it inaccessible to people with disabilities, including those who use wheelchairs.

A federal grand jury in Montgomery, Ala., returned an indictment charging Kenneth Jerome Blackmon Jr., with aggravated identity theft, wire fraud, access device fraud and misuse of a Social Security number, the Justice Department and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced today.

Diyana Montes, 29, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg in the District of Columbia to one count of bribery.

R. Dale Frazier, 57, of Flora Vista, N.M., pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Albuquerque, N.M., to a federal civil rights charge in connection with the unlawful assault and beating of Dovovan Tanner with a flashlight.

Emmett McKenzie, 31, from Montezuma, Ga., formerly a sergeant at Macon State Prison in Oglethorpe, Ga., pleaded guilty to conspiring with other correctional officers to violate the civil rights of an inmate in 2010, the Justice Department Announced today. McKenzie, who most recently served as a lieutenant at Dooly State Prison in Unadilla, Ga., is the third officer to plead guilty in the course of the ongoing federal investigation.

On Oct. 16, 2012, Vernon Harrison, of Montgomery, Ala., was indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of conspiring to file false claims, mail fraud, aggravated identity theft and embezzlement from the mail, the Justice Department, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), and the U.S. Postal Service, Office of the Inspector General (OIG), announced today after the indictment was unsealed.

"Like Special Agent Kiki Camarena, one person can and does make a difference. By joining me in wearing a red ribbon and gathering here today, and by celebrating Red Ribbon Week, you are helping make that difference," said Deputy Attorney General Cole.

The Justice Department has reached an agreement with the county of Los Angeles to extend critical reforms at the Los Angeles County Juvenile Probation Camps that were set to expire later this month. The agreement amends a memorandum of agreement (MOA) entered into in 2008 to resolve the department’s investigation into conditions of confinement at the juvenile camps.

"We often think of national security threats, like that of a catastrophic terrorist attack, as questions about prevention. But the cyber threat is not simply looming – it is here. It is present and growing," said Assistant Attorney General Monaco.

William R. Herder of Bellville, Ohio, pleaded guilty yesterday to corruptly endeavoring to obstruct the administration of the tax laws and currency structuring, Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Tax Division Kathryn Keneally, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio Stephen M. Dettelbach and Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service (IRS) - Criminal Investigation, Cincinnati Field Office, Darryl K. Williams announced. Herder was previously indicted in June of this year.

Raymond Rivero, 55, of Homestead, Fla., and Ivon Perez, 50, of Miami, each pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Cecilia M. Altonaga in the Southern District of Florida to one count of conspiracy to solicit and receive cash kickbacks.

Nagoya, Japan-based Tokai Rika Co. Ltd., has agreed to plead guilty and to pay a $17.7 million criminal fine for its role in a conspiracy to fix prices of heater control panels (HCPs) installed in cars sold in the United States and elsewhere.

The United States has filed a complaint against a Virginia-based contractor alleging that the company submitted false claims for unqualified security guards under a contract to provide security in Iraq, the Justice Department announced today. The company, Triple Canopy Inc. is headquartered in Reston, Va.

Antoinette Djonret pleaded guilty today in two cases: one involving the filing of more than a million dollars worth of false tax returns using stolen identities and the other case involving the filing of false tax returns for clients, the Justice Department and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced today.

Robert Ramos Jr., 33, of Austin, pleaded guilty today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Mark Lane in the Western District of Texas to one count of production of child pornography and one count of distribution of child pornography.

A Northern California real estate investor has agreed to plead guilty for his role in conspiracies to rig bids and commit mail fraud at public real estate foreclosure auctions in Northern California.

A company that operates payday loan and check cashing stores in at least nine states has settled with the government over allegations that it violated federal regulations, the Justice Department announced today. In April 2010, law enforcement officers retrieved boxes of intact consumer documents, including credit reports, from trash cans and dumpsters near four PLS Financial Services stores in the Chicago area. The improper disposal of these documents led to an investigation by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

Bruce King, the owner and operator of Premier Tax, pleaded guilty in federal court this week to charges of conspiring to defraud the United States and filing false tax returns, the Justice Department and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced today. Additionally, on Thursday, Vonecia Orum, a return preparer who worked at Premier Tax, pleaded guilty to delivering false tax returns to the IRS.

Manuel Antonio Mares, 57, of Miami; Jeremy Hart Yost, 26, of West Bend, Ore.; Richard Phillip Allen, 66, of Redondo Beach, Calif.; and James Calvin Boyd, 58, of Pell City, Ala., pleaded guilty today before Senior District Judge Norman K. Moon in the Western District of Virginia to one count of conspiring to receive, distribute, possess and access with the intent to view child pornography. Jesse Leon Coleman, 48, of Lynchburg, Va., pleaded guilty today before Judge Moon to one count of receiving child pornography.

Alba Serrano, 66, of Miami, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Patricia A. Seitz in the Southern District of Florida.

A real estate investor pleaded guilty today to conspiring to commit mail fraud at public real estate foreclosure auctions held in Raleigh, N.C., and surrounding areas, the Department of Justice announced. This is the second charge in the department’s ongoing investigation into real estate foreclosure auctions in eastern North Carolina.

John Hall, 27, an inmate at the Federal Correctional Institution in Seagoville, Texas, pleaded guilty today in federal court to violating the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act stemming from his assault of a fellow inmate, who he believed to be gay, the Department of Justice announced. Hall assaulted his fellow inmate with a dangerous weapon, causing bodily injury to the victim on Dec. 20, 2011.

"The country we have inherited has been defined by the hard work and tremendous courage of those who, throughout our history, have chosen not just to devote themselves to studying the law, but also to advancing the cause of justice," said Attorney General Holder.

The Justice Department has filed a lawsuit against the city of San Jacinto, Calif., alleging violations of the Fair Housing Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act based on its treatment of group homes for persons with disabilities. This lawsuit is part of the Justice Department’s continuing effort to enforce civil rights laws that require states and municipalities to end discrimination against, and unnecessary segregation of, persons with disabilities.

Roquette America, Inc., has agreed to pay a $4.1 million civil penalty to settle alleged violations of the Clean Water Act and its National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit at its grain processing facility in Keokuk, Iowa.

The Department of Justice and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today announced a settlement with two former importers of highway motorcycles, recreational vehicles and small spark ignition engines.

The Department of Justice has forfeited a Manhattan condominium and a Virginia residence – with a combined value of approximately $ 2.1 million – purchased with the proceeds of alleged bribes paid to the family of the former President of Taiwan, Shui-Bian Chen, as part of the department’s Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative.

The Justice Department announced today the filing of several criminal and civil business opportunity fraud cases, initiated as part of a joint sweep with the Federal Trade Commission and several states. Business opportunity fraud schemes take advantage of people looking for work by luring them in with false promises of big profits and leaving them worse off than they started.

BP Exploration and Production Inc. (BP) has agreed to plead guilty to felony manslaughter, environmental crimes and obstruction of Congress and pay a record $4 billion in criminal fines and penalties for its conduct leading to the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster that killed 11 people and caused the largest environmental disaster in U.S. history, Attorney General Eric Holder announced today.

"Financial fraud affects people every day and can be devastating for victims. Business opportunity schemes prey on people who want to work to support themselves and their families. But instead of getting meaningful employment, victims are defrauded out of their money, their credit, and their time," said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Delery.

"Too many of our neighbors are still victims of discrimination, bigotry, and violence. Too many are denied opportunities to participate fully in their communities and build valued lives for their families. But at the Division, we are in the opportunity business. And we are committed to working together with all of you to expand access to the promise of American life and the fundamental civil rights protected by our federal laws," said Assistant Attorney General Perez.

The Justice Department and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced today that they have reached a settlement with the Texas Department of Agriculture (TDA) and the Texas General Land Office (GLO) to resolve allegations that both state agencies were liable for pay discrimination on the basis of sex, in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Equal Pay Act of 1963.

An executive at the Ohio subsidiary of a Japanese automotive supplier pleaded guilty today for his role in a conspiracy to fix prices and rig bids of anti-vibration rubber parts sold in the United States and elsewhere.

Yamil Navedo Ramirez, 39, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Juan M. Perez-Gimenez in the District of Puerto Rico.