American pharmaceutical manufacturer Allergan Inc. has agreed to plead guilty and pay $600 million to resolve its criminal and civil liability arising from the company’s unlawful promotion of its biological product, Botox® Therapeutic, for uses not approved as safe and effective by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Justice Department announced today.

A former senior employee of a U.S. military contractor pleaded guilty today to conspiracy to pay $360,000 in bribes to U.S. Army contracting officials stationed at a U.S. military base in Kuwait, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division.

Polar Air Cargo LLC has agreed to plead guilty and to pay a $17.4 million criminal fine for its role in a conspiracy to fix prices in the air transportation industry.

A former U.S. Army contracting official based at Fort Carson, Colo., pleaded guilty to submitting a false statement to the U.S. Army.

A former agent of a financial products and services company pleaded guilty today for his participation in fraud conspiracies related to contracts for the investment of municipal bond proceeds and other municipal finance contracts.

A former employee of a national bank pleaded guilty today for his participation in bid-rigging and fraud conspiracies related to contracts for the investment of municipal bond proceeds and other municipal finance contracts.

Flor Crisologo, 58, pleaded guilty before Magistrate Judge Barry L. Garber in U.S. District Court in Miami to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud.

A Raleigh, N.C., real estate speculator pleaded guilty to conspiring to rig bids for public real estate foreclosure auctions held in multiple counties in eastern North Carolina.

Martin Raffol, 54, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Court Judge Richard G. Stearns in Boston to one count of engaging in a scheme to conceal material information from the FEC and one count of witness tampering.

Forest Pharmaceuticals Inc. has agreed to plead guilty to charges relating to obstruction of justice, the distribution of Levothroid, which at the time was an unapproved new drug, and the illegal promotion of Celexa for use in treating children and adolescents suffering from depression.

Jeffrey Robert Libman, the vice president and co-director of Webe Web Corporation, a Florida corporation, pleaded guilty today to 16 counts of transporting child pornography, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance of the Northern District of Alabama.

Tomme Bromseth, of Blackstone, Va., pleaded guilty today to mail fraud and structuring financial transactions to evade reporting requirements in conjunction with his role as a sales agent for A&O Life Funds and various related A&O entities.

Sophia Manuel and Alfonso Baldonado Jr., owners of Quality Staffing Services Corporation, a labor contracting service, pleaded guilty to conspiring to hold 39 Filipino nationals in compelled service in country clubs and hotels in Southeast Florida.

Roy W. Bradford pleaded guilty in federal district court in Dayton, Ohio, to willfully filing a false tax return for 2004.

Three individuals pleaded guilty today in connection with a Medicare fraud scheme operated out of a Houston-area durable medical equipment (DME) company.

Paul Magliocchetti, the founder and president of PMA Group Inc., a lobbying firm, pleaded guilty today in federal court in Arlington, Va., to making hundreds of thousands of dollars in illegal campaign contributions and making false statements to a federal agency.

A former U.S. Army staff sergeant pleaded guilty today to bribery in connection with a fuel theft scheme to solicit more than $400,000 in bribes from a government contractor in Afghanistan.

China Airlines Ltd. has agreed to plead guilty and to pay a $40 million criminal fine for its role in a conspiracy to fix prices in the air transportation industry.

Detroit-area resident Hassan Akhtar pleaded guilty today for his role in managing a home health care fraud scheme.

Three Colombian nationals pleaded guilty today to conspiracy to smuggle aliens for profit and conspiracy to commit visa fraud in connection with their roles in an extensive and sophisticated visa fraud scheme through which they fraudulently procured visas from the U.S. Embassy in Bogotá, Colombia.

An owner of two Houston health care companies pleaded guilty today in connection with a $6.3 million Medicare fraud scheme, announced the Departments of Justice and Health and Human Services (HHS).

Panasonic Corporation and a Whirlpool Corporation subsidiary, Embraco North America Inc., have agreed to plead guilty and to pay a total of $140.9 million in criminal fines for their role in an international conspiracy to fix the prices of refrigerant compressors, which are used in refrigerators and freezers in ho mes and businesses.

Six international freight forwarders have agreed to plead guilty and to pay criminal fines totaling $50.27 million for their roles in several conspiracies to fix a variety of fees and charges in connection with the provision of freight forwarding services for international air cargo shipments.

The United States filed a civil complaint today against Coltec Industries Inc., a subsidiary of EnPro Industries Inc., and the National Steel and Shipbuilding Company, a subsidiary of General Dynamics Corp.

Cynthia Peters and Melissa Edwards pleaded guilty to one count each of aiding and assisting in the filing of a false tax return in U.S. District Court in Baton Rouge, La.

A New Orleans-area medical doctor and the owner and operator of a medical equipment company each pleaded guilty today for their roles in a Baton Rouge-area durable medical equipment (DME) health care fraud scheme.

Former U.S. Marshals Service employee, Sno H. Rush, pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Washington to stealing $104,000 in government funds.

Princewill Njoku, 51, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Court Judge Gray Miller in Houston to conspiracy to commit health care fraud.

A federal jury in Utica, N.Y. has found Certified Environmental Services Inc. (CES); two of its managers, Nicole Copeland and Elisa Dunn; and one of its employees, Sandy Allen, guilty of conspiring to aid and abet Clean Air Act violations, commit mail fraud, and defraud the United States.

A McCormick, S.C., tax return preparer pleaded guilty today to two counts of aiding and assisting in the preparation of false tax returns.

Vincent Johnson of Brick, N.J., who went by the internet pseudonym “Devilfish,” pleaded guilty in federal court in Trenton, N.J., to multiple charges related to a series of threatening communications he sent to employees of five civil rights organizations that work to improve opportunities for, and challenge discrimination against, Latinos in the United States.

Zachary Adam Chesser, 20, of Fairfax County, Va., pleaded guilty today before U.S. District Court Judge Liam O’Grady to a three-count criminal information that included charges of communicating threats against the writers of the South Park television show, soliciting violent jihadists to desensitize law enforcement, and attempting to provide material support to Al-Shabaab, a designated foreign terrorist organization.

A former Pittsfield, Mass., man pleaded guilty today in federal court in Boston to his role in a series of frauds and attempts to avoid paying taxes over more than a decade, as well as lying to federal authorities and financial institutions about his illegal activities.

Cynthia Garza-Williams, 49, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit health care fraud before U.S. District Court Judge Nancy Atlas in Houston.

Eric M. Kurz, 46, of The Woodlands, Texas, pleaded guilty today to conspiracy to commit mail fraud and money laundering in conjunction with his actions as a wholesaler of investment products for A&O, a group of businesses that acquired and marketed life settlements to investors.

A citizen of Uzbekistan residing in Mission, Kan., pleaded guilty late yesterday to charges for his role as the leader of a criminal enterprise that engaged in forced labor, fraud in foreign labor contracting, visa fraud, mail fraud, identity theft, tax evasion and money laundering.

Craig Shaber, a practicing attorney from San Diego County, Calif., pleaded guilty Thursday in federal court before U.S. Magistrate Judge Anthony J. Battaglia to one count of tax evasion for the 2000 tax year.

Glenn Duffie Shriver, 28, of Detroit, Mich., pleaded guilty today before U.S. District Court Judge Liam O’Grady to conspiring to provide national defense information to intelligence officers of the People’s Republic of China (PRC).

Brooklyn-area resident Yefim Drakhler pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn for his participation in a Medicare fraud scheme operated out of the Solstice Wellness Center, a Brooklyn-area clinic purportedly providing physical therapy and various diagnostic services.

SB Pharmco Puerto Rico Inc., a subsidiary of GlaxoSmithKline, PLC (GSK), has agreed to plead guilty to charges relating to the manufacture and distribution of certain adulterated drugs made at GSK’s now-closed Cidra, Puerto Rico, manufacturing facility.

Miami-area residents Emilio and Maria Haber and Detroit-area residents Genna Yates and Darryl Nichols pleaded guilty yesterday for their roles in a Detroit-area diagnostic testing fraud scheme.

A former executive from HannStar Display Corporation has agreed to plead guilty and to serve jail time in the United States for participating in a global conspiracy to fix the price of thin-film transistor liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD) panels.

U.S. Army Major Roderick D. Sanchez pleaded guilty today to a one-count criminal information charging him with bribery for accepting money and items of value in return for being influenced in the awarding of Army contracts.

A patient recruiter for a Houston-based home health care company pleaded guilty today in connection with a $5.2 million Medicare fraud scheme.

John T.C. Yeh, the owner of Viable Communications Inc., and his brother, Joseph Yeh, the former vice president for corporate strategy and second in charge for Viable, pleaded guilty today to engaging in a conspiracy to defraud the Federal Communications Commission’s Video Relay Service program.

Joseph Barringer, 55, the owner of a Florida pool cue company, pleaded guilty today in federal court in Orlando to violating the Endangered Species Act in connection with the illegal export of African elephant ivory through an online auction site.

A Philadelphia man has pleaded guilty for his role in organizing and financing a network of high-tech, indoor marijuana grow facilities stretching from Florida to Connecticut.

All Nippon Airways Co. Ltd. (ANA) has agreed to plead guilty and to pay a $73 million criminal fine for its role in two separate conspiracies to fix prices in the air transportation industry.

Axel Rafael Mercado pleaded guilty to one count of tax evasion before U.S. District Court Judge Patricia A. Seitz in the Southern District of Florida.

Brooke E. Reyna, 28, of Barrington, N.H., pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Joseph N. Laplante in U.S. District Court for the District of New Hampshire to making false statements.