The Justice Department announced today that it has filed a stipulated order of dismissal to resolve its lawsuit concerning conditions of confinement at the Erie County Holding Center, a pre-trial detention center in Buffalo, N.Y., and the Erie County Correctional Facility, a correctional facility in Alden, N.Y.

The Justice Department has opened a civil investigation into allegations of discriminatory policing by Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department (LASD) members based in the cities of Lancaster and Palmdale, Calif.

After a six-day trial, a jury in the Southern District of Florida found Judith Negron, 40, guilty of 24 felony counts, including conspiracy to commit health care fraud, health care fraud, conspiracy to pay and receive illegal health care kickbacks, conspiracy to commit money laundering, money laundering and structuring to avoid reporting requirements.

Anthony Chaudhuri and Margaret Chaudhuri, of Naples, Fla. were indicted by a federal grand jury on Aug. 8, 2011, in Detroit, with one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States, 11 counts of failure to account for and pay over employment taxes and one count of corruptly endeavoring to obstruct or impede the due administration of the Internal Revenue laws.

The Justice Department has reached an agreement with Culpeper County, Va., that, if approved by the court, will allow for the county’s bailout from its status as a “covered jurisdiction” under the special provisions of Voting Rights Act, and thereby exempt the county from the preclearance requirements of Section 5 of the act.

The Justice Department today announced the unsealing of a federal indictment charging former inmate Terry Lashavious McMillian, 26, of Whiteville, N.C., with federal civil rights violations involving the assault of an inmate and related acts of obstruction of justice.

A federal jury in Opelika, Ala., has convicted a former deputy sheriff with the Russell County, Ala., Sheriff’s Office of a civil rights offense for his role in the assault of a handcuffed man.

The Justice Department today announced a settlement with Henrico County, Va., resolving allegations that the county violated the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000 (RLUIPA) when it denied the application of a Muslim organization to rezone property to construct a mosque.

A Virginia woman was sentenced today to 60 months in prison for leading a sophisticated conspiracy to import and to sell counterfeit Cisco-branded computer networking equipment, laundering criminal proceeds and obtaining her citizenship through fraud.

A Hammond, Ind., man was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Va., to 14 years in prison for operating an online business that sold counterfeit credit cards encoded with stolen account information.

DeWayne Johnson, 33, of Natchez, Miss., and a former Natchez Police Department officer, was sentenced yesterday to 30 months in prison by U.S. District Court Judge David Bramlette for crimes related to the theft and subsequent unlawful use of credit cards that belonged to a person in the custody of Johnson while he was on duty.

"Today, here in Ignacio, Colorado, I am proud to announce the Department of Justice’s tribal grants for Fiscal Year 2011," said Associate Attorney General Tom Perrelli.

Former Indianapolis and Marion County, Ind., City-County Councilman Lincoln Plowman was convicted today by a federal jury of attempted extortion and soliciting a bribe.

"In this time of uncommon challenges and evolving threats, our allegiance to these values – of liberty, privacy, opportunity, and justice – and the achievement of our collective security goals – have never been more important, or more urgent," said Attorney General Holder.

Belal Amin Alsaidi, 30, of Petersburg, was charged in an indictment returned by a federal grand jury yesterday in Richmond, Va., with one count of conspiracy and three counts of trafficking in counterfeit goods.

Harris County Commissioner Gerald R. Eversole and Houston-based real estate developer Michael D. Surface both pleaded guilty today in federal court in Houston to making false statements.

The Justice Department filed a consent decree today in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia after reaching an agreement with James City County, Va., that will allow for the county’s bailout from its status as a “covered jurisdiction” under the special provisions of Voting Rights Act.

A former Columbus County, N.C., Sherriff’s Office sergeant pleaded guilty today in federal court in Greenville, N.C., to a civil rights charge related to the assault of a detainee, the Justice Department announced.

The Justice Department announced a settlement today with Lorain County, Ohio, to protect the rights of Spanish-speaking Puerto Rican voters under Section 4(e) of the Voting Rights Act.

Former Hickman County Deputy Sheriff Kenneth H. Smith was sentenced today by Chief U.S. District Judge Todd J. Campbell to 24 months in prison for civil rights and false statement charges.

Jim Flint McIntyre, aka “Q-Ball,” 43, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Xavier Rodriguez in the Western District of Texas.

The Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission today issued the final version of a joint policy statement detailing how the agencies will enforce U.S. antitrust laws with respect to new Accountable Care Organizations.

Former Lincoln County, Mo., Sheriff’s Office Detective Scott Edwards, 49, of Troy, Mo. was indicted on civil rights charges for violating the constitutional rights of five women through acts of aggravated sexual abuse and sexual contact.

James Donis, 47, a former major at the Allegheny County, Penn., Jail, and a resident of Glenshaw, Penn., has been indicted by a federal grand jury in Pittsburgh on civil rights charges stemming from an April 2010 incident in which Donis allegedly punched an inmate in the face.

The Justice Department announced today that District Court Judge David C. Godbey has granted the request of the department and Dallas County to end court supervision of a lawsuit concerning conditions at the Dallas County Jail.

Belal Amin Alsaidi, 30, of Buffalo, N.Y., pleaded guilty today to trafficking in counterfeit goods.

A federal grand jury sitting in Muskogee, Okla., returned an indictment today charging former Bryan County, Okla., Sheriff’s Lieutenant Kevin Bennett Holt, 48, of Achille, Okla., with federal civil rights violations and related acts of obstruction of justice.

Former Tuscaloosa, Ala., Sheriff’s Sergeant, Althea Mallisham, 52, pleaded guilty today in a federal court in Birmingham, Ala., to three counts of assault with a dangerous weapon while acting under color of law for wrongfully using a Taser during three separate incidents over a four month period in 2008.

A federal grand jury in San Jose, Calif., Wednesday indicted Ashvin Desai of San Jose on three counts of tax evasion, two counts of willfully aiding the preparation of materially false tax returns and three counts of failing to file Reports of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts.

The Justice Department today announced an agreement with Upshur County, Texas, to improve access to all aspects of civic life for people with disabilities.

“Through this operation we are aggressively targeting those who are selling counterfeit goods for their own personal gain while costing our economy much-needed revenue and jobs,” said Attorney General Eric Holder.

"As our country continues to recover from once-in-a-generation economic challenges, the need to safeguard intellectual property rights – and to protect Americans from intellectual property crimes – has never been more urgent,” said Attorney General Holder.

Former Indianapolis and Marion County, Ind., City-County Councilman Lincoln Plowman was sentenced today to 40 months in prison, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer for the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Joseph H. Hogsett of the Southern District of Indiana.

John Oliver Manning, aka “Fish,” 52, of Pasadena, Texas, was charged by a federal grand jury on Mar. 17, 2011, with violent crimes in aid of racketeering activity.

Sanjay Anandani, 34, of Clinton, N.J., was arrested on Dec. 1, 2011, in Secaucus, N.J., and made his initial appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert M. Levy in the Eastern District of New York. Rohit Rohit, 28, of Edgewater, N.J., surrendered to authorities on Dec. 2, 2011, and made his initial appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge Cheryl L. Pollack in the Eastern District of New York.

The Department of Justice announced today that it has entered into a consent decree that, if approved by the court, will resolve the department’s claims that H.M. Grimmett, sheriff of Bolivar County, Miss., retaliated against Robert E. Brown, a former employee of the sheriff.

Charles Ndhlovu, 34, was sentenced on Dec. 12, 2011, by U.S. District Judge William S. Duffey Jr. to 51 months in prison and Scott Ahn, 42, was sentenced yesterday by Judge Duffey to 19 months in prison.

Following a comprehensive investigation, the Justice Department today announced its findings in the ongoing civil rights investigation of the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office.

"As outlined in our findings letter, we found reasonable cause to believe that MCSO engages in a pattern or practice of violating the Constitution and laws of the United States in 3 areas," said Assistant Attorney General Perez.

Iraqi citizen Waad Ramadan Alwan pleaded guilty to federal terrorism charges today in U.S. District Court before Senior Judge Thomas B. Russell.

Shaoxiong Zhou, 42, of Shantou, Guangdong, China, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Sandra L. Townes in the Eastern District of New York. Judge Townes also ordered Zhou to pay $20,000 in restitution.

The Department of Justice today filed its largest residential fair lending settlement in history to resolve allegations that Countrywide Financial Corporation and its subsidiaries engaged in a widespread pattern or practice of discrimination against qualified African-American and Hispanic borrowers in their mortgage lending from 2004 through 2008.

"In today’s settlement with Countrywide Financial Corporation, we resolved the government’s allegations that Countrywide and its subsidiaries – which are now owned by Bank of America – engaged in discriminatory mortgage lending practices against more than 200,000 qualified African-American and Hispanic borrowers from 2004 through 2008," said Attorney General Holder.

"At the core of the allegations in the complaint is a simple story: If you were African-American or Hispanic and you went to Countrywide for a loan, and you were qualified, you likely paid more simply because of the color of your skin. You likely paid more than a similarly-qualified white borrower if you were African-American or Hispanic and received your loan from a Countrywide loan officer, or from Countrywide’s mortgage brokers," said Assistant Attorney General Perez.

Barry Nash, 69, pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge Barry L. Garber in Miami to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud.

The United States alleged that BCSO denied detainees access to books, magazines, newspapers or other expressive materials and denied them the right to practice their religion, in violation of the First Amendment and the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA).

A former Los Angeles County Sheriff's deputy was charged today with agreeing to accept $20,000 in bribes in exchange for smuggling contraband into the Men's Central Jail.

The Justice Department announced today that a federal grand jury in Greenbelt, Md., has indicted Anthony McIntosh, 48, a former corrections officer at the Prince George’s County Detention Center, in Upper Marlboro, Md., on three charges related to the in-custody death of a pretrial detainee, Ronnie White, on June 29, 2008, and McIntosh’s subsequent attempts to cover-up his involvement in White’s death.

Phoenix-area businessmen Stephen M. Kerr and Michael Quiel and former San Diego attorney Christopher M. Rusch were charged in Phoenix with conspiracy to defraud the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for concealing millions of dollars in assets in numerous secret Swiss bank accounts held at UBS and elsewhere, the Justice Department and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced.

The three-year settlement agreement will ensure that this rural district takes appropriate action to serve its small but growing and widely dispersed ELL population.