Almighty Latin King and Queen Nation (ALKQN) member David Hellums, aka "CutThroat," pleaded guilty today to a superseding indictment charging him and 16 co-defendants with various offenses related to alleged narcotics and weapons trafficking, as well as violent activities throughout Texas.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) signed two Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) on Thursday, Aug. 6, 2009, to foster increased communication between participating agencies at the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) Fusion Center and the International Organized Crime Intelligence and Operations Center (IOC-2).

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.

Almighty Latin King and Queen Nation (ALKQN) member Marie Chavez, aka "Shorty," wife of an alleged ALKQN leader, Jose Nava, aka "Chino," was sentenced today, while his brother Luis Nava, aka "Flaco," re-entered a guilty plea to a superseding indictment that charged them and 14 others with various offenses related to alleged narcotics and weapons trafficking, as well as violent activities throughout Texas.

The Department today filed a lawsuit in federal court in Michigan alleging that Knight Protective Service Inc., willfully violated the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 (USERRA) by failing to promptly and properly reemploy King A. Gatten, a retired Army servicemember, when he returned from military service.

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.

On Nov. 3, 2009, the department will monitor elections in the following jurisdictions to ensure compliance with the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and other federal voting rights statutes: the cities of Lowell and Springfield, Mass.; the city of Hamtramck, Mich.; Middlesex County and the borough of Penns Grove, N.J.; Orange County and Queens, N.Y., and the city of Philadelphia.

John A. Campbell, a resident of Portage, Mich., was sentenced to 60 months in prison today by the Honorable Janet T. Neff of the U.S. District Court in the Western District of Michigan for conspiring to defraud the United States.

Consuelo Carreto Valencia, a member of the Carreto family sex trafficking ring that operated between Mexico and Queens, N.Y., was sentenced to 121 months in prison for benefitting financially from her participation in the organization, which transported young Mexican women to the United States and forced them into prostitution.

A federal grand jury in Greenbelt, Md., has indicted 19 alleged members of the Almighty Latin King and Queen Nation (Latin Kings) for conspiracy to participate in a racketeering enterprise.

Chief District Judge Paul L. Maloney has permanently barred Joyce M. Stone and Charles J. Freed, both of Tipton, Mich., from preparing income tax returns for others.

“As this case demonstrates, we are committed to vigorously pursuing those who defraud Medicare.”

The department filed a brief as a friend of the court in Sacred Heart Rehabilitation Center Inc. v. Richmond Township and Richmond Township Planning Commission, a civil rights case regarding the expansion of an addictive disorders treatment facility in Macomb County, Mich.

Six members of a racketeering enterprise, called La Mara Salvatrucha, or MS-13, were convicted today by a jury in U.S. District Court in Charlotte, N.C., of criminal charges that include racketeering, murder, attempted murder, assault, cocaine trafficking and numerous related federal firearms offenses

A federal grand jury in Trenton, N.J., has charged Vincent Johnson of Brick, N.J., with threatening employees of five civil rights organizations that work to improve opportunities for and challenge discrimination against Latinos in the United States.

"Let me be clear, we enhance public safety by incarcerating those who harm our neighbors and our communities. This is a fact. But in our work to protect the American people, incarceration cannot be our only law enforcement strategy," said Attorney General Holder.

"Today, we celebrate a milestone in Barb McQuade’s remarkable career," said Attorney General Holder.

The leader of the Almighty Latin King and Queen Nation (ALKQN) in Texas and one of his enforcers were found guilty this afternoon on multiple charges related to their participation in a large scale narcotics and firearms trafficking conspiracy.

The Department filed a lawsuit against the owner and property manager of a 48-unit apartment complex in Ann Arbor, Mich., alleging that the defendants discriminated on the basis of race or color in the rental of apartments.

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan abandoned its attempt to purchase Physicians Health Plan of Mid-Michigan after the Department informed the companies that it would file an antitrust lawsuit to block the acquisition.

The former acting executive director of U’una’i Legal Services Corporation pleaded guilty today to stealing $31,292 from the federally-funded organization in American Samoa.

U.S. District Judge Deborah K. Chasanow today sentenced Roberto Antonio Argueta, aka "Alex Antonio Cruz," aka "Buda," 29, of Hyattsville, Md., to life in prison, plus an additional 35 years, for ordering the murder of Nancy Diaz and the attempted murder of another juvenile girl.

A U.S. District Court has issued an order permanently barring Shawn Robin Gibson, a Detroit tax preparer, from preparing federal tax returns for others.

Almighty Latin King and Queen Nation (ALKQN) member John Guzman, 31, of Big Spring, Texas, was sentenced today to 210 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Sam R. Cummings, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney James T. Jacks for the Northern District of Texas

The Attorney General’s annual victims’ service awards are presented as a prelude to the nation’s observance of National Crime Victims’ Rights Week, April 18-April 24, 2010.

A 12-person federal jury in Charlotte, N.C., today voted unanimously to impose the death penalty against Alejandro Enrique Ramirez Umana, aka “Wizard,” 25.

"I’m proud that, for the first time, the Department is directing resources for the express purpose of reducing childhood exposure to violence and raising awareness of its ramifications, advancing scientific inquiry on its causes and characteristics, and, of course, countering its negative impact," said Attorney General Holder.

The leader of the Almighty Latin King and Queen Nation in Texas and one of his enforcers were sentenced today to life in prison by U.S. District Judge Sam R. Cummings.

"Only by working together, across borders and jurisdictions, can we ensure that the ideals set forth in the Anti-Bribery Convention more than a decade ago are realized today and in the future.  And only by working together will the promise of democracy be fulfilled, and will the rule of law be respected, across the globe," said Attorney General Holder.

Andres Echevarria, aka “B-Boy” and “King B-Boy,” pleaded guilty today to conspiracy to participate in a racketeering enterprise, in connection with his gang activities as a member of the Almighty Latin King and Queen Nation (Latin Kings).

Steven Walter Cooke, 47, a reputed high ranking member of the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas (ABT) prison/street gang and a previously convicted felon, has been sentenced to prison for possessing firearms.

“The Department of Justice is committed to protecting our nation’s communities from the violent and dangerous crimes alleged in this indictment,” said Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer.

The owners and operators of Ivanhoe House Apartments, an apartment complex in Ann Arbor, Mich., have agreed to pay $82,500 to settle a lawsuit filed by the Justice Department alleging that they had discriminated against African-American home-seekers, in violation of the Fair Housing Act.

Chief U.S. District Court Judge Robert J. Conrad Jr. today formally imposed the federal death penalty sentence on Alejandro Enrique Ramirez Umana, aka “Wizard”.

A federal jury in Philadelphia today convicted Ian P. Norris, the former CEO of The Morgan Crucible Company plc, a United Kingdom corporation, of conspiring with others to obstruct justice.

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan, charges that the township discriminated against persons with disabilities based on its treatment of a group home for persons recovering from drug and alcohol addiction and its failure to grant a reasonable accommodation or modification to the owner of the group home.

The Justice Department announced that four separate indictments were unsealed today in the District of Minnesota, the Southern District of Alabama and the Southern District of California charging 14 individuals with terrorism violations for providing money, personnel and services to the foreign terrorist organization al-Shabaab.

Dorothy St. Laurent, 71, of Johnston, R.I., and her son Anthony St. Laurent Jr., 44, of Cranston, R.I., pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Providence, R.I., to interstate extortion in violation of the Hobbs Act. 

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.

"The pharmaceutical manufacturer Allergan has agreed to plead guilty and pay $600 million to resolve serious criminal and civil fraud allegations," announced Assistant Attorney General West.

Juan Carlos Moreira, aka “Stokey” and “Stocky,” was sentenced today by Chief U.S. District Court Judge Deborah K. Chasanow to life in prison for conspiracy to participate in a racketeering enterprise known as MS-13, conspiring to and committing murder in aid of racketeering, witness tampering murder and assault with a dangerous weapon in aid of racketeering.

Three alleged members and associates of the MS-13 gang have been indicted for various violent crimes stemming from a home invasion last year in the District of Columbia in which several persons were held at gunpoint.

Seventy-three defendants, including a number of alleged members and associates of an Armenian-American organized crime enterprise, were charged in indictments unsealed today in five judicial districts with various health care fraud-related crimes involving more than $163 million in fraudulent billing.

A patient recruiter and operator of a Detroit-area home health agency was sentenced to 63 months in prison for his role in a conspiracy to defraud the Medicare program.

The Department of Justice filed a civil antitrust lawsuit today against Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan (BCBSM) alleging that provisions of its agreements with hospitals raise hospital prices, prevent other insurers from entering the marketplace and discourage discounts.

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.

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).

Nelson Santos, aka “Nelly” and “King Nelly,” 27, of Silver Spring, Md., was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Alexander Williams Jr. to 190 months in prison for conspiracy to participate in a racketeering enterprise and being a felon in possession of a firearm, in connection with his gang activities as a member of the Almighty Latin King and Queen Nation.

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.