Attorney General Eric Holder issued the following statement today on the status of same-sex marriages performed in the state of Utah.

Michael Morgan, formerly an officer at Roxbury Correctional Institution (RCI) in Hagerstown, Md., pleaded guilty today to assaulting an inmate on March 9, 2008, announced the Justice Department and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland.

Koito Manufacturing Co. Ltd., a Tokyo-based company, has agreed to plead guilty and to pay a total of $56.6 million in criminal fines for its roles in separate price-fixing conspiracies involving automobile lighting fixtures and lamp ballasts installed in cars sold in the United States and elsewhere.

A former sergeant of the Portsmouth Sheriff’s Office (PSO) was sentenced to serve 15 months in prison today for accepting bribes in exchange for favors and referrals. Acting Assistant Attorney General Mythili Raman of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and Acting U.S. Attorney Dana J. Boente of the Eastern District of Virginia made the announcement.

Remarks as Prepared for Delivery by Associate Attorney General Tony West at the Martin Luther King Jr. Day Celebration Hosted by the Union League of Chicago

Today the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division announced its letter of findings determining that prison officials at the Alabama Department of Corrections and the Julia Tutwiler Prison for Women violate women prisoners’ constitutional rights by failing to take reasonable steps to protect them from harm due to sexual abuse and sexual harassment caused by correctional staff.

The Justice Department and the Internal Revenue Service announced that John Cote, formerly of Danielson, Conn., was convicted today of four counts of tax evasion along with conspiracy to defraud the IRS following a jury trial in the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut.

The Justice Department’s Medicare Fraud Strike Force has set record numbers for health care prosecutions in Fiscal Year 2013, demonstrating the targeted and coordinated approach remains strong as the strike force enters its eighth year of fighting fraud against the government’s health care programs.

Aleksandr Andreevich Panin, a Russian national also known as “Gribodemon” and “Harderman,” has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire and bank fraud for his role as the primary developer and distributor of the malicious software known as “SpyEye.”

"Why is health care enforcement so important? A major reason is the importance of the health care industry itself. From compliance officers to physicians, from corporate executives to nurses and researchers, you contribute to producing the drugs and medical devices on which we and our loved ones rely. Your efforts help to ensure that, when we are sick, the medicines we take will heal us effectively; that when we are in pain, we can obtain relief safely," said Assistant Attorney General Delery

"I want to talk with you today about the crisis we have in our criminal justice system. A crisis that is fundamental and has the potential to continue to swallow important efforts in the fight against crime. This crisis is the crushing prison population."

The former president and vice president of Osaka, Japan-based Diamond Electric Mfg. Co. Ltd. have agreed to plead guilty for their participation in a global conspiracy to fix prices of ignition coils installed in cars sold in the United States and elsewhere.

The Justice Department, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland and the FBI announced that Josh Hummer, a sergeant at the Roxbury Correctional Institution in Hagerstown, Md., was convicted today by a federal jury of obstructing justice during the investigation of an assault against an inmate.

The fact that we cannot compel other federal, state, and local laboratories and units to adopt this Commission’s guidance does underscore the need to be mindful of the diversity of practice and resources across the country. We must delicately balance the desire to develop meaningful policy with the reality of limited funding at the federal, state, and local levels. And we must do so without taking shortcuts.

We have benefited from the consideration of these difficult issues by the PCLOB and the PRG and it is a pleasure to appear with them today. In his speech on January 17th, the President laid out a series of measures to reform our surveillance activities that draw upon many of the core recommendations issued by the PCLOB and Presidential Review Group.

A federal jury in Miami today convicted a South Florida resident for her role in an international fraudulent lottery scheme that targeted U.S. citizens.

The United States filed a lawsuit today to bar Barbara L. Garrett, a Chicago tax return preparer, from preparing federal tax returns for others, the Justice Department announced.

The United States has asked a federal court in Salt Lake City to bar Rulon Sandoval, Andrea R. Acosta Hernandez and Latinos Office LLC from preparing tax returns for others, the Justice Department announced today.

Sanborn Map Company Inc. has agreed to pay $2.1 million to the U.S. government to resolve allegations that it submitted false claims in connection with U. S. Army Corps of Engineers contracts.

A former Bank of America executive pleaded guilty today for his participation in a conspiracy and scheme to defraud related to bidding for contracts for the investment of municipal bond proceeds and other municipal finance contracts.

Asem Elgawhary, the former principal vice president of Bechtel Corporation and general manager of the Power Generation Engineering and Services Company (PGESCo), was indicted by a grand jury in Maryland today on charges that he defrauded his former employers, laundered the proceeds of the fraudulent scheme and violated federal tax laws.

Today, the Justice Department announced the results of its ongoing efforts to combat fraudulent tax-return preparers and promoters of tax-fraud schemes.

Bridgestone Corp., a Tokyo, Japan-based company, has agreed to plead guilty and to pay a $425 million criminal fine for its role in a conspiracy to fix prices of automotive anti-vibration rubber parts installed in cars sold in the United States and elsewhere.

The former chief executive officer of PetroTiger Ltd., a British Virgin Islands oil and gas company with operations in Colombia and offices in New Jersey, pleaded guilty today for his role in a scheme to pay bribes to foreign government officials and to defraud PetroTiger.

The Barrio Azteca Lieutenant who ordered the murders of a U.S. Consulate employee, her husband and the husband of another U.S. Consulate employee was found guilty by a jury on all counts charged.

Bashar Saroki, a resident of Southfield, Mich., was sentenced today in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan to serve 30 months in prison to be followed by one year of supervised release, the Justice Department and the Internal Revenue Service announced.

A former executive of Japan-based Denso Corp. has agreed to plead guilty to obstruction of justice charges in connection with the Antitrust Division’s investigation into a conspiracy to fix the prices of heater control panels installed in cars sold in the United States and elsewhere.

Pharmaceutical company Endo Health Solutions Inc. and its subsidiary Endo Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Endo) have agreed to pay $192.7 million to resolve criminal and civil liability arising from Endo’s marketing of the prescription drug Lidoderm for uses not approved as safe and effective by the Food and Drug Administration.

The United States filed a lawsuit today to bar Margaret Brown, a Detroit tax return preparer, from preparing federal tax returns for others, the Justice Department announced.

An alleged general of the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas gang (ABT) and a fellow gang member pleaded guilty today to racketeering charges related to their membership in the ABT’s criminal enterprise, announced Acting Assistant Attorney General Mythili Raman of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Kenneth Magidson of the Southern District of Texas.

The United States has asked a federal court in McAllen, Texas, to permanently bar Melissa Alvarez and her companies, Best & Unique Income Services, Best & Unique Income Tax Melissa and Best & Unique Income Tax Services LLC, from preparing federal tax returns for others, the Justice Department announced today.

Since 2009, the Department has publicly charged 73 account holders and 35 professionals with violations arising from their offshore banking activities, and 72 individuals have pled guilty or were convicted at trial. Just as importantly our enforcement efforts have driven over 43,000 taxpayers with secret offshore accounts to identify themselves to the IRS, disclose their offshore accounts, and to pay a total of over $6 billion in back taxes, penalties and interest. And that number is growing.

Compañía Sud Americana de Vapores S.A. (CSAV), a Chilean corporation, has agreed to plead guilty and to pay an $8.9 million criminal fine for its involvement in a conspiracy to fix prices, allocate customers and rig bids of international ocean shipping services for roll-on, roll-off cargo, such as cars and trucks, to and from the United States and elsewhere, the Department of Justice announced today.

The United States has asked a federal court in Dallas, Texas, to permanently bar Ricia Daniels and her company, Ricia’s Convenience Tax Service, from preparing federal tax returns for others, the Justice Department announced today.

"The unfinished struggle for equal opportunity and justice is one in which we all have a part. This year, as we mark the 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Civil Rights Division remains committed to combating discrimination in all its forms."

Alpha Natural Resources, Inc. (Alpha), one of the nation’s largest coal companies, Alpha Appalachian Holdings (formerly Massey Energy), and 66 subsidiaries have agreed to spend an estimated $200 million to install and operate wastewater treatment systems and to implement comprehensive, system-wide upgrades to reduce discharges of pollution from coal mines in Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia.

The United States filed a complaint seeking to bar Kavivah Branson, aka Kavivah Bradley, and her Jackson, Miss., business, Branson Tax Service, from preparing federal tax returns for others, the Justice Department announced today.

Hector Orjuela Jr., 47, was sentenced today to serve 30 years in prison, followed by a lifetime of supervised release, for molesting children under the age of 12 and producing child pornography.

The United States has sued The Tax Helper Corp, a tax preparation business with a store located in Chicago, and seeks to permanently bar the company and its alleged co-owner, Johnnie Pernell Jr., from preparing federal tax returns for others, the Justice Department announced today.

Lanny Harris, a former sergeant at Roxbury Correctional Institution (RCI) in Hagerstown, Md., and Philip Mayo, a former correctional officer at RCI, were sentenced today for conspiring with other RCI officers on March 8-9, 2008, to assault an inmate at the prison, identified as K.D.

Pharmaceutical manufacturer Teva Pharmaceuticals USA Inc. and a subsidiary, IVAX LLC, have agreed to pay the government and the state of Illinois $27.6 million for allegedly violating the False Claims Act by making payments to induce prescriptions of an anti-psychotic drug for Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries.

Today, the Justice Department sought a federal court order temporarily restraining the Ohio Department of Youth Services (DYS) from unlawfully secluding boys with mental health needs in its juvenile correctional facilities.

Dustin Norris and Ryan Lohr, former officers at Roxbury Correctional Institution (RCI) in Hagerstown, Md., were sentenced today for conspiring with other RCI officers on March 9, 2008, in connection with the assault of an inmate at the state prison, identified as K.D.

A federal court in the Northern District of Georgia permanently barred Andrew R. Heath, an Acworth, Ga., area tax preparer from preparing tax returns for others, the Justice Department announced today.

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Preet Bharara, Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Transportation Calvin L. Scovel, III, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Acting Administrator David Friedman, and FBI Deputy Assistant Director Joe Campbell announced a criminal wire fraud charge against Toyota Motor Corporation, an automotive company headquartered in Toyota City, Japan, that designs, manufactures, assembles, and sells Toyota and Lexus brand vehicles.

LSB Industries Inc. (LSB), the largest merchant manufacturer of concentrated nitric acid in North America, and four of its subsidiaries have agreed to reduce harmful emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx) by meeting emission limits that are among the lowest for the industry in the nation.

Today’s announcement underscores the fact that the Departments of Justice and Transportation remain firmly committed to protecting consumers, ensuring the safety of the American people, and combating fraud in all its forms.

The Department of Justice and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced today that Flint Hills Resources of Port Arthur has agreed to implement innovative technologies to control harmful air pollution from industrial flares and leaking equipment at the company’s chemical plant in Port Arthur, Texas.

Okland Construction Co. Inc. has agreed to pay the government $928,000 to resolve allegations that it made false statements and submitted false claims under the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) Section 8(a) Program for Small and Disadvantaged Businesses.

A federal court in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., permanently barred Keisha Stewart, a tax preparer in Plantation, Fla., from preparing federal tax returns for others, the Justice Department announced today.