Bahamian Drug Trafficker Convicted in U.S. Court on Drug Charges (08-432)

Bahamian national formerly residing in Haiti was convicted today by a jury in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on charges of narcotics distribution, Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division Alice S. Fisher announced. (Read more)

Federal Court Enjoins Nationwide Tax Scheme Promoters (08-431)

A federal court in Pensacola, Fla., has entered a preliminary injunction barring Pinnacle Quest International (PQI) and its principals from publicizing tax fraud schemes that have been promoted to customers from all over the United States, the Justice Department announced today. The order, which remains in effect indefinitely, comes in advance of a PQI conference scheduled for May 18, 2008, in Cancun, Mexico. (Read more)

North Carolina Federal Court Shuts Down Alleged Tax Preparation Scam (08-430)

A federal court in Charlotte, N.C., has permanently barred Kodjovi Raphael Totou from preparing tax returns for anyone other than himself, the Justice Department announced today. The permanent injunction order replaces a preliminary injunction entered earlier this year. (Read more)

Member of Afghan Taliban Convicted in U.S. Court on Narco-terrorism and Drug Charges (08-429)

A member of an Afghan Taliban cell was convicted today by a jury in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on charges of narcotics distribution and narco-terrorism, Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division Alice S. Fisher announced. The conviction represents the first time a defendant has been convicted in U.S. federal court of narco-terrorism since the statute was enacted in March 2006. (Read more)

Former PurchasePro.com CEO Found Guilty on Securities Fraud Charges (08-428)

Charles E. Johnson, Jr., the former CEO and Chairman of PurchasePro.com Inc., a now-defunct, publicly traded company that was headquartered in Las Vegas, was found guilty today of conspiring to commit securities fraud, securities fraud, witness tampering and obstructing an official proceeding, announced the Justice Department and Federal Bureau of Investigation. The Department of Justice made the announcement today after U.S. District Judge Walter D. Kelley released his verdict in Johnson’s bench trial which was completed in December 2007. (Read more)

Cleveland, Ohio, Man Pleads Guilty to Sending Racially Motivated Threats (08-427)

David A. Tuason of Cleveland, Ohio, has pleaded guilty to eight counts of transmitting threatening communications, announced Grace Chung Becker, Acting Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, William J. Edwards, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio, and C. Frank Figliuzzi, Special Agent in Charge of the Cleveland Division of the FBI. (Read more)

County Recorder in Ohio Pleads Guilty to Importation and Transportation of Obscene Matters (08-426)

Patrick J. O’Malley, the elected County Recorder of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, has pleaded guilty to charges of importing and transporting obscene materials, Assistant Attorney General Alice S. Fisher of the Criminal Division, William J. Edwards, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio, and C. Frank Figluizzi, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Cleveland Division announced today. (Read more)

Justice Department Obtains Back Pay for Army Veteran in Settlement with Acme Towing & Recovery Inc. (08-425)

The Department of Justice announced today it has filed a settlement that, if approved and entered by the U.S. District Court in Albuquerque, N.M., will resolve its employment lawsuit under the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 (USERRA), on behalf of Army Sergeant Jared Caldwell against Acme Towing & Recovery Inc. of Albuquerque, N.M. (Read more)

Justice Department Reaches Agreement with Arizona on Voter Registration at Public Assistance Agencies (08-424)

The Justice Department today announced an agreement to bring the state of Arizona into compliance with federal voting laws that require public assistance agencies to offer their clients the opportunity to register to vote. The agreement provides that Arizona’s Department of Economic Security (DES), the primary state agency in charge of disbursing public assistance, must ensure compliance with federal law within the next 60 days. (Read more)

Two Individuals Indicted on Charges of Conspiracy and Bribery in Connection with a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers New Orleans Levee Reconstruction Project (08-420)

A former contract employee of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and a dirt, sand and gravel subcontractor were both indicted in connection with a $16 million hurricane protection project for the reconstruction of the Lake Cataouatche Levee, south of New Orleans, the U.S. Department of Justice announced today. (Read more)

Oregon Man Pleads Guilty to Selling Counterfeit Software Worth $1 Million (08-419)

An Oregon man pleaded guilty today to selling counterfeit computer software with a retail value of more than $1 million, in addition to aggravated identity theft and mail fraud, announced Assistant Attorney General of the Criminal Division Alice S. Fisher and Karin J. Immergut, U.S. Attorney for the District of Oregon. This case is part of the Justice Department’s initiative to combat online auction piracy. (Read more)

Solicitor General Paul D. Clement to Leave Department of Justice (08-418)

Today, the Department of Justice announced that Solicitor General Paul D. Clement will end his current service to the Department on June 2, 2008. (Read more)

Willbros Group Inc. Enters Deferred Prosecution Agreement and Agrees to Pay $22 Million Penalty for FCPA Violations (08-417)

Willbros Group Inc. (Willbros Group), a publicly-traded company that provides construction, engineering and other services in the oil and gas industry, and Willbros International Inc. (Willbros International), the wholly owned subsidiary through which it conducts international operations, have agreed to pay a $22 million criminal penalty in connection with corrupt payments to Nigerian and Ecuadoran government officials in violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), the Department of Justice announced today. (Read more)

California Man Sentenced to 37 Months in Prison in Connection with $10 Million Scheme to Defraud the Export-Import Bank of the United States (08-416)

Edward Chua, 55, of Montebello, Calif., has been sentenced to 37 months in prison in connection with a $10 million scheme to defraud the Export-Import Bank (Ex-Im Bank) of the United States, Assistant Attorney General Alice S. Fisher of the Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Jeffrey A. Taylor of the District of Columbia announced today. (Read more)

New Orleans Businessman Pleads Guilty to Espionage Charge Involving China (08-411)

Tai Shen Kuo, age 58, of New Orleans, La., pleaded guilty today in the Eastern District of Virginia to a one-count criminal information charging him with conspiracy to deliver national defense information to a foreign government, namely, the People’s Republic of China (PRC), in violation of 18 U.S.C., Section 794(a), (c). Kuo was arrested on Feb. 11, 2008 on a criminal complaint charging this same offense. (Read more)

Strike Force Targets Medicare Fraud by Los Angeles Area Health Care Companies (08-399)

Eleven people have been indicted in the second phase of a targeted criminal, civil and administrative effort against individuals and health care companies that fraudulently bill the Medicare program, Assistant Attorney General of the Criminal Division Alice S. Fisher and U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California Thomas P. O’Brien announced today. (Read more)

Former Los Angeles Police Officer and Co-Conspirator Sentenced for Civil Rights Violations (08-412)

Former Los Angeles Police Department Officer Ruben Palomares and his cousin and co-conspirator, Gabriel Loaiza, were sentenced today in federal court in Los Angeles for their roles in a series of home-invasion robberies over a two-year period, the Justice Department announced. Palomares was sentenced to 158 months in prison and 5 years of supervised release. Loaiza was sentenced to 108 months in prison and 5 years of supervised release. (Read more)

Man Sentenced for Human Trafficking and Alien Smuggling (08-406)

Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division Grace Chung Becker and U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Texas Don DeGabrielle announced that Walter Corea was sentenced today for his role in a scheme to smuggle Central American women and girls into the United States and hold them in a condition of forced labor in bars and cantinas in the Houston area. U.S. District Judge Vanessa D. Gilmore sentenced Corea to 180 months in prison and further ordered that he, jointly with his co-defendants, pay $1,715,588 in restitution to the victims. (Read more)

Justice Department to Monitor Elections in Nebraska and New Jersey (08-405)

The Justice Department today announced that on Tuesday, May 13, 2008, it will monitor elections in Colfax County, Neb., and Bergen County, N.J., to ensure compliance with the Voting Rights Act. (Read more)

Justice Department to Monitor Elections in Texas (08-401)

The Justice Department today announced that on Saturday, May 10, 2008, it will monitor local elections in the cities of Farmers Branch and Irving in Dallas County, Texas, to ensure compliance with the Voting Rights Act. (Read more)

Man Pleads Guilty to Conspiracy to Engage in Sex Trafficking and Transporting Illegal Aliens in Los Angeles (08-396)

Pablo Bonifacio pleaded guilty today in federal court in Los Angeles, to conspiracy to commit sex trafficking and transporting illegal aliens in the pending case of United States v. Vasquez-Valenzuela, announced Grace Chung Becker, Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division and Thomas P. O’Brien, U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California. The remaining eight defendants are scheduled for trial on Sept. 2, 2008, in Los Angeles. (Read more)

Jury Convicts two Kansas City, Missouri, Men for Racially-Motivated Murder (08-395)

Two Kansas City, Mo., men were convicted by a federal jury today for the racially-motivated murder of William McCay on March 9, 2005, announced Grace Chung Becker, Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, and John F. Wood, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Missouri. (Read more)

Former Qantas Airline Executive Agrees to Plead Guilty to Participating in Price-Fixing Conspiracy on Air Cargo Shipments (08-390)

The former highest-ranking Qantas Airways Limited cargo executive employed in the United States has agreed to plead guilty, serve 8 months in jail, and pay a criminal fine for participating in a conspiracy to fix rates for international air cargo shipments, the Department of Justice announced today. (Read more)

Man Pleads Guilty to Human Trafficking and Alien Smuggling Charges in Florida (08-389)

Juan Luis Cadena-Sosa pleaded guilty today to federal civil rights violations for conspiring to smuggle Mexican women and girls into the United States and to place them in a condition of involuntary servitude, announced Grace Chung Becker, Acting Assistant Attorney General for Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, and R. Alexander Acosta, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida. (Read more)

Colombian Paramilitary Leader Extradited to the United States to Face U.S. Drug Charges (08-388)

Carlos Mario Jimenez-Naranjo, a.k.a. Macaco, has been extradited from Colombia to the United States to face drug trafficking charges, Assistant Attorney General Alice S. Fisher announced today. Jimenez-Naranjo faces drug-related charges in the District of Columbia and the Southern District of Florida. Jimenez-Naranjo made his initial appearance today in the District of Columbia before Judge Alan Kay. (Read more)

Justice Department Files Fair Housing Lawsuit against City of Satsuma, Alabama (08-387)

The Justice Department today sued the City of Satsuma, Ala., for violating the Fair Housing Act when the city refused to allow three women with disabilities to live together in a group home. The suit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Alabama, charges that Satsuma refused to make reasonable accommodations in its rules, policies, practices or services, which were necessary to afford the residents an opportunity to use and enjoy their home. (Read more)

U.S. Calls on Global Producers to Help Develop Increased Chemical Controls for Meth Precursors, Controlled Pharmaceuticals; Lauds Mexico as Example of Effective International Cooperation Against Meth Production, Trafficking (08-384)

Flanked by leaders from the world’s largest producing nations of methamphetamine precursor chemicals, and some of the principal consumers of finished meth and controlled pharmaceuticals, Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey and John P. Walters, Director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), urged all producing and transit nations for precursor chemicals used to produce methamphetamine and other drugs to expand efforts to prevent illegal diversion of the products. (Read more)

Justice Department Announces Creation of 43 New Assistant United States Attorney Positions for Project Safe Childhood (08-383)

The Department of Justice announced today the distribution of $5 million in new funds to support Project Safe Childhood, the Department’s initiative that combats technology-facilitated sexual exploitation crimes against children. The money will fund 43 new Assistant U.S. Attorney positions across the nation to prosecute these offenses, which remain a high priority for the Department of Justice. (Read more)

Fact Sheet: Project Safe Childhood (08-382)

Project Safe Childhood (PSC) is a Department of Justice initiative launched in 2006 that aims to combat the proliferation of technology-facilitated sexual exploitation crimes against children. The threat of sexual predators soliciting children for physical sexual contact is well-known and serious; the danger of perpetrators who produce, distribute, and possess child pornography is equally dramatic and disturbing. (Read more)

U.S. Announces Indictment Of International Arms Dealer for Conspiracy to Kill Americans and Related Terrorism Charges (08-380)

Michael J. Garcia, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and Michele M. Leonhart, the Acting Administrator of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), announced today the unsealing of an indictment against international arms dealer Viktor Bout, a/k/a Boris, a/k/a Victor Anatoliyevich Bout, a/k/a Victor But, a/k/a Viktor Budd, a/k/a Viktor Butt, a/k/a Viktor Bulakin, a/k/a Vadim Markovich Aminov, for, among other things, conspiring to sell millions of dollars worth of weapons to the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (the FARC) -- a designated foreign terrorist organization based in Colombia -- to be used to kill Americans in Colombia. (Read more)

Former Long Beach, California, Police Officer Sentenced for Civil Rights Violations (08-378)

Former Long Beach police officer Joseph Ferguson was sentenced today in federal court in Los Angeles, Calif., for his role in a series of home invasion robberies over a two-year period, the Justice Department announced today. Ferguson was sentenced to 97 months in prison and four years of supervised release. (Read more)

Water Supply and Storage Company to Pay $9 Million for Damages to Rocky Mountain National Park (08-377)

Water Supply and Storage Company (WSSC), a mutual ditch company and the owner and operator of the Grand River Ditch, has agreed to pay $9 million for damages to natural resources within Rocky Mountain National Park caused by a May 30, 2003, breach of the Grand River Ditch, the Justice Department and National Park Service announced today. (Read more)

McKesson Corporation Agrees to Pay More than $13 Million to Settle Claims that it Failed to Report Suspicious Sales of Prescription Medications (08-374)

McKesson Corp., one of the nation’s largest distributors of pharmaceutical drugs, has agreed to settle allegations that it violated federal reporting provisions relating to its handling of certain prescription medications regulated by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).  Under the agreement between the company and six U.S. Attorney’s Offices, McKesson has agreed to pay $13,250,000 in civil penalties for alleged violations of its obligations under the Controlled Substances Act.  (Read more)

Justice Department Files Lawsuit Against Consolidated Multiple Listing Service of South Carolina for Restraining Competition Among Real Estate Brokers (08-373)

The Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division today filed a lawsuit against the Consolidated Multiple Listing Service (CMLS) of Columbia, S.C., challenging its rules that unreasonably restrict competition among real estate brokers. (Read more)

Former Federal Prison Supervisor Indicted on Federal Civil Rights Charges (08-371)

A federal grand jury in Fresno, Calif., indicted a former Bureau of Prisons supervisory corrections officer today on charges related to an April 2007 assault on an inmate, the Justice Department announced. Former Lieutenant Eric McEachern was charged with violating the civil rights of an inmate by assaulting the inmate, and with obstructing justice by filing a false report regarding the incident. (Read more)

U.S. Coast Guard Officer Pleads Guilty for Lying about Vessel Pollution (08-370)

David G. Williams, a Chief Warrant Officer in the U.S. Coast Guard and the Main Propulsion Assistant for the Coast Guard Cutter RUSH, pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Hawaii to one count of making a false statement, announced Ronald J. Tenpas, Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Environment & Natural Resources Division and U.S. Attorney for the District of Hawaii Edward H. Kubo Jr. (Read more)

iGate Mastech Inc. to Pay $45,000 in Civil Penalties to Settle Discrimination Claim (08-369)

The Department of Justice today announced that iGate Mastech Inc. (iGate), a Pittsburgh computer consulting company, has agreed to pay $45,000 in civil penalties to settle allegations that iGate discriminated against United States citizens in its employment practices. The settlement also requires iGate to train its recruitment personnel and to post a nondiscrimination statement on its Web site. (Read more)

Justice Department Settles Race and Familial Status Discrimination Case against Virginia Beach Landlord (08-368)

Virginia Beach landlord Dr. John Crockett Henry and Henry LLC, have agreed to pay up to $361,000 to settle a lawsuit alleging violations of the Fair Housing Act, the Justice Department announced today. (Read more)

Former FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Company Employee Sentenced for Lying to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (08-365)

David Geisen of DePere, Wisc., was sentenced today to four months of home confinement with electronic monitoring for making false statements and misleading the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) about the quality of past inspections of the reactor-head at the Davis-Besse Nuclear Power Station during the fall of 2001, the Justice Department announced. (Read more)

Justice Department Obtains Back Pay for Air Force Veteran in Settlement with Wal-Mart (08-364)

The Department of Justice announced today that it has filed a consent decree that will resolve its employment lawsuit on behalf of Sean Thornton against Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the nation’s largest retailer. (Read more)

Former Del Rio, Texas, Corrections Officer Pleads Guilty to Civil Rights Violation (08-363)

The Justice Department announced today that Emmanuel Cassio, a former corrections officer at the Val Verde County Detention Center in Del Rio, Texas, pleaded guilty in federal court on April 30, 2008, in Del Rio to violating the civil rights of a pre-trial detainee and obstructing the subsequent criminal investigation. (Read more)