District Not Recorded

The Department of Justice’s Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office) today announced $4.5 million in grants for the Law Enforcement Mental Health and Wellness Act Program.  These program funds are used to improve the delivery of and access to mental health and wellness services for law enforcement through training and technical assistance, demonstration projects, implementation of promising practices related to peer mentoring mental health and wellness, and suicide prevention programs.

“As a law enforcement professional with over 50 years of experience, I know firsthand the pressures that accompany this most noble profession,” said COPS Office Director Phil Keith.  “This Department of Justice is committed to protecting the health and wellness of a police department’s most valuable asset – the men and women that leave their homes every day with a mission to protect and serve.  The grants announced today will provide departments with key mental health and wellness services.”          

Good mental and psychological health is just as essential as good physical health for law enforcement officers to be effective in keeping our communities safe from crime and violence.  As part of the Law Enforcement Mental Health and Wellness Act of 2017, Congress authorized the COPS Office to establish peer mentoring mental health and wellness pilot programs within state, tribal, and local law enforcement agencies.  The 41 awards announced today meet the goals of the 2017 Act and support the Department of Justice and the Administration’s commitment to law enforcement.  The full list of awards is available here: https://cops.usdoj.gov/pdf/2020AwardDocs/lemhwa/Award_List.pdf.  

In addition to the grants announced today, the COPS Office recently published two reports regarding officer mental health and wellness.  Those reports are available here:

• Law Enforcement Mental Health and Wellness Act Report to Congress
• Law Enforcement Mental Health and Wellness Programs: Eleven Case Studies

The COPS Office is the federal component of the Department of Justice responsible for advancing community policing nationwide.  Since 1994, the COPS Office has invested more than $14 billion to advance community policing, including grants awarded to more than 13,000 state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies to fund the hiring and redeployment of more than 134,000 officers and provide a variety of knowledge resource products including publications, training and technical assistance.  For more information, please visit: https://cops.usdoj.gov/. 

Attorney General William P. Barr has issued the following statement:

“Today is a very sad day for the city of Cleveland and the entire law enforcement community. Overnight, Cleveland Division of Police Detective James Skernivitz was shot and killed in the line of duty. Detective Skernivitz was a 22-year veteran of the Cleveland Division of Police and a sworn Operation Legend task force officer assigned to the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Violent Crimes Task Force.

Two weeks ago, I had the honor of visiting the unit where Detective Skernivitz was assigned. I was briefed on the critical work that he and his colleagues do to keep our streets safe from violent crime. Detective Skernivitz selflessly gave his life in this cause.

It takes a special kind of courage to be a police officer. Our men and women in blue put their lives on the line day after day in order to keep us safe. We will not forget Detective Skernivitz and his life of service and sacrifice. I send my heartfelt condolences to his wife, children, and family.”

Attorney General William P. Barr has issued the following statement:

“Last Saturday, Aaron “Jay” Danielson was shot and killed amid the continuing violence in Portland.  Local authorities subsequently obtained an arrest warrant for Michael Forest Reinoehl, a self-described Antifa member suspected of the alleged murder.  Reinoehl fled to Washington State, where he was located yesterday by members of a fugitive task force led by the U.S. Marshals Service, the FBI, and state and local law enforcement partners.  When Reinoehl attempted to escape arrest and produced a firearm, he was shot and killed by law enforcement officers.  

The tracking down of Reinoehl — a dangerous fugitive, admitted Antifa member, and suspected murderer — is a significant accomplishment in the ongoing effort to restore law and order to Portland and other cities.  I applaud the outstanding cooperation among federal, state, and local law enforcement, particularly the fugitive task force team that located Reinoehl and prevented him from escaping justice.  The streets of our cities are safer with this violent agitator removed, and the actions that led to his location are an unmistakable demonstration that the United States will be governed by law, not violent mobs.”

Each weekday, the Department of Justice will highlight a case that has resulted from Operation Legend. Today’s case is out of the Eastern District of Missouri.  Operation Legend launched in St. Louis on Aug. 6, 2020, in response to the city facing increased homicide and non-fatal shooting rates.

United States vs. Troy Jackson

“The goal of Operation Legend is to take violent criminals off the streets so long term, community-wide efforts to make St. Louis a safer place can take hold,” said U.S. Attorney Jeff Jensen for the Eastern District of Missouri.  “Troy Jackson is one of approximately 370 arrested so far.  Many more arrests and charges will follow.”

Troy Jackson, 28, was indicted on Aug. 9, 2020, with being a felon in possession of a firearm, possession with intent to distribute the deadly opioid fentanyl, and possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.

According to charging documents, Jackson was wanted for first-degree murder and armed criminal action related to a homicide in June 2020; wanted for second and third degree assault arising from a separate incident; and on July 2, 2020, a felony arrest warrant was issued for Jackson for violating his parole stemming from a 2013 conviction for burglary. 

It is alleged that an investigation into Jackson led investigators to a hotel in St. Louis on Aug. 9, 2020.  Law enforcement officers, working with the U.S. Marshals Service, found Jackson at the hotel in a room holding the magazine of a Mossberg 9mm pistol, which was located nearby in a plain view on a table.  While in the hotel room, law enforcement seized approximately five grams of fentanyl and drug paraphernalia, as well as the pistol.

Because of a previous felony conviction punishable by more than one year in prison, Jackson is prohibited from possessing firearms.

The details contained in the charging document are allegations.  The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

Background on Operation Legend
President Trump promised to assist America’s cities that have been plagued by violence. In July, Attorney General William P. Barr announced the launch of Operation Legend, a sustained, systematic and coordinated law enforcement initiative across all federal law enforcement agencies working in conjunction with state and local law enforcement officials to fight violent crime in cities across America that were experiencing an uptick in violence.  Operation Legend is named after four-year-old LeGend Taliferro, who was shot and killed on June 29th in Kansas City, Missouri, while asleep in his home.

Operation Legend was launched in Kansas City, Mo., on July 8, 2020, and expanded to Chicago and Albuquerque on July 22, 2020, to Cleveland, Detroit, and Milwaukee on July 29, 2020, to St. Louis and Memphis on Aug. 6, 2020, and to Indianapolis on Aug. 14, 2020.  As part of Operation Legend, Attorney General Barr has directed federal agents from the FBI, U.S. Marshals Service, DEA and ATF to surge resources to these cities to help state and local officials fighting violent crime.  The Department of Homeland Security is also contributing agents to these efforts in St. Louis.  Since its inception, Operation Legend has yielded more than 2000 local, state, and federal arrests, with approximately 476 defendants charged with federal crimes.

The Office of Justice Programs’ Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) has received multiple reports that individuals claiming to represent the Department of Justice are calling members of the public as part of an imposter scam. The department strongly encourages the public to remain vigilant and not to provide personal information during these calls, which appear to target the elderly.

Reports to the National Elder Fraud Hotline indicate these scammers falsely represent themselves as Department of Justice investigators or employees and attempt to obtain personal information from the call recipient, or they leave a voicemail with a return phone number. The return phone number directs users to a recorded menu that matches the recorded menu for the department’s main phone number. Eventually, the user reaches an “operator” who steers the user to someone claiming to be an investigator. That “investigator” then attempts to gain the user’s personal information.

“Phone scams are an ugly and pervasive act of victimization. The scams being reported to our National Elder Fraud Hotline are especially heinous because they show the perpetrators are preying upon one of the most vulnerable segments of our society – the elderly,” said OVC Director Jessica Hart. “As if this were not despicable enough, the scammers do so posing as employees of the Justice Department, usurping public trust in the agency that serves as a bastion of fairness and lawfulness while these scams exploit the elderly for financial gain. The first step to identifying these criminals is to have their crimes reported.”

Those who receive these calls are encouraged not to provide personal information and to report these scams to the FTC via their website or by calling 877–FTC–HELP (877-382-4357). Fraud can also be reported to the FBI for law enforcement action at https://www.justice.gov/criminal-fraud/report-fraud.

The National Elder Fraud Hotline is a resource created by OVC for people to report fraud against anyone age 60 or older. Reporting certain financial losses due to fraud as soon as possible, and within the first 2–3 days, can increase the likelihood of recovering losses. The hotline is open seven days a week. For more information about the hotline, please visit https://stopelderfraud.ovc.ojp.gov/.

Three Peruvian men have been sentenced to significant terms of incarceration for operating a large fraud and extortion scheme, the Department of Justice announced. 

The three men managed and operated call centers based in Lima and Cajamarca, Peru, which used government impersonation, lies, and threats to steal money from thousands of Spanish-speaking victims in the United States.

Earlier today, U.S. District Judge Robert N. Scola sentenced Johnny Enso Hidalgo Marchan, 40, of Lima, Peru, to 100 months in federal prison for his role overseeing one of the Peruvian call centers.  In sentencing Hidalgo, Judge Scola stated that it was “important to impose a significant sentence to deter people in other countries who think they can prey on people in the U.S. with impunity.”  In June 2020, Judge Scola sentenced Francesco Guerra, 25, of Lima, Peru, to 90 months in federal prison, and, in March 2020, he sentenced Rodolfo Hermoza, 45, to 88 months in prison for their roles in the scheme.  The three men were extradited from Peru in December 2019 and convicted of conspiring to commit mail fraud and wire fraud earlier this year. 

“We are committed to pursuing transnational criminals who defraud U.S. consumers,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Ethan P. Davis of the Justice Department’s Civil Division.  “Disrupting transnational elder fraud schemes is an Agency Priority Goal for the Department of Justice.  These prison sentences show that criminals responsible for threatening and defrauding U.S. consumers will be held to account.”

“Individuals who defraud American consumers will be brought to justice, no matter where they are located,” said U.S. Attorney Fajardo Orshan of the Southern District of Florida.  “Protecting the elderly and vulnerable members of our community from schemes, such as this one, is a top priority of this Office and the Department of Justice.”

“The U.S. Postal Inspection Service will continue to aggressively investigate and go after those who deprive citizens of their hard earned money through the use of threats and other abusive tactics.  The results of this investigation are an example of this determination and the dedicated partnership established with the Department of Justice’s Consumer Protection Branch,” said Inspector in Charge Antonio Gomez.

As part of their guilty pleas, Hidalgo, Hermoza, and Guerra admitted that they falsely posed as attorneys affiliated with U.S. courts and government agencies in threatening victims with fines, detention, confiscation of property, deportation, and community-service requirements to obtain payments from the victims.  U.S. consumers lost more than $1.5 million to the defendants’ fraud scheme. 

In addition to prison time, each defendant was also ordered to serve three years’ supervised release following their terms of incarceration and to make restitution payments to victims of their scheme.

Hidalgo, Hermoza, and Guerra managed and operated Peruvian call centers that, in partnership with an entity in Miami, Florida, used Internet-based telephone calls to lie to and threaten Spanish-speaking victims in the United States.  The callers often falsely accused the victims of having failed to accept delivery of certain products and claimed that the victims owed thousands of dollars in fines and that court proceedings would be brought against them.  In reality, the victims—many of whom were elderly—had never ordered or received the products.

The defendants and other call center employees claimed that the consumers could resolve the supposed debts and avoid threatened consequences if they immediately paid a “settlement fee.”  Consumers who contested the settlement fees were told that failure to pay could lead to harmed credit, arrest, deportation, or seizure of property.  

At Guerra’s June 2 sentencing, Judge Scola described the defendants’ crimes as a “very serious offense” and noted that they preyed on many vulnerable victims and caused lasting psychological and emotional damage to the victims of their scheme.  Judge Scola stated that a significant sentence was necessary to promote respect for the law and to deter others from engaging in similar conduct. 

In addition to Hidalgo, Hermoza, and Guerra, two other individuals previously were brought to justice in connection with this scheme.  In 2014, charges were brought against Angeluz and Maria Luzula of Miami and Juan Alejandro Rodriguez Cuya of Lima, Peru.  Luzula pleaded guilty to all counts against her midway through trial and was sentenced to 165 months in prison.  Rodriguez Cuya was convicted following a two-week trial.  U.S. District Court Judge Patricia A. Seitz sentenced Rodriguez Cuya to 210 months in prison.  With today’s sentencing by Judge Scola, all five defendants who have been charged in connection with this large-scale fraud and extortion scheme have now been sentenced to substantial terms of imprisonment.  

The case was prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Phil Toomajian and Joshua Rothman of the Department of Justice Civil Division’s Consumer Protection Branch.  U.S. Postal Inspection Service’s Miami Division investigated the case.  The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs of the department’s Criminal Division, the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Southern District of Florida, the Department of State Diplomatic Security Service, and the Peruvian National Police provided critical assistance. 

Since President Trump signed the bipartisan Elder Abuse Prevention and Prosecution Act (EAPPA) into law, the Department of Justice has participated in hundreds of enforcement actions in criminal and civil cases that targeted or disproportionately affected seniors.  In January 2020, the department designated “Preventing and Disrupting Transnational Elder Fraud” as an Agency Priority Goal, one of its top four priorities.  Later, in March 2020, the department announced the largest elder fraud enforcement action in American history, charging more than 400 defendants in a nationwide elder fraud sweep.  The department has likewise conducted hundreds of trainings and outreach sessions across the country since the passage of the Act. 

The department’s extensive and broad-based efforts to combat elder fraud seek to halt the billions of dollars senior lose to fraud schemes, including those perpetrated by transnational criminal organizations.  The best method for prevention, however, is by sharing information about the various types of elder fraud schemes with relatives, friends, neighbors, and other seniors who can use that information to protect themselves.

If you or someone you know is age 60 or older and has been a victim of financial fraud, help is standing by at the National Elder Fraud Hotline: 1-833-FRAUD-11 (1-833-372-8311).  This U.S. Department of Justice hotline, managed by the Office for Victims of Crime, is staffed by experienced professionals who provide personalized support to callers by assessing the needs of the victim, and identifying relevant next steps.  Case managers will identify appropriate reporting agencies, provide information to callers to assist them in reporting, connect callers directly with appropriate agencies, and provide resources and referrals, on a case-by-case basis.  Reporting is the first step.  Reporting can help authorities identify those who commit fraud and reporting certain financial losses due to fraud as soon as possible can increase the likelihood of recovering losses.  The hotline is staffed 7 days a week from 6:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. eastern time. English, Spanish and other languages are available.

For more information about the Consumer Protection Branch, visit its website at www.justice.gov/civil/consumer-protection-branch. 

A federal grand jury returned an indictment against one company and four individuals for their roles in a long-running conspiracy to fix prices, rig bids, and allocate markets for ready-mix concrete in the greater Savannah, Georgia area, the Department of Justice announced today.

The indictment, returned in the U.S. District Court in Savannah, charges Evans Concrete, LLC; James Clayton Pedrick; Gregory Hall Melton; John “David” Melton; and Timothy “Bo” Strickland with conspiring to fix prices, rig bids, and allocate markets for the sale of ready-mix concrete used in residential, commercial, and public projects.  Pedrick is also charged with making false statements, and Strickland is charged with making false statements and perjury.

“The charges continue the division’s efforts to prosecute those who cheat the American consumer by driving up prices of the building blocks of commercial enterprise in the United States,” said Assistant Attorney General Makan Delrahim of the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division.  “With support from our law enforcement partners, the Antitrust Division will hold accountable anyone who cheats the system by depriving customers of competitive pricing, as well as individuals who lie to investigating agents.”

“Activities related to illegal price-fixing, bid rigging, and market allocation do not promote an environment conducive to open competition.  When this occurs, the consumer is not guaranteed the best products at the lowest prices,” said Acting Special Agent in Charge Steven Stuller, U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General.  “The U.S. Postal Service spends hundreds of millions of dollars on new construction, maintenance, and renovation of U.S. Postal Service facilities that require concrete and other construction materials.  Along with the Department of Justice and our federal law enforcement partners, the USPS Office of Inspector General will aggressively investigate those who would engage in this type of harmful conduct.”

“The charges illustrate the FBI’s dedication and ongoing efforts with our partners to ensure that U.S. markets remain free and open,” said Acting Assistant Director in Charge, James A. Dawson, FBI Washington Field Office.  “The company and individuals charged all had an alleged role in a long-running conspiracy to fix prices and rig bids.  The FBI will continue to investigate those who try to cheat the system and profit at the expense of consumers.”

“The stability of our free market depends on fair play from competitors, and when competing companies collude and conspire to illegally enhance their profits, consumers and taxpayers are penalized with higher prices,” said U.S. Attorney Bobby L. Christine for the Southern District of Georgia.  “We applaud the actions of our law enforcement partners and the Department of Justice in helping to provide a level playing field for commerce in our district.”

Ready-mix concrete is a product comprised of ingredients including cement, aggregate (sand and gravel), water, and, at times, other additives.  It is made on demand and, if necessary, delivered to work sites by concrete mixer trucks.  Ready-mix concrete is purchased by do-it-yourself and commercial customers, as well as local, state, and federal governments, for use in various construction projects, including, but not limited to, sidewalks, driveways, bridges, tunnels, and roads.

According to the indictment, from as early as 2010 until approximately July 2016, the charged individuals, on behalf of their companies, participated in a conspiracy to fix prices, rig bids, and allocate markets for sales of ready-mix concrete.  The conspirators submitted rigged bids and accepted payments for ready-mix concrete sold through contracts and on projects that were affected by the alleged conspiracy.  In order to carry out the conspiracy, the conspirators used Pedrick as a conduit to exchange price-increase letters and other competitive information between the defendants and other co-conspirators for the purpose of coordinating price increases, rigging bids, and allocating jobs.

Timothy “Bo” Strickland was, at different times, owner, president, area manager, plant manager, and a salesperson for Evans.  Gregory Melton was division manager of ready-mix concrete sales, and James Clayton Pedrick was a cement salesman, for a co-conspirator company.  John David Melton was the general manager for another co-conspirator company.  All of the defendants worked in the Savannah area.

An indictment merely alleges that crimes have been committed, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

A violation of the Sherman Act carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $1 million fine for individuals and a $100 million fine for corporations.  The maximum fine for a Sherman Act charge may be increased to twice the gain derived from the crime or twice the loss suffered by the victims of the crime if either amount is greater than the statutory maximum fine.  The offenses of making false statements and perjury each carries a maximum penalty of 5 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

The charges stem from an ongoing investigation by the Antitrust Division’s Washington Criminal II Section, the United States Postal Service Office of Inspector General, and the FBI’s Washington Field Office, with the assistance of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Savannah, Georgia, and the Department of Transportation Office of the Inspector General.  Anyone with information concerning price fixing, bid rigging, or other anticompetitive conduct should contact the Antitrust Division’s Citizen Complaint Center at 1-888-647-3258 or visit www.justice.gov/atr/contact/newcase.html.

 

Indictment: U.S. v. Evans Concrete LLC, et al

On July 8, 2020, Attorney General William P. Barr announced the launch of Operation Legend, a sustained, systematic and coordinated law enforcement initiative in which federal law enforcement agencies work in conjunction with state and local law enforcement officials to fight violent crime. The initiative is named in honor of four-year-old LeGend Taliferro, who was shot and killed while he slept early in the morning of June 29 in Kansas City. 

Launched first in Kansas City, MO., on July 8, 2020, the operation was expanded to Chicago and Albuquerque on July 22, 2020, to Cleveland, Detroit, and Milwaukee on July 29, 2020, to St. Louis and Memphis on August 6, 2020, and to Indianapolis on August 14, 2020.

Since the operation’s launch, through Monday, August 31, 2020, more than 2000 arrests – included 147 for homicide – have been made; more than 544 firearms have been seized; and more than seven kilos of fentanyl, 14 kilos of heroin, 12 kilos of cocaine, and 50 kilos of methamphetamine have been seized.

Of those individuals arrested, 476 have been charged with federal offenses. 249 of those defendants have been charged with firearms offenses, while 185 have been charged with drug-related crimes. The remaining defendants have been charged with various offenses. The breakdown of federal charges is below.

Kansas City, MO.

99 defendants have been charged with federal crimes outlined below.

• 28 defendants have been charged with narcotics-related offenses;
• 60 defendants have been charged with firearms-related offenses; and
• 11 defendants have been charged with other violent crimes.

Chicago, Ill.

103 defendants have been charged with federal crimes outlined below.

• 27 defendants have been charged with narcotics-related offenses;
• 72 defendants have been charged with firearms-related offenses; and
• 4 defendants have been charged with other violent crimes.

Albuquerque, NM.

35 defendants have been charged with federal crimes outlined below.

• 15 defendants have been charged with narcotics-related offenses;
• 14 defendants have been charged with firearms-related offenses; and
• 6 defendants have been charged with other violent crimes.

Cleveland, OH.

54 defendants have been charged with federal crimes outlined below.

• 39 defendants have been charged with narcotics-related offenses;
• 13 defendants have been charged with firearms-related offenses; and
• 2 defendants have been charged with other violent crimes.

Detroit, MI.

41 defendants have been charged with federal offenses outlined below.  

• 17 defendants have been charged with narcotics-related offenses;
• 21 defendants have been charged with firearms-related offenses; and
• 3 defendants have been charged with other violent crimes.

Milwaukee, WI.

15 defendants have been charged with federal crimes outlined below.

• 2 defendants have been charged with narcotics-related offenses;
• 12 defendants have been charged with firearms-related offenses; and
• 1 defendant has been charged with other violent crimes.

St. Louis, MO.

89 defendants have been charged with federal crimes.

• 44 defendants have been charged with narcotics-related offenses;
• 37 defendants have been charged with firearms-related offenses; and
• 8 defendants have been charged with other violent crimes.

Memphis, Tenn.

14 defendants have been charged with federal offenses.

• 3 defendants have been charged with narcotics-related offenses;
• 8 defendants have been charged with firearms-related offenses; and
• 3 defendants have been charged with other violent crimes.

Indianapolis, Indiana

26 defendants have been charged with federal crimes outlined below.

• 10 defendants have been charged with narcotics-related offenses;
• 12 defendants have been charged with firearms-related offenses; and
• 4 defendants have been charged with other violent crimes.

Each weekday, the Department of Justice will highlight a case that has resulted from Operation Legend.  Today’s case is out of the Northern District of Ohio.  Operation Legend launched in Cleveland on July 29, 2020, in response to the city facing increased homicide and non-fatal shooting rates.

United States vs. Richard Woodard

“This defendant is alleged to have been associated with a heroin overdose, is accused of drug trafficking and was found in possession of multiple, loaded firearms at his home, often in the presence of a child,” said U.S. Attorney Justin Herdman for the Northern District of Ohio.  “This case is a great example of what Operation Legend was designed to do – identify those illegally in possession of a firearm, drugs, or otherwise committing acts of violence and get them out of our communities to protect innocent lives.”

Richard Woodard, 41, of Cleveland, Ohio, was charged on Aug. 7, 2020, with drug distribution and being a felon in possession of a firearm.

According to the criminal complaint, an FBI-led investigation into a heroin overdose death in the city of Cleveland led law enforcement to Woodard.  On Aug. 7, 2020, agents conducted surveillance of Woodard and observed him complete a heroin transaction.  Later that day, law enforcement arrested Woodard in a parking lot in Cleveland for the earlier transaction.  During a subsequent search warrant execution at Woodard’s apartment, law enforcement seized 60 grams of heroin, four firearms (three of which were loaded and in plain view), approximately $12,000, several boxes of ammunition, and multiple items commonly used to process and package illegal narcotics.

Because of a previous felony conviction punishable by more than one year in prison, Woodard is prohibited from possessing firearms.

The details contained in the charging document are allegations.  The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

Background on Operation Legend
President Trump promised to assist America’s cities that have been plagued by violence.  In July, Attorney General William P. Barr announced the launch of Operation Legend, a sustained, systematic and coordinated law enforcement initiative across all federal law enforcement agencies working in conjunction with state and local law enforcement officials to fight violent crime in cities across America that were experiencing an uptick in violence.  Operation Legend is named after four-year-old LeGend Taliferro, who was shot and killed on June 29th in Kansas City, Missouri, while asleep in his home.

Operation Legend was launched in Kansas City, Mo., on July 8, 2020, and expanded to Chicago and Albuquerque on July 22, 2020, to Cleveland, Detroit, and Milwaukee on July 29, 2020, to St. Louis and Memphis on Aug. 6, 2020, and to Indianapolis on Aug. 14, 2020.  As part of Operation Legend, Attorney General Barr has directed federal agents from the FBI, U.S. Marshals Service, DEA and ATF to surge resources into these cities to help state and local officials fight violent crime.  Since its inception, Operation Legend has yielded more than 2000 local, state, and federal arrests, with 476 defendants charged with federal crimes.

The Department of Justice issued today the Merger Remedies Manual, which provides a framework for the Antitrust Division to structure and implement appropriate relief that preserves competition in merger cases.  The Merger Remedies Manual updates the Antitrust Division’s 2004 Policy Guide to Merger Remedies.

“The modernized Merger Remedies Manual reflects our renewed focus on enforcing obligations in consent decrees and reaffirms the Division’s commitment to effective structural relief,” said Assistant Attorney General Makan Delrahim of the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division.  “It will provide greater transparency and predictability regarding the Division’s approach to remedying a proposed merger’s competitive harm.”

The Merger Remedies Manual is the first revision of the Antitrust Division’s remedies manual in nearly a decade and reflects important changes in the merger landscape over that time.  The modernized document includes new sections explaining the approach that the division takes with consummated transactions and upfront buyers.  In addition, the Merger Remedies Manual outlines certain “red flags” that in the division’s experience increase the risk that a remedy will not preserve competition effectively.  Finally, the manual reflects important principles implemented in recent Antitrust Division consent decrees, such as when it may be appropriate to name the divestiture buyer as a party to the consent decree or when it may be appropriate that the divestiture include assets beyond the overlapping relevant markets.

The manual reflects the key elements of the Division’s approach to merger remedies. 

Commitment to Effective Structural Relief.  The Merger Remedies Manual emphasizes that structural remedies are strongly preferred in horizontal and vertical merger cases because they are clean and certain, effective, and avoid ongoing government regulation of the market.  The manual also describes the limited circumstances in which conduct remedies may be appropriate: (1) to facilitate structural relief, or (2) if there are significant efficiencies that would be lost through a structural divestiture, if the conduct remedy would completely cure the competitive harm, and if it can be enforced effectively.

Renewed Focus on Enforcing Consent Decree Obligations.  The principles outlined in the Merger Remedies Manual describe how the Antitrust Division will ensure that consent decrees are fully implemented.  The manual describes several standard consent decree provisions designed to improve the effectiveness of consent decrees and the Antitrust Division’s ability to enforce them.  In addition, the Manual highlights the role of the newly created Office of Decree Enforcement and Compliance, which oversees the Antitrust Division’s decree compliance efforts. 

The Merger Remedies Manual also outlines the following key principles that apply to structuring and implementing remedies in all the Antitrust Division’s merger cases, both horizontal and vertical:

• Remedies must preserve competition.
• Remedies should not create ongoing government regulation of the market.
• Temporary relief should not be used to remedy persistent competitive harm.
• The remedy should preserve competition, not protect competitors.
• The risk of a failed remedy should fall on the merging parties, not on consumers.
• The remedy must be enforceable.

The Merger Remedies Manual is the culmination of a process first announced by Assistant Attorney General Delrahim in September 2018, when the division withdrew the 2011 Policy Guide to Merger Remedies and announced that the 2004 Policy Guide to Merger Remedies would be in effect pending the release of an updated policy.

Each weekday, the Department of Justice will highlight a case that has resulted from Operation Legend.  Today’s case is out of the Southern District of Indiana. Operation Legend launched in Indianapolis on Aug. 14, 2020 in response to the city facing record-breaking homicide and non-fatal shooting rates.  In just the first two weeks, the operation has already yielded impactful results; federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies have seized 49 guns and arrested 18 fugitives.  

United States vs. John Green

"The goal of Operation Legend is to provide neighborhoods where all the people of Indianapolis can safely live, work and raise their families," said U.S. Attorney Joshua Minkler for the Southern District of Indiana.  "Federal agents working with the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department to remove a trigger puller and his illegally possessed firearms from our streets moves all of us one step closer to that goal."

John Green was charged on Aug. 8, 2020, with unlawful possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, according to a criminal complaint filed in Federal Court in the Southern District of Indiana.  The Bureau of Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department (IMPD) led the investigation.

According to the criminal complaint, on Aug. 8, 2020, IMPD was dispatched to an incomplete call where a female claimed to be shot.  A witness described a black male wearing a black shirt and khaki pants shooting a firearm.  IMPD officers identified John Green a block away.  When the officers engaged him, Green advised that he did not have any firearms.  After Green was located, the witness further described Green shooting a rifle in the air in his front yard.  Authorities located two (2) spent rifle casings in Green’s front yard.  An evidence technician reported to the scene and collected the two (2) spent .223 casings.  The witness identified Green as the person shooting a rifle in the front yard while children were outside playing in the area.

IMPD advised Green that two (2) shell casings were found in his front yard and that a search warrant was being written for his residence.  When IMPD asked Green if any firearms would be located in the residence and Green replied “no.”

Subsequently, Green told IMPD officers that they would find a 9mm and AR-15 in his home.  A search warrant was obtained for Green’s residence and a Ruger AR-15 rifle and a Hi-Point 9mm were located inside.  The rifle was loaded and the round in the chamber matched the ammunition from the casings in the front yard.  Multiple additional rifle and pistol magazines were located in Green’s residence.

Because of a previous felony conviction punishable by more than one year in prison, Green is prohibited from possessing firearms.

The details contained in the charging document are allegations.  The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

Background on Operation Legend

President Trump promised to assist America’s cities that have been plagued by violence.  In July, Attorney General William P. Barr announced the launch of Operation Legend, a sustained, systematic and coordinated law enforcement initiative across all federal law enforcement agencies working in conjunction with state and local law enforcement officials to fight violent crime in cities across America that were experiencing an uptick in violence.  Operation Legend is named after four-year-old LeGend Taliferro, who was shot and killed on June 29th in Kansas City, Missouri while he slept in his home.

Operation Legend was launched in Kansas City, Mo., on July 8, 2020, and expanded to Chicago and Albuquerque on July 22, 2020, to Cleveland, Detroit, and Milwaukee on July 29, 2020, to St. Louis and Memphis on Aug. 6, 2020, and to Indianapolis on Aug. 14, 2020.  As part of Operation Legend, Attorney General Barr has directed federal agents from the FBI, U.S. Marshal Service, DEA and ATF to surge resources these cities to help state and local officials fighting violent crime.  Since its inception, Operation Legend has yielded close to 1500 local, state, and federal arrests.

In an order issued Tuesday, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California agreed with the Justice Department that John Sweeney and his company, Point Buckler Club LLC, committed “very serious” violations of the Clean Water Act associated with the construction of a nearly mile-long levee in sensitive tidal channels and marsh without a permit.

The violations occurred on Point Buckler Island, an island in the greater San Francisco Bay that Sweeney had purchased in 2011.  More particularly, Point Buckler Island is part of the Suisun Marsh, the largest contiguous brackish water marsh remaining on the west coast of North America.  The Island is located in a heavily utilized fish corridor and is critical habitat for several species of federally protected fish.

When Sweeney acquired the Island, nearly 40 acres of it supported and functioned as a tidal channel and tidal marsh wetlands system.  As the court found, at that time Sweeney knew that Solano County, California, had zoned it as “Marsh Land.”  Sweeney had also, by that time, sought and obtained a Clean Water Act permit for activities in other areas of the Suisun Marsh.

Beginning in 2014, without a permit, Sweeney excavated and dumped thousands of cubic yards of soil directly into the Island’s tidal channels and marsh.  This unlawful conduct, the court found, eliminated tidal exchange, harmed aquatic habitat, and adversely impacted water quality.  The court noted that the Island’s waters are “extremely acidic and saline.”

As the court’s order provides, further proceedings will be conducted to determine the appropriate remedy.   

“We are pleased the court agreed that defendants committed serious Clean Water Act violations,” said Jonathan D. Brightbill, Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division.  “Point Buckler Island is part of a vital tidal marsh ecosystem, and the court’s decision serves to protect that.  We look forward to the next phase of this important case.”   

“We applaud the trial court’s decision to hold the defendants liable for their violations of the Clean Water Act, which resulted in serious damage and destruction to nearly 30 acres of tidal marsh located in the greater San Francisco Bay,” said Susan Bodine, Assistant Administrator for the Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance.

The case is styled United States of America v. John Donnelly Sweeney and Point Buckler Club, LLC, No. 2:17-cv-00112-KJM-KJN (E.D. Cal.).  The court’s decision is available through the court’s website, www.caed.uscourts.gov. 

The year 2020 marks the 150th anniversary of the Department of Justice.  Learn more about the history of our agency at www.Justice.gov/Celebrating150Years.

Today, Assistant Attorney General Makan Delrahim signed a new competition enforcement framework between the Department of Justice (DOJ), the Federal Trade Commission, and competition agencies in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. 

The Multilateral Mutual Assistance and Cooperation Framework for Competition Authorities (Framework) aims to strengthen cooperation between the signatories, and provides the basis for a series of bilateral agreements among them focused on investigative assistance, including sharing confidential information and cross-border evidence gathering.

Building on the antitrust agencies’ existing cooperation arrangements, the Framework includes a memorandum of understanding designed to reinforce and improve existing case coordination and collaboration tools among the agencies, and a model agreement. The model agreement is expected to serve as a template for subsequent agreements among signatories that would permit enhanced cooperation in both criminal and civil non-HSR matters.  The framework recognizes that signatories will use best efforts to negotiate and implement bilateral agreements with one another based on the model agreement.

“The Framework sets a new standard for enforcement cooperation, strengthening our tools for international assistance and evidence gathering in the increasingly digital and global economy,” said Assistant Attorney General Delrahim. “We hope that it will provide a model for agencies around the world interested in enhancing international cooperation. DOJ looks forward to continuing this important work through the negotiation of the bilateral agreements contemplated in the Framework.”

Joining Assistant Attorney General Delrahim in signing the Framework were Chairman Joe Simons of the Federal Trade Commission, Chairman Rod Sims of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, Commissioner of Competition Matthew Boswell of Competition Bureau Canada, Chair Anna Rawlings of the New Zealand Commerce Commission, and Chief Executive Andrea Coscelli of the United Kingdom Competition and Markets Authority.  Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the agreement was signed separately in each jurisdiction in near-simultaneous fashion, allowing the agencies to come together virtually to reaffirm the importance of international cooperation even in these extraordinary times.  

The U.S. antitrust agencies are authorized to enter into such agreements under the International Antitrust Enforcement Assistance Act of 1994 (IAEAA), and the U.S. agencies already have an IAEAA agreement with Australia from 1999. 

The Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation today announced key reforms that will empower the FBI to build a more robust internal compliance program and that will ensure, among other things, the accuracy of FISA applications, as well as the active oversight of applications targeting federal elected officials, candidates for federal elected office, and their staffs.

“Today, the Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation press forward with Foreign Intelligence Surveillance reforms.  In consultation with FBI Director Wray, I issued two memoranda — one that authorizes the establishment of an FBI Office of Internal Auditing and directs the FBI to undertake aggressive compliance measures, and the other that establishes protocols to ensure the accuracy of FISA applications and the effective oversight of any surveillance applications targeting elected officials and political campaigns,” said Attorney General William P. Barr.  “FISA is a critical tool to ensuring the safety and security of Americans, particularly when it comes to fighting terrorism.  However, the American people must have confidence that the United States Government will exercise its surveillance authorities in a manner that protects the civil liberties of Americans, avoids interference in the political process, and complies with the Constitution and laws of the United States.  What happened to the Trump presidential campaign and his subsequent Administration after the President was duly elected by the American people must never happen again.”

“Since the Inspector General’s Crossfire Hurricane report was issued last December, I have made clear that it describes conduct that was unacceptable and unrepresentative of the FBI as an organization” said FBI Director Christopher Wray.  “That’s why I immediately ordered more than 40 corrective actions, including foundational FISA reforms, many of which went beyond those recommended by the Inspector General.  The FBI has been working diligently to implement these corrective actions.  The additional reforms announced today, which we worked on closely with the Attorney General’s office, will build on the FBI’s efforts to bolster its compliance program.  FISA is an indispensable tool that the FBI uses to protect our country from national security threats, and Americans can rest assured that the FBI remains dedicated to continuously strengthening our FISA compliance efforts and ensuring that our FISA authorities are exercised in a responsible manner.”

The first memorandum issued by the Attorney General is entitled Augmenting the Internal Compliance Functions of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.  This memorandum makes significant improvements to the FBI’s internal compliance program.  It authorizes the establishment of the Office of Internal Auditing to overcome a gap in auditing capability at the FBI and requires the development of compliance and oversight mechanisms, training, and internal controls to ensure the FBI’s compliance with applicable statutes, policies, procedures, and court orders that govern the FBI’s national security activities.  The reforms also require the FBI to perform robust auditing functions, including, for example, routine audits of the FBI’s use of National Security Letters, compliance with the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), and adherence to FISA’s minimization, targeting, and querying procedures.

The second memorandum is entitled Supplemental Reforms to Enhance Compliance, Oversight, and Accountability with Respect to Certain Foreign Intelligence Activities of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.  The supplemental reforms in this memorandum build on the corrective measures undertaken by the FBI Director in his response to the December 2019 report of the Department of Justice Inspector General entitled Review of Four FISA Applications and Other Aspects of the FBI’s Crossfire Hurricane Investigation.  These reforms are designed to ensure the accuracy and completeness of FISA applications targeting U.S. persons.  The reforms also include oversight protocols to ensure that any use of FISA to surveil federal elected officials, candidates for federal elected office, or their advisors or staff is justified, non-partisan, and based on full and complete information.  Finally, the memorandum requires the FBI to develop procedures to prevent United States persons from becoming unwitting participants in malign influence operations by foreign powers and to review its disciplinary policies and procedures to ensure appropriate disciplinary action for those who knowingly misrepresent facts to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court.

Each weekday, the Department of Justice will highlight a case that has resulted from Operation Legend. Today’s case is out of the District of New Mexico. Operation Legend was launched in Albuquerque on July 22, 2020, in response to the city facing a record-breaking homicide rate.
 

United States vs. Manuel A. Chavira

“Cases like this one are what Operation Legend is all about.  The violent and unprovoked actions described in the complaint contribute to the growing perception that Albuquerque is a dangerous city in which violent crime continues unchecked and out of control,” said U.S. Attorney John C. Anderson for the District of New Mexico.  “Operation Legend sends a strong message that federal law enforcement, working in concert with their state and local partners, will not stand idly by while the residents of Albuquerque live in fear of falling victim to senseless violence.  I commend the FBI and the New Mexico State Police for their seamless investigation and diligent pursuit of this defendant.”

Manuel A. Chavira, 25, was charged on Aug. 3, 2020, with carjacking and discharging a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence according to a criminal complaint filed in the U.S. District Court of New Mexico.  The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and New Mexico State Police Department (NMSP) launched an investigation and search for Chavira. Chavira surrendered in Las Cruces, New Mexico, on Aug. 20, 2020.

According to the criminal complaint, on July 18, 2020, Chavira approached two female victims who were in their vehicle in the parking lot of a church at the San Jose De Armijo Cemetery in the South East area of Albuquerque.  Chavira initially asked if he could charge his phone in the vehicle. As the phone would not charge, he asked to borrow the driver’s phone, ostensibly to find a tow truck for his vehicle.  The driver complied, and he used the phone to make a number of calls.

After the driver exited her vehicle to remove a sweater from her trunk, however, Chavira brandished a firearm and told her that he needed to take her vehicle.  The passenger protested, but the driver removed her keys from the ignition to give them to Chavira.  Chavira reportedly then racked the slide on the firearm, an indication that he had chambered a round of ammunition.  Chavira then pointed the firearm, shouting, “Do you want me to shoot her?  Do you want me to shoot her?”  Both victims fled, at which point they heard gunshots being fired. 

The victims described the firearm as black and possibly .22 or .25 caliber.  The victims were able to identify Chavira from photos as the suspect.  Chavira left the scene driving the victims’ blue 2019 Honda Civic SI. 

Background on Operation Legend

President Trump promised to assist America’s cities that have been plagued by violence.  In July, Attorney General William P. Barr announced the launch of Operation Legend, a sustained, systematic and coordinated law enforcement initiative across all federal law enforcement agencies working in conjunction with state and local law enforcement officials to fight violent crime in cities across America that were experiencing an uptick in violence. Operation Legend is named after four-year-old LeGend Taliferro, who was shot and killed on June 29th in Kansas City, Missouri while he slept in his home.

Since Operation Legend’s launch in Kansas City, Mo., on July 8, 2020, it has expanded to Chicago and Albuquerque on July 22, 2020, to Cleveland, Detroit, and Milwaukee on July 29, 2020, to St. Louis and Memphis on Aug. 6, 2020, and to Indianapolis on Aug. 14, 2020, As part of Operation Legend, Attorney General Barr has directed federal agents from the FBI, U.S. Marshal Service, DEA and ATF to surge resources these cities to help state and local officials fighting violent crime.  Since its inception, Operation Legend has yielded close to 1500 local, state, and federal arrests.

Four individuals responsible for mass-mailing fraud schemes were charged with allegedly defrauding thousands of elderly and vulnerable victims, the department announced today.  Two U.S. individuals and two Canadian individuals were charged for their roles in operating the schemes, which collectively caused tens of millions of dollars in victim losses.  Two defendants were charged in the Eastern District of New York and two defendants were charged in the District of Nevada.

“Fraud schemes are intolerable, especially those that harm our nation’s seniors,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Ethan P. Davis of the Department of Justice’s Civil Division.  “As Attorney General Barr made clear earlier this year when he announced record results in the 2020 Elder Fraud Sweep, the Department of Justice is committed to protecting seniors.  These two cases illustrate that the Civil Division’s Consumer Protection Branch, together with partners at the Postal Inspection Service, will not stop until the scourge of elder fraud is defeated.” 

“These charges demonstrate the Postal Inspection Service will relentlessly pursue these fraudulent schemes until they no longer arrive in your mailbox,” said Deputy Chief Inspector Craig Goldberg of the Postal Inspection Service.  “Prize notices like these are mailed in an attempt to trick our elderly and vulnerable Americans, while the perpetrators attempt to hide their involvement around the corner or around the globe.  We are committed, with the Department of Justice, to protect our older Americans.”

“These individuals mailed their fraudulent prize promotions to victims in blatant defiance of prior Postal Service consent orders and agreements that prohibited them from doing so.  The fact that many of the victims were elderly and vulnerable makes the defendants’ conduct particularly egregious.  The Postal Inspection Service will continue its efforts to protect the public from fraud schemes and bring the perpetrators of those schemes to justice,” said Inspector in Charge Philip R. Bartlett.

 Two Long-Island Residents Indicted for Multi-Million Dollar Elder Fraud Scheme

An indictment unsealed today charges Long Island residents Sean Novis, 50, and Gary Denkberg, 57, with conspiracy to commit mail fraud and multiple mail fraud and wire fraud counts for running a fraudulent mass-mailing scheme that tricked thousands of consumers into paying fees for falsely promised prizes.  Novis and Denkberg made their initial appearances in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York after they were arrested by United States Postal Inspectors Monday morning.

The indictment alleges that, from January 2003 to September 2016, the defendants mailed hundreds of thousands of prize notices that represented that victims were specially chosen to receive a large cash prize and would receive the prize if they paid a small fee.  Victims who paid the requested fee, however, did not receive the promised cash prize.  Although the notices appeared to be personalized correspondence, they were merely mass-produced, boilerplate documents that were bulk mailed to recipients whose names and addresses were on mailing lists.

According to the indictment, Novis and Denkberg continued to operate their fraudulent mass-mailing scheme in violation of United States Postal Service cease-and-desist agreements and consent orders that they agreed to in 2012.  The agreements and orders had permanently barred the defendants from mailing fraudulent prize notices.

Each charge in this case carries a statutory maximum sentence of twenty years in prison, and a statutory maximum fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or gross loss from the offense.

The United States Postal Inspection Service investigated the case.  The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Artie DeCastro and Daniel Zytnick of the Department of Justice Civil Division’s Consumer Protection Branch.  The Consumer Protection Branch thanks  the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York for its assistance in this case.

Canadian Nationals Charged For Long-Running Elder Fraud Schemes

In a separate indictment filed on August 5 in the District of Nevada, Canadian nationals Alex Quaglia and Patrick Fraser were charged with mail fraud and conspiracy to commit mail fraud in connection with schemes to defraud consumers by sending deceptive mailing pieces that falsely promised large cash prizes in exchange for payment of a fee.  Many of the victims were elderly.  The solicitations were sent using fictitious names and were designed to deceive recipients into believing that they had won hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars.  To claim their winnings recipients were directed to pay a small fee.  In fact, there was no cash prize sent to victims, and Quaglia, Fraser and their co-conspirators pocketed the money sent by victims.

“As alleged in the indictment, victims in Nevada, across the country, and around the world were defrauded of money in connection with the defendants’ schemes,” said U.S. Attorney Nicholas A. Trutanich for the District of Nevada. “Working with our Postal Inspectors and other law enforcement partners, we will identify, investigate, and prosecute criminals – both foreign and domestic – who prey on our seniors and other vulnerable Nevada residents. These fraud schemes can happen to anyone.”

The scheme allegedly caused millions of dollars in losses to thousands of victims.  Quaglia was charged with one conspiracy to commit mail fraud count and seven counts of mail fraud.  Quaglia’s scheme is alleged to have begun as early as 2000.  Fraser was charged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud with Quaglia and with a separate conspiracy charge related to a similar scheme he orchestrated after breaking away from Quaglia’s operation in 2015.  Fraser was also charged with six counts of mail fraud.  Each charge of the indictment carries a statutory maximum sentence of twenty years in prison along with a statutory maximum fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or gross loss from the offense.

The United States Postal Inspection Service investigated the case.  The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Matt Lash and Yolanda McCray Jones of the Department of Justice Civil Division’s Consumer Protection Branch with substantial assistance from Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicholas Dickinson from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Nevada.  The Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs has also provided critical support.

An indictment is an accusation by a federal grand jury and is not evidence of guilt.  The defendant should be presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

Since President Trump signed the bipartisan Elder Abuse Prevention and Prosecution Act (EAPPA) into law, the Department of Justice has participated in hundreds of enforcement actions in criminal and civil cases that targeted or disproportionately affected seniors.  In particular, in March 2020, the department announced the largest elder fraud enforcement action in American history, charging more than 400 defendants in a nationwide elder fraud sweep.  The department has likewise conducted hundreds of trainings and outreach sessions across the country since the passage of the Act. 

If you or someone you know is age 60 or older and has been a victim of financial fraud, help is standing by at the National Elder Fraud Hotline: 1-833-FRAUD-11 (1-833-372-8311).  This U.S. Department of Justice hotline, managed by the Office for Victims of Crime, is staffed by experienced professionals who provide personalized support to callers by assessing the needs of the victim and identifying relevant next steps.  Case managers will identify appropriate reporting agencies, provide information to callers to assist them in reporting, connect callers directly with appropriate agencies, and provide resources and referrals, on a case-by-case basis.  Reporting is the first step.  Reporting can help authorities identify those who commit fraud and reporting certain financial losses due to fraud as soon as possible can increase the likelihood of recovering losses.  The hotline is staffed 7 days a week from 6:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. eastern time.  English, Spanish and other languages are available.

For more information about the Consumer Protection Branch, visit its website at www.justice.gov/civil/consumer-protection-branch.  For more information about the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices for the Eastern District of New York and District of Nevada visit their websites at www.justice.gov/usao-edny and www.justice.gov/usao-nv.

Attorney General William P. Barr joined President Trump today in a visit to Kenosha, Wisconsin, where the President announced $41 million in grant awards to the state of Wisconsin and local jurisdictions within the state to address a surge in community violence and ongoing civil unrest. Awards will support community-based crime-fighting initiatives, local victim service programs, and the hiring and training of law enforcement officers and prosecutors.

“Thanks to the efforts of federal law enforcement and the National Guard, working closely with our state and local partners, the streets of Kenosha have been restored from violent agitators who have abused their First Amendment rights to frighten citizens and fan the flames of disorder,” said Attorney General Barr. “As President Trump made abundantly clear today, this lawless behavior will not be allowed to stand and the federal government will provide the necessary resources to help state and local police officers who have worked hard to maintain peace and keep violence at bay. Today’s grant money will help to bolster community-based crime-fighting initiatives and provide much needed support to victims affected by the recent violence.”

President Trump and Attorney General Barr toured the city, meeting with local officials and community members to express their concern for those affected by the unrest. The President issued a stern warning to lawbreakers, saying that there would be no tolerance for violence and anarchy in this or any other city.

The grants announced today, from the Department’s Office of Justice Programs and Office of Community Oriented Policing Services, will support proven violence reduction efforts like Project Safe Neighborhoods, which enables federal, state and local agencies to coordinate enforcement activities in collaboration with community organizations. Grants will also help to hire police officers and prosecutors while allowing them to focus resources on the extraordinary public safety challenges their communities are facing. Funds will also support local organizations that provide services and support to victims affected by the recent violence and unrest.

The Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division announced today that it is seeking public comments into whether the division should revise the 1995 Bank Merger Competitive Review guidelines (“Banking Guidelines”) to reflect emerging trends in the banking and financial services sector and modernize its approach to bank merger review under the antitrust laws. Today’s announcement is part-and-parcel of the division’s broader efforts and increased focus on protecting competition in the financial markets and follows the recent remarks and announcement by Assistant Attorney General for the Antitrust Division Makan Delrahim, concerning the realignment of commodities at the division.

“Innovative emerging technologies are disrupting traditional banking models and introducing new competitive elements to the financial sector,” said Assistant Attorney General Makan Delrahim.  “As part of the division’s increased attention to modernizing our competitive analysis of financial services markets, we are examining whether the 1995 Banking Guidelines need updating to reflect our evolving economy.”

The federal antitrust laws generally apply to financial institutions in the same way as to other economic sectors.  Special procedures, however, apply to the competitive review of bank mergers.  The relevant bank regulatory agency must approve any bank merger application following a concurrent competitive review conducted by the division.  Historically, the initial review of the large number of bank merger applications received annually by the division is done through a review process based on the Banking Guidelines using market shares, market concentration thresholds, and other market facts and conditions.  The purpose of this process is to identify proposed mergers that do not have significantly adverse effects on competition and to allow them to proceed quickly.  If a bank merger application raises potential competitive concerns, the division may open an investigation. In investigating the competitive effects of bank transactions, the Division applies the same federal antitrust laws and antitrust analysis that it applies to other industries, including the analytical framework set forth in the Department of Justice’s Horizontal Merger Guidelines.  As set forth in the Federal Reserve and the division’s 2014 Frequently Asked Questions, the division’s review of bank mergers is “independent” from review by the Federal Reserve (and other bank regulators) and “a transaction that meets the Federal Reserve’s HHI delegation threshold still may raise concern in the division’s review.”

Although the division and the Federal Trade Commission revised their Horizontal Merger Guidelines in 2010, the Banking Guidelines have remained virtually unchanged since 1995.

PUBLIC COMMENTS

As part of its review, the division invites interested persons, including banks, other financial institutions, and industry stakeholders, to provide the division with information or comments relevant to whether the division should revise the Banking Guidelines or change the way it analyzes bank mergers to reflect modern trends in financial services and banking competition.  In particular, the division seeks public comments on the issues found in the Antitrust Division Banking Guidelines Review - Public Comments Topics & Issues Guide.  The division has and will continue to consult with the Federal Reserve and other banking agencies and will review and consider public comments before deciding on the most appropriate course of action.

Antitrust Division Banking Guidelines Review – Public Comments Topics & Issues Guide

Comments on the Banking Guidelines can be emailed to ATR.BankMergers@usdoj.gov and must be received no later than October 16, 2020.*

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* The original version of this release stated the public comment period ended on October 1, 2020. The original 30 day comment period is now extended to 45 days.

 

 

Acting Assistant Attorney General Ethan P. Davis of the Department of Justice’s Civil Division announced his departure from the Department today, effective Sept. 7, 2020.  Assistant Attorney General Jeffrey Bossert Clark of the Environment and Natural Resources Division will replace Mr. Davis.

“I want to thank Ethan for stepping up and leading the Civil Division these last few months,” said Attorney General William P. Barr.  “Ethan is an outstanding lawyer – his work has been integral to the Civil Division’s successes over the past few years and I know his talents and leadership will be sorely missed.  I also want to thank Jeff Clark, who has done a fantastic job leading the Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division, for stepping in to lead the Civil Division after Ethan’s departure.”

“I am honored and humbled to have served alongside the dedicated lawyers and staff in the Civil Division,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Ethan P. Davis.  “Many of the most talented people in the federal government work in the Civil Division, and I am grateful to Attorney General Barr for giving me the opportunity to serve.”

Mr. Davis joined the Civil Division in 2017 as the Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the Consumer Protection Branch, where he oversaw civil and criminal enforcement actions designed to combat the opioid crisis and fraud on elderly Americans.  Mr. Davis also served on the Deputy Attorney General’s Corporate Enforcement Working Group, which developed and implemented several significant policy reforms.  After a year clerking for Justice Neil Gorsuch on the Supreme Court, he returned to the Justice Department as the Civil Division’s Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General, and later the Acting Assistant Attorney General.  In those roles, he supervised the Division’s civil defensive work, as well as implementation of the Division’s corporate enforcement policies, including the voluntary disclosure, cooperation, and remediation policies.

Under Acting Assistant Attorney General Davis’s leadership, the Civil Division has used every enforcement tool available to prevent wrongdoers from exploiting the COVID-19 crisis.  In particular, Mr. Davis focused on the use of the False Claims Act (FCA) to address fraud and other illegal activity related to the COVID-19 stimulus programs, including the Paycheck Protection Program, the Main Street Credit Facility, and the provider relief fund.  Mr. Davis also prioritized enforcement of the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FDCA) against fraudulent COVID-19 tests, treatments, purported cures, and other products.  For example, in August 2020, the Civil Division, working with agency partners and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida, obtained a Temporary Restraining Order against a defendant that operated hundreds of websites that fraudulently purported to sell products that became scarce during the pandemic, including hand sanitizer and disinfectant wipes. 

During Mr. Davis’s tenure, the Civil Division also fought the opioid epidemic through actions under the FCA, the FDCA, and the Controlled Substances Act.  The Civil Division pursued criminal and civil investigations into pharmaceutical companies, pharmacies, health care providers, and other entities for alleged unlawful activity related to the opioid crisis.  In one matter, for example, the Civil Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Vermont reached a $145 million resolution with an electronic health records company for soliciting and receiving kickbacks from a major opioid company.

Additionally, under Mr. Davis’s leadership, the Civil Division also took aggressive steps to combat fraud on elderly Americans.  The Civil Division prioritized using the FCA to pursue nursing homes that provide substandard care to residents, as well as other statutes against individuals and companies that use fraudulent robocalls to prey on American seniors.  In August 2020, for example, the Civil Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York successfully secured a permanent injunction barring two individuals and two companies that transmitted massive volumes of fraudulent robocalls from conveying any telephone calls into the U.S. telephone system.

The United States announced today that Indianapolis Power & Light Company (IPL) has agreed to resolve alleged violations of the Clean Air Act and Indiana law by undertaking measures to improve its environmental compliance at the Petersburg Generating Station, in Pike County, Indiana.  The State of Indiana is also a party to today’s agreement.

The settlement agreement resolves the claims under the Clean Air Act and related Indiana laws that the United States and Indiana have alleged against IPL in the complaint filed today in federal district court for the Southern District of Indiana.

The agreement, which is memorialized in a consent decree lodged today in the district court, requires IPL to reduce its plant’s emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx), sulfur dioxide (SO2), particulate matter (PM) and sulfuric acid mist (H2SO4).  IPL will install a pollution control device known as a Selective Non-Catalytic Reduction System (SNCR) on one of the plant’s coal-fired units, upgrade its sulfuric acid mitigation system, and continually operate all of its pollution control equipment to meet levels that will achieve reductions in NOx, SO2, PM and H2SO4 emissions.  

The agreement recognizes that IPL may permanently retire two of its Petersburg units earlier than it had planned.  Retirement of those units would result in emission reductions significantly greater than any reductions achieved by installing and operating the SNCR.  Thus, IPL may forego installing that control device if it in fact retires the two units prior to July 1, 2023, the deadline under the consent decree by which IPL must install the SNCR.

Further, IPL will pay a total civil penalty of $1.525 million, of which $925,000 will go to the United States and $600,000 to the State of Indiana.

“The citizens of Indiana will breathe cleaner air, thanks to IPL’s agreement to significantly decrease its excess emissions,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Jonathan D. Brightbill for the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division.  “We are pleased that our Indiana State counterparts have worked closely with our federal team to achieve this favorable result for the environment.”

“Working together with our state partners, EPA is helping to make the air cleaner in Indiana,” said EPA Region 5 Administrator Kurt Thiede.  “This agreement will significantly reduce excess emissions of harmful air pollutants to protect public health and our environment.”

“Clean air is vital to Hoosiers’ long-term health, and IPL’s commitment to reducing the emissions from its Petersburg Generating Station is an environmentally conscious step in the right direction,” said Curtis Hill, Attorney General of Indiana.

Under the agreement, IPL will also undertake a project costing $5 million to mitigate the harm to the environment caused by the plant’s excess emissions over the years.  IPL will submit a proposal to EPA and the State to construct and operate a system that will provide a new, non-emitting source of power at an on-site location known as the auxiliary electrical unit.  The new source of power is expected to reduce emissions of SO2, NOx and PM from that unit. 

In addition, at the request of Indiana, IPL will expend $325,000 to undertake a state-only environmentally beneficial project designed to restore and preserve some ecologically significant parcels of land near the plant.

Today’s settlement is subject to a 30-day public comment period following notification in the Federal Register and to final approval by the court.  To view the consent decree or to submit a comment, visit the Department’s website at: www.justice.gov/enrd/Consent_Decrees.html.

For more information on this settlement: https://www.epa.gov/enforcement/indianapolis-power-light-settlement-information-sheet.

Each weekday, the Department of Justice will highlight a case that has resulted from Operation Legend. Today’s case is out of the Western District of Missouri – the district where the Department of Justice launched Operation Legend, in honor of four-year-old LeGend Taliferro who was shot while he slept in his home in Kansas City, Missouri. Since its inception, Operation Legend has yielded close to 1,500 federal, state, and local arrests.

United States vs. Michael D. Moore and Jamahl D. Jones

“Operation Legend is successfully taking armed, violent criminals like these off the street to make our neighborhoods safer,” U.S. Attorney Tim Garrison said. “It is also important to note that these successes are only possible in great part to the collaborative partnership between federal, state and local law enforcement agencies in support of this initiative.”

Michael D. Moore, 30, and Jamahl D. Jones, 33, each were charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm in a two-count criminal complaint filed in the U.S. District Court in Kansas City, Mo. Both were arrested on Monday, Aug. 17, following a brief standoff and foot chase. Officers who had been surveilling Moore followed him into a parking lot in order to arrest him on an outstanding felony arrest warrant for robbery and armed criminal action. As officers drove into the parking lot with their red and blue lights flashing, Moore got out of the BMW SUV, took cover behind the vehicle, and drew a Smith and Wesson 9mm handgun from his waistband. Moore pointed his firearm directly at police officers as he attempted to take a position of cover behind his vehicle. Moore fled as additional police cars entered the parking lot, throwing away his handgun. Moore then laid on the ground about 15 feet away from the firearm, and was taken into custody. Officers recovered the firearm, which was loaded with 16 live rounds in the 16-round high-capacity magazine and one live round in the chamber. Officers identified the firearm as having been reported stolen.

Jones, who was standing beside the vehicle as officers approached, was also detained. Officers found marijuana in Jones’s front shorts pocket. Inside the vehicle, officers found a Sadarius 9mm semi-automatic handgun, which contained a magazine and 16 live rounds of ammunition with a live round in the chamber. Officers also found a box that contained 18 live rounds of 9mm ammunition, a 9mm handgun magazine, and a small safe that contained a 9mm handgun magazine and approximately 123 grams of marijuana.

According to an affidavit filed in support of the criminal complaint, Moore was involved in two armed robberies that led to the issuance of the arrest warrant and surveillance.

The victim of an armed robbery on July 1, 2020, told police officers that Moore, his brother-in-law, is an organizer for the “Honk for Peace” group that typically assembles at local intersections. Moore invited the victim to join one assembly. When the victim arrived with another person as a passenger in his vehicle, he contacted Moore, who directed him to drive across the street to meet him. After parking his vehicle, the victim told officers, two unknown men approached the passenger side door and Moore got into the rear passenger seat. Moore allegedly put a Taurus .40-caliber handgun against the left side of the victim’s head and ordered him to “give me everything.” One of the other men leaned inside the window and began going into the passenger’s pockets as Moore did the same. Moore removed $407 from the victim’s pants pocket, the affidavit says, and grabbed a pink backpack that contained a .40-caliber handgun.

On July 21, 2020, Moore allegedly approached another victim who was putting oil in his car outside a gas station in Kansas City, Mo. Moore allegedly approached him with a gun and ordered him to “empty your pockets.” Moore and another man stole approximately $140 and fled the scene.

Moore was later identified through surveillance photos at the gas station, the affidavit says. 

On July 29, 2020, police officers stopped a BMW SUV that also was captured in the gas station surveillance photos. Jones, the only occupant of the vehicle, was arrested. Officers found a Masterpiece Arms 9mm pistol with a high-capacity extended magazine inside the vehicle, as well as 146 grams of marijuana packaged in multiple individual baggies in the driver’s side floorboard.

Under federal law, it is illegal for anyone who has been convicted of a felony to be in possession of any firearm or ammunition. Moore has a prior felony conviction for robbery. Jones has two prior felony convictions for burglary, and prior felony convictions for theft, tampering with an airplane/motor boat, possession of a controlled substance, and tampering with a motor vehicle.

The charges contained in this complaint are simply accusations, and not evidence of guilt. Evidence supporting the charges must be presented to a federal trial jury, whose duty is to determine guilt or innocence.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Moeder. It was investigated by the Kansas City, Mo., Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Background on Operation Legend

President Trump promised to assist America’s cities that have been plagued by violence. In July, Attorney General William P. Barr announced the launch of Operation Legend, a sustained, systematic and coordinated law enforcement initiative across all federal law enforcement agencies working in conjunction with state and local law enforcement officials to fight violent crime in cities across America that were experiencing an uptick in violence. Operation Legend is named after four-year-old LeGend Taliferro, who was shot and killed on June 29th in Kansas City, Missouri while he slept in his home. Kansas City, Mo., has experienced a 40 percent increase in homicides from last year.

Since Operation Legend’s launch in Kansas City, Mo., on July 8, 2020, it has expanded to Chicago and Albuquerque on July 22, 2020, to Cleveland, Detroit, and Milwaukee on July 29, 2020, to St. Louis and Memphis on Aug. 6, 2020, and to Indianapolis on Aug. 14, 2020. As part of Operation Legend, Attorney General Barr has directed federal agents from the FBI, U.S. Marshal Service, DEA and ATF to surge resources these cities to help state and local officials fighting violent crime. Since its inception, Operation Legend has yielded close to 1500 local, state, and federal arrests.

Attorney General William P. Barr issued the following statement on the Ninth Circuit's stay in Index Newspapers LLC, et al v. United States Marshals Service, et al:

“Last night, the U.S. Court of Appeals for Ninth Circuit entered an order temporarily blocking an injunction entered by a federal district court in Portland that imposed extensive but vaguely defined constraints on federal law enforcement personnel striving to protect the federal courthouse and surrounding areas in Portland from destruction.  In practical effect, the district court’s order prevented the federal government from effectively addressing violent mobs through the general crowd-control measures that are required, and it unacceptably increased the risk of serious injury to federal law enforcement officers.  The Ninth Circuit’s decision is an important step that will allow federal officers to continue carrying out their important security responsibilities without being subject to untenable conditions.

As the Department of Justice explained in our briefing, federal officers in Portland – like law enforcement in other parts of the country – have confronted aggressive mob violence.  Behind the veil of “protests,” highly organized violent operators have carried out direct attacks on federal personnel and property, particularly the federal courthouse in Portland.  Shielded by the crowds, which make it difficult for law enforcement to detect or reach them, violent opportunists in Portland have attacked the courthouse and federal officers with explosives, lasers, projectiles, and other dangerous devices.  In some cases, purported “journalists” or “legal observers” have provided cover for the violent offenders; in others, individuals wearing supposed press badges have themselves attacked law enforcement or trespassed on federal property.  More than 200 federal officers have been injured in Portland alone.

The Portland city government has the ability to stop this.  Instead, the city government has abetted the violence through action and inaction, neutered the ability of the police department to deal with the mobs, impeded the ability of police to coordinate with federal law enforcement, and refused to pursue charges against the rioters.  By contrast, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Portland has charged 74 people with federal crimes arising from the Portland riots, including arson, assaulting federal officers, and destruction of federal property.  The message should be unmistakable:  The First Amendment protects the rights to speak and assemble, but not to attack people or property.  The Department of Justice will continue to fully and fairly enforce federal law against these violent rioters.”

Department of Justice Spokesperson Kerri Kupec has issued the following statement:

“Today, Keith Dwayne Nelson was executed at U.S. Penitentiary Terre Haute in accordance with the capital sentence recommended by a jury in 2001 and imposed by the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri in 2002.  Nelson was pronounced dead at 4:32 p.m. EDT by the Vigo County Coroner.

In October 1999, Nelson told an acquaintance that he wanted to kidnap, rape, torture, and kill a young girl he had seen in Kansas City, Kansas.  Shortly thereafter, Nelson parked his white pickup truck outside the home of 10-year-old Pamela Butler, who was rollerblading nearby.  As Pamela skated by the truck, Nelson grabbed her around the waist, threw her into the truck, and sped away as Pamela’s sisters looked on in terror.  Sometime later that day, Nelson raped Pamela, strangled her to death with a wire, and buried her in a forest behind a church in Kansas City, Missouri.  In October 2001, Nelson pleaded guilty to the kidnapping and unlawful interstate transportation of a child for the purpose of sexual abuse resulting in death, and the district court, consistent with a federal jury’s recommendation, later sentenced him to death.  His conviction and sentence were affirmed on appeal, and his claims for collateral relief were denied by every court that considered them.

More than two decades after viciously taking the life of Pamela Butler, causing untold devastation to those who loved her, Nelson finally faced the justice he deserved.  Family members of Pamela Butler, including her mother, attended the execution and witnessed implementation of the sentence for Nelson’s horrific crime.”  

A federal court in Miami, Florida, held that Jessyca Bernard has violated a permanent injunction entered against her on June 25, 2018, which barred her from preparing tax returns for others.

Bernard admitted in documents filed with the court that the United States gathered sufficient evidence demonstrating that she violated the injunction by directly or indirectly preparing 438 tax returns for others, using her husband’s name, Dave Moulton, to conceal her involvement. Bernard agreed to pay the United States $79,000 as reimbursement of its investigative expenses and disgorgement of fees she received from refunds claimed on returns she prepared in violation of the injunction. The investigation was undertaken by the Tax Division as part of its effort to monitor the conduct of return preparers who have been enjoined from preparing returns, and hold those who have continued to do so accountable for violating that ban. 

The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida ordered Bernard to pay these amounts and barred her from working at or maintaining any interest in any entity that offers tax preparation services.

The injunction barring Bernard from preparing tax returns remains in effect, and the court authorized the United States to continue to monitor her compliance with its orders.

“Fraudulent tax return preparers abuse our nation’s tax laws and take advantage of those customers who pay them to file a correct tax return,” said Richard Zuckerman, Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the Tax Division. “We are committed to working with our IRS partners to root out these perpetrators, particularly those who continue to violate the law even after being ordered by a court to cease their activities.”

In the past decade, the Tax Division has obtained injunctions against hundreds of unscrupulous tax preparers and tax scheme promoters. Information about these cases is available on the Justice Department’s website. An alphabetical listing of persons enjoined from preparing returns and promoting tax schemes can be found here. If you believe that one of the enjoined persons or businesses may be violating an injunction, please contact the Tax Division with details.

Vortex Commercial Flooring Inc., a Chicago-area commercial flooring contractor, has been charged for its role in a long-running antitrust conspiracy to rig bids and fix prices for commercial flooring services and products sold in the United States, the Department of Justice announced.  

Vortex has agreed to plead guilty and pay at least $1.4 million in fines and restitution for its role in the conspiracy and to cooperate in the Division’s ongoing investigation.  This is the second corporate guilty plea in this investigation.  Four flooring executives, including two from Vortex, have pleaded guilty as well.

According to a one-count superseding felony charge filed today in the U.S. District Court in Chicago, Vortex and its previously charged executives engaged in a conspiracy to suppress and eliminate competition in the commercial flooring market by agreeing with other individuals and companies to submit complementary bids so that the designated company would win the contract.  Vortex participated in the conspiracy from at least as early as 2009 until at least June 2017. 

“Vortex is the largest flooring corporation charged to date in the Justice Department’s ongoing investigation of Chicago-area commercial flooring contractors,” said Assistant Attorney General Makan Delrahim of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division.  “The conduct cheated public institutions, including public schools, and the defendant has agreed to pay restitution to the victims.  The Antitrust Division will continue its efforts to make whole victims of criminal conspiracies.”

“Vortex ultimately cheated innocent businesses and communities out of the competitive pricing necessary to complete flooring projects,” said Special Agent in Charge Emmerson Buie, Jr., FBI Chicago.  “This charge exemplifies the FBI’s commitment to working with its government partners to hold contractors accountable when they attempt to profit at their community’s expense.”

A violation of the Sherman Act carries a statutory maximum penalty of a $100 million criminal fine for corporations.  The maximum fine may be increased to twice the gain derived from the crime or twice the loss suffered by the victims of the crime, if either of those amounts is greater than the statutory maximum fine.

The charges are the result of an ongoing federal antitrust investigation into bid rigging, price fixing, and other anticompetitive conduct in the commercial flooring industry being conducted by the Antitrust Division’s Chicago Office and the FBI’s Chicago Field Division.  Anyone with information on bid rigging, price fixing, or other anticompetitive conduct related to the commercial flooring industry should contact the Antitrust Division’s Chicago Office at 312-984-7200 or visit www.justice.gov/atr/contact/newcase.html.

Department of Justice Spokesperson Kerri Kupec has issued the following statement:

“Today, Lezmond Mitchell was executed at U.S. Penitentiary Terre Haute in accordance with the capital sentence imposed by the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona in 2003.  Mitchell was pronounced dead at 6:29 EDT by the Vigo County Coroner.

In October 2001, Mitchell murdered Alyce Slim, a 63-year-old grandmother, and her nine-year-old granddaughter as part of a carjacking in Arizona.  After getting a ride from Slim in her pickup truck, Mitchell and an accomplice stabbed her 33 times and threw her body into the backseat beside her granddaughter.  Mitchell then drove the truck deep into the mountains, ordered the girl out of the truck “to lay down and die,” slit her throat twice, and crushed her head with rocks.  Mitchell and his accomplice proceeded to dismember and bury the victims’ bodies and burn their clothes.  He later confessed to the murders and led law enforcement to the victims’ remains.  In May 2003, a federal jury found Mitchell guilty of numerous federal crimes — including first-degree murder, felony murder, and carjacking resulting in death — and recommended a sentence of death, which the district court imposed.  His convictions and sentence were affirmed on appeal, and his claims for collateral relief were denied by every court that considered them.

Nearly 19 years after Lezmond Mitchell brutally ended the lives of two people, destroying the lives of many others, justice finally has been served.  In attendance at the execution this evening were representatives of the victims’ families as well as the father of the nine-year-old girl that Mitchell murdered.  Those family members, who are members of the Navajo Nation, have stated on the record that they supported implementation of the sentence returned by the jury and imposed by the court for Mitchell's horrific federal crimes.”

The Honorable Chief Judge Rodney W. Sippel of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri sentenced Freddie Doyle, 32, to 46 months of imprisonment for violating 18 U.S.C. § 922(g), in relation to an attempted assault on patrons of a LGBTQ-community bar in St. Louis, Missouri.

Doyle previously pleaded guilty and admitted that on June 27, 2019, he drove to Rehab Bar and Grill, a LGBTQ-community bar located in St. Louis, Missouri, with a Bushmaster Firearms AR-15 style automatic rifle (AR-15), bipod, scope, tactical light, four full rifle magazines, and approximately 160 rifle rounds in his vehicle. Doyle stayed at the bar for a number of hours until the bar closed at 3:00 a.m. Shortly thereafter, Doyle approached an African-American man, who had just exited a different LGBTQ establishment in the area, and invited that man back to his car. Doyle retrieved his rifle from his car and immediately aimed it at the African-American man. Doyle then chased the man as he ran away, told a bystander that he wanted to “get” the man, yelled racial and homophobic slurs at him, and fired his rifle once above the man’s head. When the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department apprehended Doyle and placed him into custody, Doyle continued to yell slurs at the man, including referring to him as a “fag.”

“All people in this nation have the right to enjoy themselves at a bar and grill without fearing that they will be threatened, shot, and seriously injured or killed by bigoted criminals,” said Assistant Attorney General Eric Dreiband of the Civil Rights Division. “The Department of Justice will not tolerate this kind of hateful violence. The Civil Rights Division strives to protect all Americans from acts of aggression and violence based on their race, color or sexual orientation.”

This case was investigated by the FBI. First Assistant U.S. Attorney Carrie Costantin of the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Missouri, and Trial Attorneys Janea Lamar and Laura Gilson of the Civil Rights Division, Criminal Section, prosecuted the case.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York entered a consent decree imposing a permanent injunction barring two individuals and two companies that transmitted massive volumes of fraudulent robocalls from conveying any telephone calls into the U.S. telephone system, the Department of Justice announced today.

As alleged in a civil complaint filed earlier this year in United States v. Nicholas Palumbo, et al., spouses Nicholas and Natasha Palumbo of Scottsdale, Arizona, and their companies, Ecommerce National LLC d/b/a TollFreeDeals.com and SIP Retail d/b/a sipretail.com, received millions of fraudulent internet-based calls every day from other entities, often located abroad.  Those calls were then transmitted, initially to other carriers within the United States and ultimately, to the phones of individuals.  The defendants are alleged to have knowingly allowed numerous foreign-based individuals and entities to transmit fraudulent government- and business-imposter robocalls through defendants’ network and on to victims in the United States.  These fraudulent robocalls included millions of calls impersonating the Social Security Administration, threatening the recipients of the calls with arrest or asset seizure if they did not immediately transfer funds to the caller.  The defendants also sold U.S. telephone numbers to foreign entities, which were used as victim call-back numbers as part of massive robocalling fraud schemes, to give the impression that the fraudsters were located in the United States.  These calls led to massive financial losses to elderly and other vulnerable victims throughout the United States.

“The Department is committed to protecting vulnerable Americans, particularly America’s seniors, from those who seek to steal their hard-earned savings,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Ethan Davis of the Department of Justice’s Civil Division.  “The Department will pursue not only those who place fraudulent robocalls, but also those who knowingly facilitate such calls.  The Department recognizes the exceptional work of the Social Security Administration and Postal Inspection Service in investigating this case.”

“The consent decree is a milestone in protecting the public, especially elderly and other vulnerable persons, from predatory robocall schemes that can cause catastrophic losses to victims in this district and throughout the country,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Seth D. DuCharme.

“We are pleased that all five companies named by the Department of Justice in this civil matter are now permanently enjoined from facilitating Social Security scam calls.  The facts clearly show these companies, and their owners, knowingly did business with government imposter telephone scammers, resulting in financial and emotional harm to unsuspecting consumers,” said Inspector General Ennis.  “I want to thank DOJ’s Consumer Protection Branch, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and our other law enforcement partners who provided assistance and support throughout this investigation.”

In a written opinion issued in March of this year, the District Court found that, despite being warned more than 100 times of specific instances of fraudulent calls being transmitted through their network, the defendants never severed their business relationship with any entity they learned was associated with fraudulent call traffic prior to the United States’ filing of its lawsuit.  The Court held that “at the very least… defendants’ failure to take meaningful action in response to these complaints demonstrates reckless indifference to the fraud they were enabling.  Over time, it became increasingly clear that they knew or should have known the complaints evidenced a widespread pattern of fraudulent calls being transmitted over their network.”

Under the terms of the consent decree entered today by the District Court, the defendants agreed to be permanently barred from, among other things, using the U.S. telephone system to: deliver prerecorded messages through automatic means, carry voice-over internet protocol calls destined for phones in the United States, and not to provide any U.S. phone numbers to other individuals or entities.  In addition, the defendants are permanently barred from serving as employees, agents, or consultants to any person or entity engaged in these activities. 

This case was handled by Trial Attorneys Ann F. Entwistle and Charles B. Dunn of the Civil Division’s Consumer Protection Branch and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Bonni Perlin and Dara Olds of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York, in coordination with the Social Security Administration Office of the Inspector General and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.  Investigative support was also provided by the U.S. Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigation’s El Dorado Task Force and U.S. Secret Service.  The Federal Trade Commission and the Federal Communications Commission also provided pertinent data.  

Additional information about the Consumer Protection Branch and its enforcement efforts may be found at http://www.justice.gov/civil/consumer-protection-branch.  For more information about the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York, visit its website at https://www.justice.gov/usao-edny.  

Today the Justice Department requested COVID-19 data from the governors of states that issued orders which may have resulted in the deaths of thousands of elderly nursing home residents. New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Michigan required nursing homes to admit COVID-19 patients to their vulnerable populations, often without adequate testing. 

For example, on March 25, 2020, New York ordered: “No resident shall be denied re-admission or admission to [a nursing home] solely based on a confirmed or suspected diagnosis of COVID-19. [Nursing homes] are prohibited from requiring a hospitalized resident who is determined medically stable to be tested for COVID-19 prior to admission or readmission.”

“Protecting the rights of some of society’s most vulnerable members, including elderly nursing home residents, is one of our country’s most important obligations,” said Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Division Eric Dreiband. “We must ensure they are adequately cared for with dignity and respect and not unnecessarily put at risk.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control, New York has the highest number of COVID-19 deaths in the United States, with 32,592 victims, many of them elderly. New York’s death rate by population is the second highest in the country with 1,680 deaths per million people. New Jersey’s death rate by population is 1,733 deaths per million people – the highest in the nation. In contrast, Texas’s death rate by population is 380 deaths per million people; and Texas has just over 11,000 deaths, though its population is 50 percent larger than New York and has many more recorded cases of COVID-19 – 577,537 cases in Texas versus 430,885 cases in New York. Florida’s COVID-19 death rate is 480 deaths per million; with total deaths of 10,325 and a population slightly larger than New York.

The Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division is evaluating whether to initiate investigations under the federal “Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act” (CRIPA), which protects the civil rights of persons in state-run nursing homes, among others. The Civil Rights Division seeks to determine if the state orders requiring admission of COVID-19 patients to nursing homes is responsible for the deaths of nursing home residents.

On March 3, 2020, the Attorney General announced the Justice Department’s National Nursing Home Initiative. This is a comprehensive effort by the department, led by the Elder Justice Initiative and in strong partnership with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that uses every available tool to pursue nursing homes that provide substandard care to their residents.  As announced on April 10, 2020, the department is also investigating the Soldiers’ Home in Holyoke, Massachusetts, where COVID-19 has taken the lives of at least 76 residents.  https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/federal-investigation-conditions-nursing-home-veterans-massachusetts-announced

The data requests and Soldiers’ Home investigation are not accusations of fault or wrongdoing by the states or any other individual or entity, and the department has not reached any conclusions about these matters.

The Department of Justice has taken another significant step today to ensure that its regulatory activity is performed lawfully and transparently, announcing a pair of interim final rules imposing procedural requirements on the Department’s issuance and modification of guidance documents.  The rules also codify preexisting Department guidance practices and implement the interagency reforms of Executive Order 13891, Promoting the Rule of Law Through Improved Agency Guidance Documents (EO 13891).  More than just carrying out the Department’s obligations under EO 13891, these rules implement innovative new internal accountability mechanisms, such as requiring Department entities to comply with the rule’s procedural requirements in order to claim judicial deference to interpretations contained in guidance documents.

The first rule, “Prohibition on the Issuance of Improper Guidance Documents Within the Justice Department,” codifies the general prohibition on the use of guidance documents to create rights or impose obligations on persons outside of the executive branch, originally set forth in the Department’s 2017 “Sessions Memo.”  The Department’s issuance of the Sessions Memo was one of the administration’s first actions to curb the use of guidance documents as a backdoor tool to reading new expansive, substantive regulatory obligations into policy documents outside of the established procedural requirements set forth in the Administrative Procedure Act (APA).  Similar, and expanded, limitations were subsequently imposed administration-wide in 2019 through EO 13891. 

The second rule, “Processes and Procedures for Issuance and Use of Guidance Documents,” codifies Department limitations, first generally set forth in the 2018 “Brand Memo,” on the use of guidance documents in criminal and civil enforcement actions and implements robust Department-wide procedures governing the review, clearance, and issuance of guidance documents.  The rule also creates a process for the public to petition the Department to withdraw or modify existing guidance documents.  In addition, under the rule, Department components must post every currently effective guidance document on the Department’s public Guidance Portal.

“Some guidance can be helpful to regulated parties, but backdoor regulation by guidance document is improper,” Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey A. Rosen said.  “With these new rules, the Department of Justice has formalized its procedures for ensuring that guidance documents will not be used to impose novel legal requirements as a shortcut around the rulemaking process.”

Beth A. Williams, Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Policy, praised the benefits the rules will have for the public:  “The new rules accomplish an unprecedented degree of transparency and public involvement in the Department’s guidance document processes.  For the first time, the public will have a robust process available to petition the government to withdraw or modify a guidance document that may be outdated or raise other concerns.”

The Department of Justice is committed to regulatory reform that enhances good government.  Earlier this month, the Department published a landmark report on the need to modernize agency procedures to increase accountability and transparency through amendment of the APA, enacted in 1946 and not substantially updated since that time.  The report incorporates proposals raised by government officials, members of the private sector, and legal academics at DOJ’s December 2019 APA reform summit.  The report’s submission to congressional members and committees provided a formal Department recommendation that Congress pursue legislative APA reform, building on Administration efforts such as EO 13891 to improve government responsiveness in the evaluation of regulations.  The report is available here.

Teva Pharmaceuticals USA Inc. (Teva) has been charged with conspiring to fix prices, rig bids, and allocate customers for generic drugs, the Department of Justice announced today.

According to a superseding indictment filed today in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, the company participated in three conspiracies from at least as early as May 2013 until at least in or around Dec. 2015.  

“Today’s charge reaffirms that no company is too big to be prosecuted for its role in conspiracies that led to substantially higher prices for generic drugs relied on by millions of Americans,” said Assistant Attorney General Makan Delrahim of the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division.  “The division will continue to work closely with our law enforcement partners to ensure that companies that blatantly cheat consumers of the benefits of free markets are prosecuted to the full extent of the law.”

Count one charges Teva for its role in a conspiracy that included Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Inc., USA (Glenmark), Apotex Corp. (Apotex), and others.  On May 7, Apotex admitted to its role in this conspiracy and agreed to pay a $24.1 million penalty.  On July 14, a grand jury returned an indictment against Glenmark for its role in the same conspiracy, which today’s indictment supersedes.  According to the charge, Teva, Glenmark, Apotex, and unnamed co-conspirators agreed to increase prices for pravastatin and other generic drugs.  Pravastatin is a commonly prescribed cholesterol medication that lowers the risk of heart disease and stroke. 

Count two charges Teva for its role in a conspiracy with Taro Pharmaceuticals U.S.A., Inc. (Taro U.S.A.), its former executive Ara Aprahamian, and others.  On July 23, Taro U.S.A. admitted to its role in this conspiracy and agreed to pay a $205.7 million penalty to resolve that charge as well as its role in a separate antitrust conspiracy.  Aprahamian was indicted in February 2020 for his role in the conspiracy with Teva, among other charges, and is awaiting trial.  According to the charge, Teva and its co-conspirators agreed to increase prices, rig bids, and allocate customers for generic drugs including, but not limited to, drugs used to treat and manage arthritis, seizures, pain, skin conditions, and blood clots. 

Count three charges Teva for its role in a conspiracy with Sandoz Inc. and others.  In March 2020, Sandoz admitted to its role in this conspiracy, as well as in conspiracies with other generic drug manufacturers, and agreed to pay a $195 million penalty.  According to the charge, Teva and its co-conspirators agreed to increase prices, rig bids, and allocate customers for generic drugs including, but not limited to, drugs used to treat brain cancer, cystic fibrosis, arthritis, and hypertension.

“During these difficult times, it is absolutely essential that our pharmaceutical companies conduct business with the well-being of the consumer in mind,” said Acting Special Agent in Charge Steven Stuller, U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General.  “When generic drug companies conspire to artificially increase prices, they do so to the detriment of many who depend on these medications to maintain good health.  Along with the Department of Justice Antitrust Division and our partners at the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the USPS Office of Inspector General remains committed to investigating those who would engage in this type of harmful conduct.”

“Today’s charges, the latest in a series of law enforcement actions taken against large drug companies, confirm that this kind of criminal behavior in the generic pharmaceutical industry will not be tolerated,” said James A. Dawson, Acting Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office.  “Price fixing and bid rigging is a crime, and the American people—who rely on these drugs to treat serious ailments—are the ones who pay the price when companies like Teva conspire to raise their costs.  The FBI remains committed to holding companies accountable for their illegal and reprehensible activity.”

“Today’s superseding indictment against Teva is another important step in this ongoing criminal investigation, which has already recovered hundreds of millions of dollars,” said U.S. Attorney William M. McSwain for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.  “Along with our partners at the Antitrust Division, we remain heavily focused on illegal price fixing and market allocation in generic drugs and on addressing the impact those practices have on federal healthcare programs like Medicare and Medicaid.”

Teva is the seventh company to be charged for its participation in conspiracies to fix prices, rig bids, and allocate customers for generic drugs.  Five previous corporate cases were resolved by deferred prosecution agreements, and Teva’s co-conspirator Glenmark is awaiting trial.  Four executives have also been charged; three have entered guilty pleas, and one is awaiting trial.

A criminal charge merely alleges that crimes have been committed.  All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

Each of the charged offenses carry a statutory maximum penalty of $100 million for companies.  The maximum fine may be increased to twice the gain derived from the crime or twice the loss suffered by the victims of the crime if either amount is greater than $100 million.  

This case is the result of an ongoing federal antitrust investigation into price fixing, market allocation, bid rigging, and other anticompetitive conduct in the generic pharmaceutical industry, which is being conducted by the Antitrust Division with the assistance of the United States Postal Service Office of Inspector General, the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Washington and Philadelphia Field Offices, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.  Anyone with information on market allocation, price fixing, bid rigging, or other anticompetitive conduct related to the generic pharmaceutical industry should contact the Antitrust Division’s Citizen Complaint Center at 1-888-647-3258 or visit www.justice.gov/atr/contact/newcase.html.

 

 

A federal court permanently enjoined Siza Mhlanga, d/b/a Tax Refund Express, Camp Bowie Tax, Camp Bowie Tax Services, Tax Refund Company, and United Tax Refunds, of Fort Worth, Texas, from owning or operating a tax return preparation business and preparing tax returns for others, the Justice Department announced today. Mhlanga consented to the relief.

The complaint against Mhlanga, which was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, alleges that Mhlanga repeatedly prepared returns that report fake deductions for charitable donations, business losses, and fabricated education and energy credits to generate tax refunds. For example, the complaint alleges that Mhlanga prepared a customer’s 2017 tax return on which Mhlanga fabricated a business for the customer and reported a fake business loss of $21,720. The complaint alleges that, over the course of tax years 2017 and 2018, Mhlanga filed hundreds of returns, and that by repeatedly understating his customers’ tax liabilities, Mhlanga caused the United States to lose substantial tax revenue.

“The Justice Department will pursue those who would abuse our nation’s tax laws,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the Tax Division Richard Zuckerman. “Taxpayers should be vigilant so they do not file tax returns claiming false deductions.”

Return preparer fraud is one of the IRS’ Dirty Dozen Tax Scams and taxpayers seeking a return preparer should remain vigilant. The IRS has information on its website for choosing a tax preparer and has launched a free directory of federal tax preparers. In the past decade, the Tax Division has obtained injunctions against hundreds of unscrupulous tax preparers. Information about these cases is available on the Justice Department website. An alphabetical listing of persons enjoined from preparing returns and promoting tax schemes can be found on this page. If you believe that one of the enjoined persons or businesses may be violating an injunction, please contact the Tax Division with details.

Massachusetts-based DUSA Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (DUSA), a subsidiary of Sun Pharmaceutical Industries, Inc. (Sun Pharma), has agreed to pay the United States $20.75 million to resolve allegations that DUSA caused physicians to submit false claims to Medicare and the Federal Employee Health Benefit Program by knowingly promoting an administration process for the drug Levulan Kerastick that contradicted the product instructions approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and was unsupported by sufficient clinical evidence.  

“The department is committed to protecting taxpayer-supported health care programs from fraud and abuse,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Ethan P. Davis for the Justice Department’s Civil Division.  “We will hold drug manufacturers accountable when they knowingly promote ineffective uses of their products that undermine patient care or waste program funds.”

“While this scheme to provide false instructions on the use of its product may have resulted in more sales and bigger profits, it also meant customers endured the frustration of being repeatedly subjected to less effective treatments to try to get their skin lesions to clear,” said U.S. Attorney Brian T. Moran for the Western District of Washington. “This investigation seeks to restore money to taxpayers and discourage those who put profits over effective treatment.”

“Drug makers that push the inappropriate use of their products undermine the health of patients and the financial integrity of federal health care programs, said Special Agent in Charge Steven J. Ryan of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General.  “Our oversight agency, working closely with our law enforcement partners, will continue to thoroughly investigate those who engage in such schemes.”

“The OPM OIG will always seek to hold accountable those prioritizing profits over patient health and safety,” said Norbert E. Vint, Deputy Inspector General Performing the Duties of the Inspector General, Office of Personnel Management (OPM) OIG. “This settlement demonstrates the commitment of our investigative staff and partners at the Department of Justice to combat health care fraud against the FEHBP.”

Levulan Kerastick is a prescription topical solution approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of minimally to moderately thick actinic keratosis (AKs) of the face or scalp.  At all relevant times, the “Dosage and Administration” section of the drug’s FDA-approved instructions described a two-stage process involving application of the topical solution to the target lesions and then, following an incubation period of 14 to 18 hours, illumination of the target lesion with blue light.  

The United States alleged that, by January 2014, senior management at both DUSA and Sun Pharma knew that administration of Levulan Kerastick employing short incubation periods ranging from one to three hours resulted in AK clearance rates significantly lower than those achieved in clinical trials using 14 to 18-hour incubation.  Nonetheless, between January 2014 and December 2016, DUSA allegedly encouraged physicians to use these demonstrably less effective short incubation periods by using, among other things, paid physician speaker programs, paid physician peer-to-peer discussions, promotion by DUSA’s sales force, and the dissemination of incomplete or misleading responses to questions from prescribing doctors.  The department further alleged that DUSA failed to inform physicians that administering the drug using short incubation periods resulted in significantly lower AK clearance rates than achieved with the longer incubation period described in the FDA-approved instructions, and, in some instances, the company falsely stated that AK clearance rates were the same for the shorter and less effective incubation periods. 

 As part of the settlement, DUSA and its parent company, Sun Pharma, have agreed to enter into a Corporate Integrity Agreement with HHS-OIG.  That agreement provides for procedures and reviews to be put in place to avoid and promptly detect conduct similar to that which gave rise to this matter.    

The settlement with DUSA resolves a lawsuit filed under the whistleblower provision of the False Claims Act, which permits private parties to file suit on behalf of the United States for false claims and share in a portion of the government’s recovery.  The civil lawsuit was filed by Aaron Chung, who formerly worked for DUSA as a sales representative.  As part of today’s resolution, Chung will receive approximately $3.5 million.

The settlement with DUSA was the result of a coordinated effort among the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Washington and the Commercial Litigation Branch (Fraud Section) of the Justice Department’s Civil Division, with assistance from HHS’ Office of Counsel to the Inspector General, FDA’s Office of Chief Counsel, and HHS’ Office of General Counsel.  

The claims resolved by this settlement are allegations only, and there has been no determination of liability.  The lawsuit is captioned United States of America ex rel. Chung v. DUSA Pharmaceuticals, Inc., No. 16 cv 1614-JLR. 

A Chapel Hill, N.C., businessman pleaded guilty today to filing a false tax return and being a felon in possession of a firearm, announced Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Richard E. Zuckerman of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and U.S. Attorney Matthew G.T. Martin for the Middle District of North Carolina.

According to court filed documents, Charles Agee Atkins controlled and operated several risk consulting businesses, including Financial Engineering & Risk Management LLC, Risk Assessment & Management LLC, and Ram Omni LLC.  From 2011 through 2017, Atkins underreported the income that he received from these businesses on his tax returns, causing a tax loss of more than $380,000 to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).  Atkins also admitted that he failed to pay more than $420,000 in taxes he owed to the IRS for several previous years.  All told, Atkins caused a tax loss of more than $800,000 to the IRS.

Atkins also pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm.  According to court documents, Atkins was convicted of tax fraud in 1988, and during a 2019 search warrant executed on Atkins’s Chapel Hill residence, federal agents found a 12 gauge shotgun, which Atkins could not legally possess because of his prior convictions.

U.S. District Judge Catherine Eagles will set sentencing at a later date.  At sentencing, Atkins faces a maximum sentence of three years in prison on the tax charge and ten years in prison on the felon in possession charge.  He also faces a period of supervised release, restitution, and monetary penalties.

Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Zuckerman and U.S. Attorney Martin thanked special agents of IRS-Criminal Investigation, who conducted the investigation, and Assistant Chief Todd Ellinwood of the Tax Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney Tanner Kroeger, who are prosecuting the case.

Additional information about the Tax Division and its enforcement efforts may be found on the division’s website.

Assistant Attorney General Beth A. Williams issued the following statement today on the efforts by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts to enhance public and litigant access to electronic court records.  This year, as part of its access to justice efforts, the Office of Legal Policy at the Department of Justice partnered with the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts to improve transparency regarding fee exemptions for access to court records in the Public Access to Court Electronic Records (PACER) system.  As part of that partnership, the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts announced an enhanced PACER website that makes it easier for indigent individuals, as well as pro bono attorneys, academic researchers, and non-profit organizations, to understand how they may access court records for free.

“The Department of Justice is pleased that the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts has improved its PACER website to better inform indigent individuals that they may access court records for free, and to make it easier for them to do so.  The new website promotes access to justice through increased accessibility and transparency.  Public records should be available to all, irrespective of wealth or status.  We look forward to continuing our partnership with the Administrative Office to eliminate barriers that may prevent individuals from understanding and exercising their rights.”

The Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division announced today that it is creating the Office of Decree Enforcement and Compliance and a Civil Conduct Task Force.  Additionally, it will redistribute matters among its six civil sections in order to build expertise based on current trends in the economy.

The Office of Decree Enforcement and Compliance will have primary responsibility for enforcing judgments and consent decrees in civil matters.  It will also advise the Antitrust Division’s criminal sections when parties seek credit at the charging stage for their corporate compliance programs.  The office will work closely with division attorneys, monitors, and compliance officers to ensure the effective implementation of and compliance with antitrust judgments.  Additionally, the office will be the Antitrust Division’s primary contact for complainants who have information regarding potential violations of those final judgments.  Any such concerns should be reported directly to ODEC@usdoj.gov. 

“The Office of Decree Enforcement and Compliance will ensure the American consumer fully benefits from the Antitrust Division’s hard work identifying anticompetitive mergers and conduct,” said Assistant Attorney General Delrahim.  “We are building on our recent successes in Live Nation and CenturyLink.  Those matters show how important it is to enforce our consent decrees vigilantly.”

The establishment of the office is the culmination of efforts announced by Assistant Attorney General Delrahim in 2018 at the University of Chicago, to ensure that effective enforcement, rather than regulation, is the touchstone of settlement decrees and related agreements.  These efforts are apparent in the Division’s revised, pro-consumer standard decree terms.

The Office of Decree Enforcement and Compliance will be led by Lawrence Reicher, who most recently served as Counsel to the Assistant Attorney General and was awarded DOJ’s John Marshall Award for his leadership of the Division’s Judgment Termination Initiative, the review and termination of perpetual judgments dating to the 1890s.  “I am confident that under Larry’s leadership, the Office of Decree Enforcement and Compliance will hold parties fully to account for the agreements they enter with the Antitrust Division,” said Assistant Attorney General Delrahim.

The second change to the Antitrust Division’s civil enforcement program is the creation of the Civil Conduct Task Force.  This dedicated group of Division attorneys will work across the civil sections and field offices to identify conduct investigations that require additional focus and resources.  As an independent group, the task force will have the dedicated resources and a consistent mandate to investigate and, ultimately, prosecute civil conduct violations of the antitrust laws.

“This task force will energize and prioritize non-merger civil enforcement,” said Assistant Attorney General Delrahim.  “Concentrating responsibility will mean greater accountability for these important investigations that lack the statutory deadlines of many merger investigations.”

The third change announced today is the realignment of certain responsibilities within the Antitrust Division’s six civil sections. The allocation of commodities among sections has evolved over the years, and today’s announcement is a recognition that technology has reshaped the competitive dynamics in several industries that the Antitrust Division analyzes on a regular basis.

“This realignment recognizes how technology trends have changed the way Americans consume financial services as well as media and communications services.  It will make the Antitrust Division more efficient and more effective enforcing the antitrust laws,” said Assistant Attorney General Delrahim.  “This result is better for companies under investigation and, more importantly, leads to outcomes that benefit the American consumer.”

Specifically, the currently named Media, Entertainment, and Professional Services Section will shift attention to financial services, fintech, and banking.  Those commodities were previously divided across three other civil sections.  The currently named Telecommunications and Broadband Section will expand its portfolio to concentrate on media, entertainment, and telecommunications industries. Lastly, the currently named Technology and Financial Services section will focus full time on technology markets and the competitive characteristics of platform business models.

Name changes to these sections to reflect their new responsibilities will follow.

At a press conference in Kansas City, Missouri, today, Attorney General William P. Barr announced updates on Operation Legend.

Since the operation’s launch, there have been more than 1,000 arrests, including defendants who have been charged in state and local courts. Of those arrests, approximately 217 defendants have been charged with federal crimes. These numbers exclude Indianapolis, whose operation was just announced last Friday. In addition, nearly 400 firearms have been seized by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

The Attorney General launched the operation on July 8, 2020, as a sustained, systematic and coordinated law enforcement initiative in which federal law enforcement agencies work in conjunction with state and local law enforcement officials to fight violent crime. The initiative is named in honor of four-year-old LeGend Taliferro, who was shot and killed while he slept early in the morning of June 29 in Kansas City. 

Launched first in Kansas City, MO., on July 8, 2020, the operation was expanded to Chicago and Albuquerque on July 22, 2020, to Cleveland, Detroit, and Milwaukee on July 29, 2020, to St. Louis and Memphis on Aug. 6, 2020, and to Indianapolis on Aug. 14, 2020. A breakdown of the federal charges in each district, with the exception of Indianapolis, is below.

Kansas City, MO.

Forty-three defendants have been charged with federal crimes outlined below, with some defendants charged with multiple offenses.  In addition to the federal charges, the operation has led to the arrests of 17 state defendants on homicide charges.

• 20 defendants have been charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm;
• 17 defendants have been charged with drug trafficking;
• Four defendants have been charged with being a drug user in possession of a firearm;
• Six defendants have been charged with being in possession of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking;
• Four defendants have been charged with being in possession of a firearm in furtherance of violent crime;
• One defendant has been charged with being a felon in possession of ammunition;
• Three defendants have been charged with armed robbery;
• One defendant has been charged with carjacking; and
• One defendant has been charged with arson.

Chicago, Ill.

Sixty-one defendants have been charged with federal crimes outlined below, with some defendants charged with multiple offenses.

• 34 defendants have been charged with firearms-related offenses;
• 26 defendants have been charged with narcotics-related offenses;
• One defendant has been charged with possession of machine gun;
• One defendant has been charged with illegally dealing firearms without a license;
• One defendant has been charged with the illegal sale of firearm to prohibited person; and
• One defendant has been charged with bank fraud.

Albuquerque, NM.

Sixteen defendants have been charged with federal crimes outlined below, with some defendants charged with multiple offenses.

• Six defendants have been charged with conspiracy to distribute controlled substances;
• Four defendants have been charged with distribution of controlled substances;
• Six defendants have been charged with possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance;
• Four defendants have been charged with being in possession of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking;
• Eight defendants have been charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm;
• One defendant has been charged with being in possession of a stolen firearm;
• Two defendants have been charged with Hobbs Act violations; and
• One defendant has been charged with carjacking.

Cleveland, OH.

Thirty-two defendants have been charged with federal crimes outlined below, with some defendants charged with multiple offenses.  Two defendants remain fugitives.

• 22 defendants have been charged with federal drug trafficking charges;
• Nine defendants have been charged with federal firearms violations; and
• One defendant had been charged with carjacking.

Detroit, MI.

Twenty-two defendants have been charged with federal offenses outlined below, with some defendants charged with multiple offenses.

• 14 defendants have been charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm;
• Two defendants have been charged with possession with the intent to distribute controlled substances;
• Two defendants have been charged with possession of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking;
• Three defendants have been charged with receipt of a firearm while under indictment;
• Four defendants have been charged with making false statement to a licensed firearm dealer; and
• Two defendants have been charged with carjacking.

Milwaukee, WI.

Eleven defendants have been charged with federal crimes outlined below, with some defendants charged with multiple offenses.  In addition, thus far, 28 firearms have been seized.

• Eight defendants have been charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm;
• Five defendants have been charged with possession with intent to distribute narcotics;
• Four defendants have been charged with possession of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking;
• Two defendants have been charged with making false statements to a licensed firearm dealer;
• One defendant has been charged with possession of a firearm while being an unlawful user of narcotics;
• One defendant has been charged with being a felon in possession of ammunition; and
• One defendant has been charged with distribution of narcotics.

St. Louis, MO.

Twenty-five defendants have been charged with federal crimes, with some defendants charged with multiple offenses.

• One defendant has been charged with drug trafficking and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime following the USMS’s execution of a state arrest warrant;
• One defendant has been charged with robbery of an item effecting interstate commerce and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence following an joint ATF, SLMPD-initiated undercover operation targeting a known shooter;
• One defendant has been charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm following ATF’s execution of a federal search warrant directed towards the residence of a suspected murderer;
• 21 defendants have been charged with drug trafficking offenses; and
• One defendant has been charged with being a drug user in possession of a firearm.

Memphis, Tenn.

Seven defendants have been charged with federal offenses, with some defendants charged with multiple offenses.

• One defendant has been charged with being an alien in possession of a firearm while illegally or unlawfully in the United States;
• One defendant, who lives in Memphis, was charged in an out-of-district federal case with conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine;
• Two defendants have been charged with being unlawful users of a controlled substance in possession of a firearm and making a material false statement when acquiring a firearm from a Federal Firearms Licensee (FFL); and
• Two cases remain under seal, but the charges are as follows:
  • One defendant has been charged with bank robbery
  • Two defendants charged with theft from an FFL.

The United States has filed a False Claims Act complaint against Teva Pharmaceuticals USA Inc. and Teva Neuroscience Inc. (Teva), alleging that they illegally paid the Medicare co-pays for their multiple sclerosis (MS) product, Copaxone, through purportedly independent foundations that the companies used as conduits in violation of the Anti-Kickback Statute, the Department of Justice announced today. 

“The department is committed to stopping pharmaceutical companies from using foundations as conduits to funnel kickbacks to Medicare patients, and to prop up excessive drug costs at the expense of the American taxpayers,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Ethan P. Davis of the Department of Justice’s Civil Division.  “We will continue to root out these unlawful kickback arrangements that undermine the integrity of federal health care programs.”

“The government’s complaint today alleges that Teva used ostensibly independent charitable foundations as vehicles to pay hundreds of millions of dollars in kickbacks, all while raising the price of its drug, Copaxone, at a rate over 19 times the rate of inflation,”  said Andrew E. Lelling, United States Attorney for the District of Massachusetts.  “Teva’s alleged kickbacks undermined the Medicare program’s co-pay structure, which Congress created as a safeguard against inflated drug prices.”

 “Drug manufacturers that offer kickbacks in order to boost profits – as alleged in this case – drive up health care costs for everyone and undermine the public’s trust in the health care system,” said Special Agent in Charge Phillip M. Coyne of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General.  “Our agency, working closely with our law enforcement partners, will continue to thoroughly investigate such corrosive schemes.”

“As alleged, Teva gamed Medicare and tried to deflect attention away from  a 329% increase in the cost of its drug by masking kickbacks as charitable contributions,” said Joseph R. Bonavolonta, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI's Boston Division. “This case demonstrates the FBI’s ongoing commitment to protect our government programs and the American taxpayers who contribute to them from being victimized by corporations who allegedly pay kickbacks to pad their bottom line.”

When a Medicare beneficiary obtains a prescription drug covered by Medicare Part D, the beneficiary may be required to make a partial payment, which may take the form of a co-payment, co-insurance, or deductible (collectively, co-pays). These co-pay obligations may be substantial for expensive medications. Congress included co-pay requirements in these programs, in part, to encourage market forces to serve as a check on health care costs, including the prices that pharmaceutical manufacturers can demand for their drugs. The Anti-Kickback Statute prohibits pharmaceutical companies from offering or paying, directly or indirectly, any remuneration – which includes money or any other thing of value – to induce Medicare patients to purchase the companies’ drugs.

The government alleges that, from 2007 through 2015, Teva paid The Assistance Fund (TAF) and Chronic Disease Fund (CDF) with the intent and understanding that the foundations would use Teva’s money to cover the Medicare co-pays of patients taking Copaxone.  During the same period, Teva raised the price of Copaxone from approximately $17,000 per year to over $73,000 per year.

According to the United States’ complaint, Teva largely effectuated its scheme through its vendor, Advanced Care Scripts Inc. (ACS), a specialty pharmacy to which Teva referred virtually all Copaxone patients who faced Medicare co-pays for the drug.  Teva used information from ACS and from TAF and CDF to calculate how much money to pay each foundation to maintain coverage of the Medicare co-pays of Copaxone patients enrolled in each foundation.  The U.S. further alleges that ACS coordinated the referral of newly-prescribed Copaxone patients to TAF and CDF with Teva, referring patients in batches at the same time that Teva made payments to the foundations, which ensured that Copaxone patients received the vast majority of the co-pay assistance TAF and CDF provided with money from Teva.

The government’s pursuit of these matters illustrates the government’s emphasis on combating healthcare fraud.  One of the most powerful tools in this effort is the False Claims Act.  Tips and complaints from all sources about potential fraud, waste, abuse, and mismanagement can be reported to the Department of Health and Human Services, at 800‑HHS‑TIPS (800-447-8477).

The lawsuits are being handled by the Civil Division’s Commercial Litigation Branch and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts.  Investigative support is being provided by the Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Inspector General and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The case is captioned United States v. Teva Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc. and Teva Neuroscience, Inc. No. 20-cv-11548. (D. Mass.).  The claims asserted in the government’s complaint are allegations only. 

The Department of Justice announced today that it signed a settlement agreement with AllianceIT, a provider of IT staffing services based in Pleasanton, California. This is the tenth settlement under the Civil Rights Division’s Protecting U.S. Workers Initiative, which is aimed at targeting, investigating, and taking enforcement actions against companies that discriminate against U.S. workers in favor of temporary foreign visa workers.

The settlement resolves a claim that AllianceIT discriminated against U.S. workers by posting a job advertisement specifying a preference for “ONLY OPT’s who can work” using a W-2 tax form. Optional Practical Training (OPT) permits foreign students holding an F-1 visa to engage in temporary employment related to the student’s major area of study.   

“Companies cannot place U.S. students at a disadvantage for job opportunities by advertising a hiring preference for foreign students with visas,” said Assistant Attorney General Eric Dreiband of the Civil Rights Division. “The Department of Justice will vigorously enforce the law to ensure that employers are held accountable whenever they discriminate against U.S. students or other U.S. workers because of their citizenship.”

Based on its investigation, the department concluded that AllianceIT posted a job advertisement aimed exclusively at non-U.S. citizens with a specific type of temporary visa. The Immigration and Nationality Act’s (INA) anti-discrimination provision prohibits employers from discriminating in hiring by preferring candidates with temporary work visas over U.S. workers. Under the INA, employers cannot discriminate based on citizenship, immigration status or national origin at any stage of their hiring process, including the posting of job advertisements, regardless of whether it affects the final hiring outcome.

Under the terms of the settlement agreement, AllianceIT will train its employees on the requirements of the INA’s anti-discrimination provision, change its policies and procedures to comply with this law, and be subject to two years of department monitoring, including providing regular reports to the department.

The Civil Rights Division’s Immigrant and Employee Rights Section (IER) has reached numerous settlements under the Protecting U.S. Workers Initiative, and employers have distributed or agreed to pay a combined total of more than $1.2 million in back pay to affected U.S. workers and civil penalties to the United States. These settlements involve employers that discriminated in their use of the H-1B, H-2A, H-2B and F-1 visa programs.

IER is responsible for enforcing the anti-discrimination provision of the INA. The statute prohibits, among other things, citizenship status and national origin discrimination in hiring, firing, or recruitment or referral for a fee; unfair documentary practices; retaliation and intimidation.    

Learn more about IER’s work and how to get assistance through this brief video. For more information about protections against employment discrimination under immigration laws, call IER’s worker hotline at 1-800-255-7688 (1-800-237-2515, TTY for hearing impaired); call IER’s employer hotline at 1-800-255-8155 (1-800-237-2515, TTY for hearing impaired); sign up for a free webinar; email IER@usdoj.gov; or visit IER’s English and Spanish websites. Subscribe to GovDelivery to receive updates from IER.

The Civil Rights Division wants to hear about civil rights violations. Members of the public can report possible civil rights violations through the Civil Rights Division’s reporting portal.

Applicants or employees who believe they were subjected to discrimination based on their citizenship, immigration status, or national origin in hiring, firing, or recruitment or referral for a fee; or discrimination in the employment eligibility verification process (Form I-9 and E-Verify) based on their citizenship, immigration status, or national origin; or retaliation can file a charge or contact IER’s worker hotline for assistance.

Today, the Department of Justice (DOJ), the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) issued an advisory guidance document to help non-federal public and private entities better understand the federal laws and regulations that may apply to the use of capabilities to detect and mitigate threats posed by Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) operations. 

The “Advisory on the Application of Federal Laws to the Acquisition and Use of Technology to Detect and Mitigate Unmanned Aircraft Systems” (the “Advisory”) provides a brief overview of various provisions of the U.S. criminal code enforced by DOJ, as well as federal laws and regulations related to aviation safety and efficiency, transportation and airport security, and the radiofrequency spectrum administered respectively by the FAA, DHS, and FCC. 

“As the number of drones in our airspace continue to rise, it is unsurprising that the availability of counter-drone technologies has likewise increased,” said Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey A. Rosen.  “Because these technologies may be presented for sale without a full discussion of important legal requirements, this Advisory steps forward to provide an outline of the relevant legal landscape.  By encouraging a common understanding of potentially applicable laws, the Advisory can help foster responsible industry growth and promote public safety.”

The Advisory has been issued at a time when the commercial demand for UAS detection and mitigation is high, but the authority to use those capabilities is far from clear.  To date, Congress has given limited authority to only four federal Departments – Defense, Energy, Justice, and Homeland Security – to engage in UAS detection and mitigation activities, notwithstanding certain otherwise potentially applicable federal criminal laws.  The Departments and Agencies issuing the Advisory do not have the authority to approve non-federal public and private use of UAS detection or mitigation capabilities, nor do they conduct legal reviews of commercially available products’ compliance with those laws.  

The Advisory urges entities to take the advice presented in this Advisory seriously – to consult with counsel and think carefully about the functionality of individual detection or mitigation systems, the way the system operates, and the way the system will be used.  A thorough understanding of how a system functions and the applicable law is necessary to ensure that, if UAS detection and mitigation technologies are employed, they will be used effectively, responsibly, and legally.

Although the Advisory is an important discussion of potentially applicable federal law and regulations in this space, it cautions that additional state or local laws may apply, and that entities should further consider the impacts such technology could have on privacy, civil liberties, and civil rights.

The Advisory can be found at /media/1084061/dl?inline.

A former Shelby County Deputy Jailer, William Anthony Carey, 31, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Gregory F. VanTatenhove to serve 48 months in federal prison for violating the civil rights of an inmate in his custody.

According to Carey’s guilty plea agreement, Carey worked as a Deputy Jailer at the Shelby County Detention Center in Shelbyville, Kentucky. During one of his shifts, Carey solicited Corey Lynn Hopper, 30, an inmate, to assault another inmate. Carey told Hopper about a personal vendetta Carey had against the other inmate, and asked Hopper to “take care of” him. That night, while the inmate slept, Hopper beat him, punching and kicking the inmate multiple times. The assault left the victim with severe facial fractures and missing teeth.

“The duty of correctional officers is to uphold the law and protect the people within their care,” said Assistant Attorney General Eric Dreiband, of the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division. “These actions are not only illegal and morally wrong, they go against the oath this officer took when he entered the job. This division will continue to work to protect the civil rights of all Americans, and vigorously prosecute those who violate them.”

“Excessive and unreasonable force perpetrated by, or directed by, a member of law enforcement is disgraceful and criminal,” said Robert M. Duncan, Jr., U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky. “It undermines what our system of justice stands for and it damages the integrity of law enforcement. We have a distinct responsibility to combat it with all the tools available to us. Everyone is entitled to be free of this despicable conduct. I want to commend the FBI for their work in successfully investigating this case, bringing some sense of justice to the victim of this conduct.”

“Because corrections officers have a critical public safety responsibility, the FBI is committed to vigorously pursue civil rights and color of law violations. Through the Kentucky Public Corruption Civil Rights Task Force, FBI Louisville will continue to aggressively investigate any public official that abuses those they have been sworn to protect,” said Special Agent in Charge Robert Brown, FBI Louisville Field Office.

For his role in the assault, Carey pleaded guilty in March 2019 to willfully depriving an inmate of his right to be free from unreasonable force while acting under color of law. Upon his release, Carey will be under the supervision of the U.S. Probation Office for three years.

Hopper also pleaded guilty in January 2020 to aiding and abetting a person acting under color of law in willfully depriving an inmate of his right to be free from unreasonable force.  Hopper was sentenced on July 15, 2020, receiving 120 months in federal prison and three years of supervised release. Under federal law, both Hopper and Carey must serve 85 percent of their prison sentences. 

The investigation was conducted by the Public Corruption/Civil Rights Task Force of the Louisville Field Division of the FBI. The United States was represented in the case by Assistant U.S. Attorney Hydee Hawkins and Trial Attorney Anita Channapati of the Civil Rights Division, Criminal Section.

El Departamento de Justicia anunció hoy que ha firmado un acuerdo conciliatorio con AllianceIT, un proveedor de servicios de contratación en el ámbito de la informática cuya sede se encuentra en Pleasanton, California. Este representa el décimo acuerdo al amparo de la Iniciativa para la Protección de Trabajadores en los EE. UU. de la División de Derechos Civiles. Su meta es enfocarse en, investigar a y tomar medidas de aplicación de la ley contra compañías que discriminen a trabajadores en este país a favor de trabajadores extranjeros con visas temporales.

El acuerdo resuelve una acusación de que AllianceIT había discriminado a trabajdores en este país al publicar una oferta de trabajo indicando una preferencia por «ÚNICAMENTE PERSONAS CON OPT que puedan trabajar» utilizando un formulario impositivo W-2. La Capacitación Práctica Optativa (OPT, por sus siglas en inglés) permite a estudiantes extranjeros con visa F-1 tener un empleo temporal que esté relacionado con el área de estudio principal del estudiante.   

«Las compañías no pueden perjudicar a los estudiantes estadounidenses en lo que se refiere a las oportunidades laborales al anunciar una preferencia por contratar a estudiantes extranjeros con visa», afirmó Eric Dreiband, el Fiscal General Auxiliar de la División de Derechos Civiles. «El Departamento de Justicia se dedicará plenamente a la aplicación de la ley con el fin de garantizar que los empleadores rindan cuentas cuando discriminan a estudiantes estadounidenses o trabajadores en este país por motivos de su ciudadanía».

Con base en su investigación, el Departamento concluyó que AllianceIT había publicado una oferta de trabajo buscando exclusivamente a no ciudadanos de los EE. UU. con un tipo específico de visa temporal. La disposición antidiscriminatoria de la ley de Inmigración y Nacionalidad (INA, por sus siglas en inglés) prohíbe que los empleadores discriminen en los procesos de contratación dando preferencia a candidatos con visas temporales de trabajo sobre trabajadores en este país. Conforme la INA, a los empleadores queda prohibido discriminar a trabajadores por motivos de la ciudadanía, estatus migratorio o nacionalidad de origen de ellos en cualquiera de las fases del proceso de contratación, lo que incluye la publicación de ofertas de trabajo, independientemente de si tal discriminación afecta el resultado final de la contratación.

Según los términos del acuerdo, AllianceIT capacitará a sus empleados en cuanto a los requisitos de la disposición antidiscriminatoria de la INA, cambiará sus políticas y procedimientos para que cumplan con esta ley y se someterá a los requisitos de supervisión por parte del Departamento durante dos años, lo que incluye la entrega de informes rutinarias al Departamento.

La Sección de Derechos de Inmigrantes y Empleados («IER», por sus siglas en inglés) ha llegado a numerosos acuerdos bajo la Iniciativa para la Protección de Trabajadores en Este País y empleadores han distribuido o acordado distribuir un total combinado de más de 1,2 millónes de dólares por concepto de pagos retroactivos a trabajadores afectado en este país y sanciones civiles a los Estados Unidos. Estos acuerdos implican empleadores que discriminaron en su uso de los programas de visa de H-1B, H-2A, H-2B y F-1.

La IER es responsable de hacer cumplir la disposición antidiscriminatoria de la INA. Entre otras cosas, la ley prohíbe la discriminación con base en el estatus de ciudadanía y la nacionalidad de origen en los procesos de contratación, despido o reclutamiento o recomendación por comisión; las prácticas documentales injustas; las represalias o la intimidación.    

Para más información sobre protecciones contra la discriminación en el empleo, llame a la línea directa de la IER para trabajadores al 1-800-255-7688 (1-800-237-2515, TTY para personas con discapacidades auditivas); llame a la línea directa para empleadores al 1-800-255-8155 (1-800-237-2515, TTY para personas con discapacidades auditivas); inscríbase a un seminario en línea gratuito; envíe en correo electrónico a IER@usdoj.gov; o visite las páginas web de la IER en inglés y español. Para recibir las últimas noticias de la IER, inscríbase a GovDelivery.

La División de Derechos Civiles quiere enterarse de más vulneraciones de derechos civiles. Miembros del público pueden informarnos de posibles vulneraciones de derechos civiles mediante el portal de declaraciones de la División de Derechos Civiles.

Aquellos aspirantes o empleados que creen haber sido sometidos a: discriminación por motivos de su ciudadanía, estatus migratorio o nacionalidad de origen en los procesos de contratación, despido o reclutamiento o recomendación por comisión; discriminación en el proceso de la verificación de la elegibilidad para trabajar (Formulario I-9 e E-Verify) con base en su ciudadanía, estatus migratorio o nacionalidad de origen; o represalias pueden presentar una denuncia o llamar a la línea directa de la IER para trabajadores para pedir ayuda.

Descargue el acuerdo conciliatorio

The Department of Justice has published proposed regulations that provide a clear and comprehensive statement of sex offenders’ registration requirements under the federal Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA).  SORNA requires convicted sex offenders to register in the states in which they live, work, or attend school, and it directs the Attorney General to issue regulations and guidelines to implement SORNA. 

“SORNA is a crucial public safety measure,” said Assistant Attorney General for Legal Policy Beth A. Williams.  “The proposed regulations will further Congress’s and the Department’s shared goal of ensuring that convicted sex offenders are accounted for under the law.  These regulations will enhance the enforcement of registration and notification across the country and ensure that information about sex offenders in the community is available to law enforcement and the public.”  

Congress enacted SORNA as part of the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006 to strengthen the nation’s sex offender registration programs, which exist in every state, and to ensure that sex offenders are effectively tracked as they move among jurisdictions.  SORNA includes requirements regarding the sex offenses for which registration is required and the information sex offenders must provide to registration authorities; reporting of changes in, and periodic verification of, residence and other information; and the required duration of registration for sex offenders in different classes.  SORNA also requires sex offenders to report travel abroad, which addresses the global concern over international sex tourism and trafficking.

The proposed regulations’ clear and comprehensive statement of registration obligations under SORNA will promote the effective enforcement of SORNA’s requirements.  By these means, the proposed regulations will further SORNA’s objective of protecting the public from sex offenders by establishing a comprehensive national system for the registration of such offenders.

The proposed regulations are available here.

On Thursday, August 13th, Attorney General William P. Barr visited Cheyenne, Wyoming to lead a roundtable discussion with over 30 Wyoming police chiefs, sheriffs and other members of state and local law enforcement. The Attorney General was joined by U.S. Attorney Mark Klaassen, DEA Acting Director Tim Shea and Interim Director of Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation Forrest Williams. The Attorney General in his opening remarks conveyed his gratitude for the critical work local law enforcement officers do every day to protect their communities.

The Attorney General affirmed the Justice Department's commitment to our state and local law enforcement partners in working closely to help meet the specific needs and challenges of every community. During his remarks, the Attorney General announced that the Justice Department would be awarding $1 million in forensic grants to the Wyoming State Crime Lab that will support crime lab professionals, help analyze methamphetamine and synthetic drugs and increase data entry of DNA evidence from sex offenders to help protect Wyoming citizens from dangerous drugs, sexual perpetrators and violent criminals. The Attorney General then took questions from the law enforcement participants in a closed-press open dialogue discussion.

“The law enforcement mission is all about working together and supporting state and local policing efforts on the front lines,” said Attorney General William P. Barr. “I am proud, as all Americans should be, of the level of dedication and professionalism displayed by our state and local police forces. Recognizing that every policing community has varying and specific needs, the Justice Department will continue to offer tailored support to our local and state partners in their mission to keep their communities safe from harm.”

The Attorney General concluded his visit with a tour of the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation Laboratory, where he was able to see first-hand the investigative resources this new grant funding will help expand and continue to keep Wyoming citizens safe.

Photo courtesy ofMichael Cummo/Wyoming Trubune Eagle Photo courtesy ofMichael Cummo/Wyoming Trubune Eagle

 

The Department of Justice announced today that CenturyLink, Inc. has agreed to settle allegations that CenturyLink violated the court-ordered Final Judgment designed to prevent anticompetitive effects arising from its acquisition of Level 3 Communications, Inc. 

Despite provisions in the Final Judgment barring CenturyLink from soliciting customers that switched to the buyer of the divestiture assets, CenturyLink failed to comply, initiating contact on over 70 occasions over more than a year with former Level 3 customers who elected to switch to the divestiture buyer in the Boise City-Nampa, Idaho MSA (Boise MSA).  CenturyLink does not deny the United States’ allegations and has agreed to the Amended Final Judgment.

“When a defendant violates the terms of a settlement decree, it must be held accountable to its obligations to the department and the American consumer,” said Assistant Attorney General (AAG) Makan Delrahim of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division.  “Today’s motion to amend the Final Judgment ensures that consumers get the benefit of competition otherwise lost by CenturyLink’s acquisition of Level 3 Communications.  I also commend CenturyLink for its cooperation in resolving the department’s concerns.”

The Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division today filed an unopposed motion in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to amend the current Final Judgment, entered on March 6, 2018, in order to resolve the department’s concerns.  As part of the settlement, CenturyLink has agreed to:

• extend the non-solicitation period by two years for the Boise MSA;
• the appointment of an independent monitoring trustee; and
• pay the United States to defray the costs of the department’s investigation of CenturyLink’s violations of the court order.

These provisions will allow the divestiture buyer to have the benefit of the original court order which was designed to enable the divestiture buyer to replace competition lost as a result of CenturyLink’s acquisition of Level 3, ensure that CenturyLink follows the court order going forward, and recoup taxpayer funds.  CenturyLink also agreed to the addition mandated by AAG Delrahim of the four new standard provisions that the department has required in all recent antitrust settlements that make the Antitrust Division’s consent decrees easier to enforce.

CenturyLink, one of the largest wireline telecommunications providers in the United States, is the incumbent local exchange carrier (ILEC) in portions of 37 states and is also a global communications, hosting, cloud, and IT services company.  The company provides broadband, voice, video, data, and managed services over a robust 450,000 route-mile global network, connecting approximately 170,000 fiber-based on-net enterprise buildings.  In 2019, CenturyLink had revenues of approximately $22.4 billion. 

Attorney General William P. Barr issued the following statement in response to the arrest of a Kansas City man accused of murdering four-year-old LeGend Taliferro, after whom the Department of Justice’s Operation Legend is named.

“On June 29, 2020, four-year-old LeGend Taliferro was killed by gunfire while asleep in his bed in Kansas City, Missouri.  His senseless death, which is part of an alarming increase in violent crime this summer, led the Department of Justice to launch Operation Legend.  As part of that initiative, we have sent greater numbers of federal law enforcement agents, investigators, and analysts to work closely with state and local law enforcement partners to remove violent criminals from the streets of key American cities.

Today’s arrest of LeGend Taliferro’s suspected murderer marks a significant step forward in his case and illustrates the potential of Operation Legend more broadly.  The arrest and state charges resulted from cooperation among Kansas City police officers, the FBI, and U.S. Marshals.  This development is a model for joint efforts to solve crimes and reduce violence in other cities.  I thank the state and local law enforcement officers who helped make possible this important step in bringing justice to LeGend, to his family, and to his community.  

Although LeGend’s suspected murderer has been arrested, Operation Legend will go on.  Inspired by this success, federal law enforcement will continue working tirelessly to support state and local partners in our shared mission to keep the American people safe and enforce the rule of law.”

The Department of Justice today notified Yale University of its findings that Yale illegally discriminates against Asian American and white applicants in its undergraduate admissions process in violation of Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. The findings are the result of a two-year investigation in response to a complaint by Asian American groups concerning Yale’s conduct.   

“There is no such thing as a nice form of race discrimination,” said Assistant Attorney General Eric Dreiband for the Civil Rights Division. “Unlawfully dividing Americans into racial and ethnic blocs fosters stereotypes, bitterness, and division. It is past time for American institutions to recognize that all people should be treated with decency and respect and without unlawful regard to the color of their skin. In 1890, Frederick Douglass explained that the ‘business of government is to hold its broad shield over all and to see that every American citizen is alike and equally protected in his civil and personal rights.’ The Department of Justice agrees and will continue to fight for the civil rights of all people throughout our nation.” 

As a condition of receiving millions of dollars in taxpayer funding, Yale expressly agrees to comply with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, a cornerstone civil-rights law that prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, or national origin in programs and activities that receive federal financial assistance.

The Department of Justice found Yale discriminates based on race and national origin in its undergraduate admissions process, and that race is the determinative factor in hundreds of admissions decisions each year. For the great majority of applicants, Asian Americans and whites have only one-tenth to one-fourth of the likelihood of admission as African American applicants with comparable academic credentials. Yale rejects scores of Asian American and white applicants each year based on their race, whom it otherwise would admit. 

Although the Supreme Court has held that colleges receiving federal funds may consider applicants’ race in certain limited circumstances as one of a number of factors, the Department of Justice found Yale’s use of race is anything but limited. Yale uses race at multiple steps of its admissions process resulting in a multiplied effect of race on an applicant’s likelihood of admission, and Yale racially balances its classes.

The Department of Justice has demanded Yale agree not to use race or national origin in its upcoming 2020-2021 undergraduate admissions cycle, and, if Yale proposes to consider race or national origin in future admissions cycles, it must first submit to the Department of Justice a plan demonstrating its proposal is narrowly tailored as required by law, including by identifying a date for the end of race discrimination. 

The U.S. Department of Justice announced today that it has obtained a Temporary Restraining Order in federal court to combat fraud related to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.  The enforcement action, filed in Tampa, Florida, is part of the Justice Department’s ongoing efforts prioritizing the detection, investigation, and prosecution of illegal conduct related to the pandemic.  The action was brought based on an investigation conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), in coordination with the Vietnam Ministry of Public Security.

“The Department of Justice is committed to preventing fraudsters from exploiting this pandemic for personal gain,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Ethan P. Davis of the Department of Justice’s Civil Division.  “We will use every resource at the government’s disposal to pursue scammers who are stealing money from citizens amidst the ongoing public health crisis.”

“This action affirms our commitment to Attorney General Barr’s directive to prioritize fraud schemes arising out of the coronavirus pandemic,” said U.S. Attorney Maria Chapa Lopez of the Middle District of Florida.  “We will continue to aggressively investigate and shut down these scams that attempt to take advantage of our fellow American citizens, who are trying to keep their families safe and healthy during these very trying times.”

“Unfortunately the Global Pandemic has given criminals and criminal organizations a new opportunity to take advantage of our communities by targeting vulnerable populations through financial fraud schemes, the importation of counterfeit pharmaceuticals and medical supplies, and illicit websites defrauding consumers which continue to compromise legitimate trade and financial systems,” said HSI Tampa Acting Special Agent in Charge Kevin Sibley. “Through our investigations under Operation Stolen Promise, HSI will continue to disrupt and dismantle these criminal networks as well as those who are exploiting the pandemic for their own financial gain.”

As detailed in the civil complaint and accompanying court papers filed on Monday, Aug. 3, 2020, Defendants Thu Phan Dinh, Tran Khanh, and Nguyen Duy Toan, all residents of Vietnam, are alleged to have engaged in a wire fraud scheme seeking to profit from the COVID-19 pandemic.  According to the complaint, defendants operated more than 300 websites that fraudulently purported to sell products that became scarce during the pandemic, including hand sanitizer and disinfectant wipes.  Thousands of victims in all 50 states attempted to purchase these items from defendants’ websites.  Victims paid for items supposedly sold through the websites but never received the purchased products.  The complaint alleges that defendants set up hundreds of email accounts and accounts with a U.S.-based payment processor to effectuate the scheme and keep it hidden from law enforcement.  Defendants are also alleged to have listed fraudulent contact addresses and phone numbers on the websites, causing unaffiliated individuals and businesses in the United States to receive numerous complaint calls from victims who had been defrauded by the scheme.  In response to the Department’s request for injunctive relief, U.S. District Judge Charlene Edwards Honeywell issued an emergency ex parte temporary restraining order requiring that the registrar and registries of defendants’ fraudulent websites take immediate action to disable them.

The United States obtained the restraining order to shutter defendants’ websites immediately while an investigation of defendants’ scheme continues.  In so doing, the government is employing a federal statute that permits federal courts to issue injunctions to prevent harm to potential victims of fraudulent schemes.  In response to information provided by HSI, Vietnamese authorities have also conducted their own investigation and arrested the Defendants.

The Department of Justice recommends that Americans take the following precautionary measures to protect themselves from known and emerging scams related to COVID-19:

• Independently verify the identity of any company, charity, or individual that contacts you regarding COVID-19.
• Check the websites and email addresses offering information, products, or services related to COVID-19.  Be aware that scammers often employ addresses that differ only slightly from those belonging to the entities they are impersonating.  For example, they might use “cdc.com” or “cdc.org” instead of “cdc.gov.”
• Be wary of unsolicited emails offering information, supplies, or treatment for COVID-19 or requesting your personal information for medical purposes.  Legitimate health authorities will not contact the general public this way.
• Do not click on links or open email attachments from unknown or unverified sources.  Doing so could download a virus onto your computer or device.
• Make sure the anti-malware and anti-virus software on your computer is operating and up to date.
• Ignore offers from suspicious sources for a COVID-19 vaccine, cure, or treatment.  Remember, if a vaccine becomes available, you won’t hear about it for the first time through an email, online ad, or unsolicited sales pitch.
• Check online reviews of any company offering COVID-19 products or supplies.  Avoid companies whose customers have complained about not receiving items.
• Research any charities or crowdfunding sites soliciting donations in connection with COVID-19 before giving any donation.  Remember, an organization may not be legitimate even if it uses words like “CDC” or “government” in its name or has reputable looking seals or logos on its materials.  For online resources on donating wisely, visit the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) website.
• Be wary of any business, charity, or individual requesting payments or donations in cash, by wire transfer, gift card, or through the mail.  Don’t send money through any of these channels.
• Be cautious of “investment opportunities” tied to COVID-19, especially those based on claims that a small company’s products or services can help stop the virus.  If you decide to invest, carefully research the investment beforehand.  For information on how to avoid investment fraud, visit the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) website.
   

For the most up-to-date information on COVID-19, consumers may visit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and World Health Organization (WHO) websites.  The public is urged to report suspected fraud schemes related to COVID-19 (the Coronavirus) to the National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) hotline by phone at (1-866-720-5721) or via an online reporting form available at www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/webform/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.     

The enforcement action taken today is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Carolyn B. Tapie of the Middle District of Florida and Trial Attorney Kathryn A. Schmidt of the Civil Division’s Consumer Protection Branch.  HSI’s Tampa office is conducting the investigation.

The claims made in the complaint are allegations that, if the case were to proceed to trial, the government must prove to receive a permanent injunction against the defendants.     

Additional information about the Consumer Protection Branch and its enforcement efforts may be found at www.justice.gov/civil/consumer-protection-branch.  For more information about the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida, visit its website at www.justice.gov/usao-mdfl.  For information about the Department of Justice’s efforts to stop COVID-19 fraud, visit www.justice.gov/coronavirus.

A Las Vegas area resident charged with perpetrating a prize-notification scheme that bilked victims out of more than $10 million pleaded guilty today, the Department of Justice announced.

Andrea Burrow, 50, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mail fraud based on her participation in a scheme that preyed upon hundreds of thousands of victims, many of whom were elderly and vulnerable, with fraudulent prize notices.  The notices led victims to believe that they could claim a large cash prize if they paid a small fee.  This was false; victims who paid the fees did not receive anything of value. 

Burrow is the fourth defendant to plead guilty in connection with the scheme. Three other individuals – Patti Kern, Edgar Del Rio, and Sean O’Connor – pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mail fraud in 2019.  Following these guilty pleas, Burrow was indicted in November 2019 along with five others: Mario Castro, Jose Salud Castro, Salvador Castro, Miguel Castro, and Jose Luis Mendez.  The trial of the remaining five defendants is currently scheduled for Sept. 28, 2020.

“The defendant and her co-conspirators exploited the elderly and vulnerable by bombarding them repeatedly with false promises of wealth,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Ethan P. Davis of the Department of Justice’s Civil Division. “Today’s guilty plea demonstrates the Department’s continuing commitment to bring to justice those who prey upon the elderly.” 

The scheme operated from 2010 to February 2018, when postal inspectors executed multiple search warrants and the Department of Justice obtained a court order shutting down the fraudulent mail operation.  The indictment and other court filings alleged that Mario Castro, Jose Salud Castro, Salvador Castro, Miguel Castro, Jose Luis Mendez, and Edgar Del Rio worked at the printing and mailing businesses that sent the fraudulent mail, and each shared the profits from the fraudulent prize notices with Patti Kern, who helped manage the scheme.  Sean O’ Connor provided laser printing and data processing services to the scheme. Burrow opened victim return mail, sorted cash and other payments, and entered data from the victims’ responses into a database that the scheme used to target past victims with more fraudulent mail, according to the indictment.

“Postal Inspectors are dedicated to the pursuit of protecting those who can’t protect themselves.  This guilty plea should be a warning to all individuals who use promises of large cash prizes to build their own wealth the U.S. Postal Inspection Service will find you and you will be held accountable,” said Inspector in Charge Delany De Leon-Colon, Criminal Investigations Group

Today’s plea took place before U.S. District Judge Gloria Navarro. When sentenced, Burrow faces a statutory maximum sentence of up to 20 years in prison.

The U.S. Postal Inspection Service investigated the case.  The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Timothy Finley and Daniel Zytnick of the Department of Justice Civil Division’s Consumer Protection Branch and Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicholas Dickinson of the District of Nevada.

An indictment is an accusation by a federal grand jury and is not evidence of guilt.  Defendants should be presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

Since President Trump signed the bipartisan Elder Abuse Prevention and Prosecution Act (EAPPA) into law, the Department of Justice has participated in hundreds of enforcement actions in criminal and civil cases that targeted or disproportionately affected seniors.  In January 2020, the department designated “Preventing and Disrupting Transnational Elder Fraud” as an Agency Priority Goal, one of its top four priorities.  Later, in March 2020, the department announced the largest elder fraud enforcement action in American history, charging more than 400 defendants in a nationwide elder fraud sweep.  The department has likewise conducted hundreds of trainings and outreach sessions across the country since the passage of the Act. 

The department’s extensive and broad-based efforts to combat elder fraud seek to halt the billions of dollars senior lose to fraud schemes, including those perpetrated by transnational criminal organizations.  The best method for prevention, however, is by sharing information about the various types of elder fraud schemes with relatives, friends, neighbors, and other seniors who can use that information to protect themselves.

If you or someone you know is age 60 or older and has been a victim of financial fraud, help is standing by at the National Elder Fraud Hotline: 1-833-FRAUD-11 (1-833-372-8311).  This U.S. Department of Justice hotline, managed by the Office for Victims of Crime, is staffed by experienced professionals who provide personalized support to callers by assessing the needs of the victim, and identifying relevant next steps.  Case managers will identify appropriate reporting agencies, provide information to callers to assist them in reporting, connect callers directly with appropriate agencies, and provide resources and referrals, on a case-by-case basis.  Reporting is the first step.  Reporting can help authorities identify those who commit fraud and reporting certain financial losses due to fraud as soon as possible can increase the likelihood of recovering losses.  The hotline is staffed 7 days a week from 6:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. eastern time. English, Spanish and other languages are available.

For more information about the Consumer Protection Branch, visit its website at https://www.justice.gov/civil/consumer-protection-branch.  For more information about the U.S. Attorneys’ District of Nevada Office, visit their website at www.justice.gov/usao-nv.

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Attorney General William P. Barr issued the following statement in response to the resignation of Seattle Police Chief Carmen Best:

"I was disheartened to learn of the resignation of Seattle Police Chief Carmen Best.  Her leadership and demonstrated commitment to her oath of office reflected all that is good about America’s law enforcement.  In the face of mob violence, she drew the line in the sand and said, "Enough!", working tirelessly to save lives, protect her officers, and restore stability to Seattle.  Her example should be an inspiration to all who respect the rule of law and cherish safety and security in their communities.  This experience should be a lesson to state and local leaders about the real costs of irresponsible proposals to defund the police."