District Not Recorded

The Justice Department filed a complaint today alleging that the City of Glendale, Arizona, violated the employment rights of Arizona Air National Guard member Captain Rebecca Cruz under the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 (USERRA). Captain Cruz has served the United States honorably as a member of the Arizona Air National Guard since 2007.

 

According to the complaint, filed in the United States District Court for the District of Arizona, Captain Cruz’s military service was a motivating factor in Glendale’s decision to terminate her employment. The Department claims that, in March 2016, the City of Glendale hired Captain Cruz as a Management Analyst in its Public Works Department, knowing at that time that she also served as a member of the Guard. Approximately two months after she was hired, the Guard notified Cruz that she would need to attend military training for a new Air National Guard job classification to which she was being assigned. Cruz provided her military orders conveying that schedule to the City of Glendale, and six days later she was fired.

 

“In order to provide the security our nation depends on, members of our National Guard, like Captain Cruz, are often called away from their civilian jobs,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General John Gore of the Civil Rights Division. “These brave men and women must be able to fulfill their military obligations without fear that they will lose their jobs in the process, and the Department of Justice is here to ensure those protections.”

 

USERRA protects the rights of uniformed servicemembers to retain their civilian employment following absences due to military service obligations, and provides that servicemembers shall not be discriminated against because of their military obligations.

 

This lawsuit seeks damages equal to the amount of Cruz’s lost wages and benefits caused by the City of Glendale’s failure to comply with USERRA, as well as liquidated damages for what the Department alleges is Glendale’s willful violation of USERRA. It also seeks an order requiring the City of Glendale to reinstate Cruz to her prior position, to comply with all provisions of USERRA in the future, and to pay all related litigation fees.

 

This case stems from a referral by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), pursuant to an investigation by the DOL’s Veterans’ Employment and Training Service. The case is being handled by the Employment Litigation Section of the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division, which works collaboratively with the DOL to protect the jobs and benefits of National Guard servicemembers upon their return to civilian life.

 

The Justice Department gives high priority to the enforcement of servicemembers’ rights under USERRA. Additional information about USERRA can be found on the Justice Department’s websites at www.usdoj.gov/crt/emp and www.servicemembers.gov, as well as on DOL’s website at www.dol.gov/vets/programs/userra/main.htm.

 

Attorney General Jeff Sessions today issued the following statement on President Trump directing the administration to use all appropriate authority to respond to the opioid emergency:

“I applaud President Trump for his leadership in taking this drastic and necessary measure to confront an opioid crisis that is devastating communities around the country and ripping families apart. The death toll of this horrific epidemic reached 60,000 people in 2016, but as horrible as it is to think of that number, it is worse when we look past the staggering statistic and see our children, our moms and dads, sisters and brothers, friends and co-workers. This nation has never seen overdose deaths anywhere close to these numbers, and for each death, many more suffer debilitating addictions.

“Just last week the Department of Justice announced its new Opioid Fraud and Abuse Detection Unit and we continue to follow the President’s lead and use every tool we have to combat this deadly crisis.”

Justice Department announced today that Barrios Street Realty LLC, a company based in Lockport, Louisiana, has paid approximately $108,000 to 12 U.S. workers pursuant to a settlement with the department. The payments are part of a March 2016 settlement that resolved claims that Barrios discriminated against U.S. workers in violation of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA).

In its investigation leading up to the settlement, the department determined that from 2014 through 2015, the company and its agent, Jorge Arturo Guerrero Rodriguez, failed to consider or improperly rejected U.S. workers who applied for positions as sheet metal roofers or laborers, and then sought to fill the vacancies with foreign workers under the H-2B visa program. According to the department, the company’s petition for foreign workers falsely claimed that it could not find qualified U.S. workers. Refusing to consider or hire qualified U.S. workers because of their citizenship violates the anti-discrimination provision of the INA.

The settlement required Barrios to pay $30,000 in civil penalties and up to $115,000 in back pay to compensate U.S. workers who were denied employment because of the company’s reliance on H-2B visa workers. After entering the settlement, the department determined that 12 U.S. workers were entitled to receive back pay totaling approximately $108,000, and the company made the final payments to the workers last week.

“The Department of Justice will not tolerate employers misusing visa programs to discriminate against U.S. workers,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General John Gore of the Civil Rights Division. “We will vigorously prosecute claims against companies that place U.S. workers in a disfavored status.”

Civil Rights Division’s Immigrant and Employee Rights Section (IER), formerly known as the Office of Special Counsel for Immigration-Related Unfair Employment Practices, is responsible for enforcing the anti-discrimination provision of the INA. The statute prohibits, among other things, citizenship and national origin discrimination in hiring, firing, or recruitment or referral for a fee; unfair documentary practices; retaliation; and intimidation.

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.

Applicants or employees who believe they were subjected to different documentary requirements based on their citizenship, immigration status, or national origin; or discrimination based on their citizenship, immigration status or national origin in hiring, firing, or recruitment or referral, should contact IER’s worker hotline for assistance.

Acting Assistant Attorney General John Gore of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division and Acting U.S. Attorney Mark A. Yancey of the Western District of Oklahoma jointly announced that a former McClain County, Oklahoma, Jail Administrator, Wayne Barnes was sentenced today by U.S. District Court Judge Stephen P. Friot to 51 months in prison and ordered to pay a $10,000 fine for his conviction on a charge that he violated an inmate’s civil rights by depriving him of medical care, resulting in the inmate’s death. Barnes pleaded guilty to the charge on February 9, 2017.

 

Barnes was indicted by a grand jury in October 2016 and charged with a one-count federal criminal civil rights violation arising out of the death of K.W., a detainee who was housed at the jail in June 2013. The indictment alleged that K.W. was an insulin-dependent diabetic who received neither insulin nor medical evaluation between June 16, 2013 until the afternoon of June 19, 2013. On that day, according to the indictment, Barnes observed K.W. lying on the floor of his cell, unresponsive. Only then did Barnes direct a corrections officer to call emergency medical services, who found K.W.’s pupils fixed and dilated upon their arrival. K.W. died on June 21, 2013, having never regained consciousness. The indictment alleged that Barnes knew that K.W. had a serious medical condition and willfully failed to provide him with necessary medical care, and that his failure to do so resulted in K.W.’s death.

 

At his change of plea hearing, Barnes admitted that he was made aware between June 16 and June 19, 2013, that K.W. had been booked into the McClain County Jail, and that K.W. represented that he was a Type-1 diabetic who required insulin. Barnes further admitted that he failed to obtain medical care for K.W. and that, in doing so, he willfully denied K.W.’s Constitutional right to medical care. Barnes also admitted that his failure to obtain the required medical care resulted in K.W.’s death.

 

“Every law enforcement officer in this country takes an oath to uphold the United States Constitution,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Gore. “The Constitution ensures that persons detained pending the adjudication of charges against them are entitled to necessary medical care. This sentence affirms the importance of that right and underscores the continuing commitment of the Civil Rights Division to hold officers accountable to their oaths.”

 

“Inmates deserve and the law requires that adequate medical care be provided by penal institutions,” said U.S. Attorney Yancey. “Denying necessary medical treatment is inhuman and unconstitutional.”

 

This case was investigated by the Oklahoma City Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Julia Barry of the Western District of Oklahoma and Deputy Chief Kristy Parker of the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice.

The Executive Office of Immigration Review today released data on orders of removal, voluntary departures, and final decisions for the first six months of the Trump Administration.

 

The data released for Feb. 1, 2017 – July 31, 2017 is as follows:

 

• Total Orders of Removal [1]: 49,983
  • Up 27.8 percent over the same time period in 2016 (39,113)

 

• Total Orders of Removal and Voluntary Departures [2]: 57,069
  • Up 30.9 percent over the same time period in 2016 (43,595)

 

• Total Final Decisions [3]: 73,127
  • Up 14.5 percent over the same time period in 2016 (63,850)

 

Pursuant to President Trump’s Jan. 25 Executive Order, “Border Security and Immigration Enforcement Improvements,” the Department of Justice mobilized over one hundred existing Immigration Judges to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) detention facilities across the country. Over 90 percent of these cases have resulted in orders requiring aliens to depart or be removed from the United States. The Justice Department has also hired 54 additional Immigration Judges since President Trump took office, and continues to hire new Immigration Judges each month.

 

In addition to carrying out the President’s Executive Order, the Justice Department is also reviewing internal practices, procedures, and technology in order to identify ways in which it can further enhance Immigration Judges’ productivity without compromising due process.

 

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[1] An “order of removal” by an Immigration Judge results in the removal of an illegal alien from the United States by the Department of Homeland Security.

[2] Under an order of “voluntary departure”, an illegal alien agrees to voluntarily depart the United States by a certain date. If the illegal alien does not depart, the order automatically converts to an order of removal.

[3] A “final decision” is one that ends the proceeding at the Immigration Judge level such that the case is no longer pending.

 

 

 

The Justice Department’s Office of Justice for Victims of Overseas Terrorism (DOJ/OVT), which helps U.S. citizen victims and their families harmed in terrorist attacks abroad, launched its enhanced website today.  The enhanced website makes it easier than ever for victims and their families to access DOJ/OVT’s resources.  The announcement was made by Acting Assistant Attorney General for National Security Dana J. Boente and DOJ/OVT Director Heather Cartwright.

“The Office of Justice for Victims of Overseas Terrorism serves as an advocate for our citizens impacted by overseas terrorism as they navigate foreign criminal justice systems in pursuit of accountability,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Boente. “OVT’s enhanced website will make it easier to connect Americans with crucial services and information in the aftermath of an overseas terrorist attack.  We remain committed to providing these critical resources to American victims of overseas terrorism and their families.”

According to DOJ/OVT Director Heather Cartwright, “providing information to U.S. citizen victims of overseas terrorist attacks and their loved ones is a critical part of our office’s mission. Public outreach through our website is one important way of making information accessible to victims. We enhanced our website with a focus on the needs of victims and their families, and it highlights the help that we and our U.S. government partners provide to support U.S. victims of overseas terrorism. We hope this redesigned website is informative and helpful to victims, survivors and all those who are interested in the work of this office.”

In this era of global terrorist attacks affecting Americans, the enhanced website focuses on helping victims at different stages in the attack aftermath learn about available resources, whether they live at home in the U.S. or abroad. The redesigned website includes: 

• Emergency contacts for the immediate crisis as well as resources for the longer term, especially during foreign criminal justice proceedings, which can now be quickly accessed to gain clarity during what can be a confusing and overwhelming experience; 
• Web referrals so that users can explore and connect with the DOJ/OVT’s partner agencies to seek other assistance available from the U.S. government; 
• An online “toolbox” that provides more in-depth descriptions of DOJ/OVT services, legal definitions, victims’ rights, general information about terrorism abroad and common victim questions. These features afford victims and their families a simplified starting point when they are seeking answers to difficult questions;
• A newly-designed interactive map that contains information about DOJ/OVT’s efforts worldwide; and,
• Press releases highlighting major developments in the criminal justice response to overseas terrorist attacks with U.S. victims will continue to be posted to the website.

DOJ/OVT was established on May 6, 2005, by then-Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and is now part of the Justice Department’s National Security Division, which was created in 2006.  DOJ/OVT’s primary responsibility to Americans who are victims of overseas terrorism is to help navigate foreign criminal justice systems.  DOJ/OVT advocates for U.S. victims and their families to obtain information, be present during foreign terrorism prosecutions, and have a voice during the proceedings, as permitted by foreign law. DOJ/OVT further advocates for overseas terrorism victims’ voices to be heard throughout the world.

For more information on the important work done by DOJ/OVT every day, please visit www.justice.gov/nsd-ovt. If you are a U.S. citizen victim of international terrorism or a victim’s family member and you seek information on foreign criminal justice proceedings, DOJ/OVT can assist you. Please contact DOJ/OVT at nsd.ovt@usdoj.gov.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions today issued the following statement on the city of Chicago’s lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Justice:

 

“No amount of federal taxpayer dollars will help a city that refuses to help its own residents.

 

“This administration is committed to the rule of law and to enforcing the laws established by Congress. To a degree perhaps unsurpassed by any other jurisdiction, the political leadership of Chicago has chosen deliberately and intentionally to adopt a policy that obstructs this country’s lawful immigration system. They have demonstrated an open hostility to enforcing laws designed to protect law enforcement — Federal, state, and local — and reduce crime, and instead have adopted an official policy of protecting criminal aliens who prey on their own residents. This is astounding given the unprecedented violent crime surge in Chicago, with the number of murders in 2016 surpassing both New York and Los Angeles combined. The city’s leaders cannot follow some laws and ignore others and reasonably expect this horrific situation to improve.

 

“The Mayor complains that the federal government’s focus on enforcing the law would require a ‘reordering of law enforcement practice in Chicago.’ But that’s just what Chicago needs: a recommitment to the rule of law and to policies that rollback the culture of lawlessness that has beset the city.

 

“This administration will not simply give away grant dollars to city governments that proudly violate the rule of law and protect criminal aliens at the expense of public safety. So it’s this simple: Comply with the law or forego taxpayer dollars.”

Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein announced two new Department of Justice projects today at the International Association for Identification’s conference in Atlanta, Georgia. This reinforces the Justice Department’s commitment to sound forensic science practices and to increasing the capacity and effectiveness of forensic science providers by helping to improve the reliability of forensic analysis.

 

“The Department of Justice believes that when the adversarial American legal system functions as intended – including through the support of trained forensic examiners and legal practitioners educated on best forensics practices – justice is advanced,” said Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein. “The Department is fully committed to examining and strengthening forensic science despite efforts in the courtroom and elsewhere to reject reliable and admissible forensic evidence.”

The projects announced today are aimed at ensuring that the testimony of the Justice Department’s forensic examiners is consistent with sound scientific principles and just outcomes. The Department will develop Uniform Language for Testimony and Reports to give clear guidance to what the Department’s forensics examiners may discuss in a courtroom, and direct prosecutors to follow the same guidelines. The Department will also develop a new forensic examiner testimony-monitoring program to ensure compliance with the uniform language standards once they are adopted.

Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein also announced that Attorney General Jeff Sessions has tapped Ted Hunt, a former state prosecutor and member of the National Commission on Forensic Science (which sunset in April), to serve as the Department’s Senior Advisor on Forensics. In addition to Mr. Hunt’s decades of first-hand experience investigating and prosecuting cases with forensic evidence, he has long been involved with state, local, and federal efforts to improve forensic science through committees, commissions, and training programs.

“It speaks strongly of the Attorney General’s commitment to the interdisciplinary nature of forensic science that he has appointed Mr. Hunt to serve in this position,” said Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein. “I am directing him to coordinate closely with our federal, state, local, and tribal forensic science practitioners and to identify ways to best continue ongoing outreach to these stakeholders.”

An e-commerce company and its top executive have agreed to plead guilty to conspiring to fix prices for customized promotional products sold online to customers in the United States. Zaappaaz Inc. (d/b/a WB Promotions Inc., Wrist-Band.com and Customlanyard.net) and its president Azim Makanojiya agreed to plead guilty to a one-count criminal violation of the Sherman Act.

Acting Assistant Attorney General Andrew Finch of the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division, Acting U.S. Attorney Abe Martinez and Special Agent in Charge Perrye K. Turner of the FBI’s Houston Field Division made the announcement.

According to the felony charges filed today in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas in Houston, the conspirators attended meetings and communicated in person and online. The investigation has revealed that the conspirators used social media platforms and encrypted messaging applications, such as Facebook, Skype and Whatsapp, to reach and implement their illegal agreements. Specifically, the defendants and their co-conspirators agreed, from as early as 2014 until June 2016, to fix the prices of customized promotional products sold online, including wristbands and lanyards. In addition to agreeing to plead guilty, Zaappaaz has agreed to pay a $1.9 million criminal fine.

“As today’s charges show, criminals cannot evade detection by conspiring online and using encrypted messaging,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Andrew Finch. “In addition, today’s charges are a clear sign of the Division’s commitment to uncovering and prosecuting collusion that affects internet sales. American consumers have the right to a marketplace free of unlawful collusion, whether they are shopping at retail stores or online.”

“Schemes like the defendants’ cause financial harm to consumers who purchase goods and services and to businesses who sell goods and services in compliance with the laws of the United States,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Abe Martinez. “The United States will continue to investigate and prosecute individuals and businesses who seek to gain an illegal advantage.”

“The FBI stands ready to protect consumers from unscrupulous business practices,” said Special Agent in Charge Perrye K. Turner. “Antitrust laws help protect the competitive process for the benefit of all consumers.”

Makanojiya is charged with price fixing in violation of the Sherman Act which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in federal prison and a maximum fine of $1 million for individuals. The maximum fine for an individual 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.

Both defendants have agreed to cooperate with the Antitrust Division’s ongoing investigation. The plea agreements are subject to court approval.

This prosecution arose from an ongoing federal antitrust investigation into price fixing in the online promotional products industry, which is being conducted by the Antitrust Division’s Washington Criminal I Section with the assistance of the FBI’s Houston Field Office. Anyone with information on price fixing or other anticompetitive conduct in the customized promotional products industry should contact the Antitrust Division’s Citizen Complaint Center at 888-647-3258 or visit www.justice.gov/atr/contact/newcase.html.

The U.S. District Court for the District of Utah entered a consent decree of permanent injunction against defendants Isomeric Pharmacy Solutions LLC (Isomeric), William O. Richardson, who serves as its Chief Executive Officer, Rachael S. Cruz, who serves as its Chief Sales Officer, and Jeffery D. Brown, who serves as its Chief Operating Officer. The injunction permanently enjoins the defendants from distributing adulterated, misbranded and unapproved new drugs in violation of the federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.

 

The Department filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah on July 27, at the request of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), alleging, among other things, that the defendants failed to adequately address insanitary conditions that resulted in contamination in certain processing areas used by Isomeric.

 

According to the complaint, Isomeric manufactures, labels, and distributes sterile drugs, including injectable hormones, injectable corticosteroids, and ophthalmic drops. The pharmacy distributes most of its drugs directly to physicians throughout the United States. According to the complaint, Isomeric has a history of manufacturing injectable and ophthalmic drug products under conditions that fall short of the minimum requirements to ensure safety and quality.

 

“Compounding pharmacies must produce their drugs in a way that does not potentially endanger patient safety,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Chad A. Readler of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “The Department of Justice will continue to work actively with FDA to ensure that compounding pharmacies comply with the law and provide safe products that doctors and patients can rely on.”

 

Isomeric initiated three voluntary recalls in 2016, and a fourth in 2017 following an FDA inspection. The 2016 recalls involved three types of injectable suspension drugs: triamcinolone diacetate 40 mg/mL, methylprednisolone acetate/lidocaine HCl 40/10 mg/mL, and betamethasone acetate/betamethasone sodium phosphate. On April 6, 2017, Isomeric recalled all lots of non-expired drug products intended to be sterile that the pharmacy compounded and distributed nationwide between Oct. 4, 2016, and Feb. 7, 2017.

 

According to the complaint, FDA documented a number of insanitary conditions during a 2017 inspection of Isomeric. FDA observed, following a review of the pharmacy’s own records, that Isomeric repeatedly recovered several types of microorganisms in the air and on surfaces used for sterile processing, demonstrating that products manufactured in those areas were prepared, packed, or held under insanitary conditions, as alleged in the complaint. The complaint further alleges that Isomeric released for distribution over 100 batches of purportedly sterile finished products that had been processed in one or more areas containing particles in excess of the pharmacy’s “action limit” for particulates.

 

“Isomeric endangered the public health by manufacturing injectable drugs under poor conditions that compromised their required sterility and put patients at risk,” said FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, M.D. “We will continue taking strong enforcement actions against compounders who violate the Drug Quality and Security Act and put patients at risk by failing to produce sterile drugs in compliance with the law.”

 

In addition, according to the complaint, FDA found deviations of current good manufacturing practice requirements in the pharmacy’s sterile drug manufacturing operations. As alleged in the complaint, Isomeric failed to thoroughly review and investigate unexplained discrepancies and the failure of a batch or any of its components to meet any of its specifications, whether or not the batch was already distributed. In one example, according to the complaint, Isomeric failed to conduct an adequate investigation of black particles observed in vials of product that had “passed” visual inspection.

 

“The Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act is designed to protect patients from unsafe drugs,” said U.S. Attorney John W. Huber for the District of Utah. “Today’s enforcement action demonstrates our commitment to ensuring that when deficiencies in drug compounding are identified, they are properly addressed. We will take whatever actions are necessary to reduce the risk to patients who rely on such drugs.”

 

The defendants agreed to settle the litigation and be bound by a consent decree of permanent injunction. As part of the resolution, defendants agree not to resume manufacturing, holding or distributing drugs until they comply with specific remedial measures set forth in the order entered by the Court. Among other requirements, the defendants must hire a qualified independent expert to recommend and direct the implementation of corrective actions. The decree also specifically requires that defendants establish and implement procedures to ensure a thorough investigation of any unexplained discrepancy or failure in a drug batch, regardless of whether the batch has been distributed.

 

The government is represented by Trial Attorney Raquel Toledo of the Civil Division’s Consumer Protection Branch and Assistant U.S. Attorney Sandra L. Steinvoort of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Utah, with the assistance of Senior Counsel Claudia J. Zuckerman of FDA’s Office of the Chief Counsel, Department of Health and Human Services.

 

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 District of Utah, visit its website at https://www.justice.gov/usao-ut.

I want to thank Director Coats for being here. Together, we lead the National Insider Threat Task Force that was established in 2011. This task force has an important role to play and one we are taking seriously. Progress has been made and we intend to reach a new level of effectiveness.

 

First, let me say I strongly agree with the President and condemn in the strongest terms the staggering number of leaks undermining the ability of our government to protect this country. Just yesterday, we saw reports in the media about conversations the President had with foreign leaders. No one is entitled to surreptitiously fight their battles in the media by revealing sensitive government information. No government can be effective when its leaders cannot discuss sensitive matters in confidence or to talk freely in confidence with foreign leaders.

 

We are here today to talk about the dramatic growth in the number of unauthorized disclosures of classified national security information in the past several months. This includes leaks to both the media and in some cases even unauthorized disclosures to our foreign adversaries. Referrals for investigations of classified leaks to the Department of Justice from our intelligence agencies have exploded. In the first six months of this Administration, DOJ has already received nearly as many criminal referrals involving unauthorized disclosures of classified information as we received in the last three years combined.

 

Classified information, by definition, is information that if disclosed would do harm to our national security. As Director Coats will discuss, these leaks are incredibly damaging to our intelligence mission and capabilities. Simply put—these leaks hurt our country. All of us in government can do better. The first requirement is for discipline within all agencies of the government. To prevent these leaks, every agency and Congress has to do better.

 

We are taking a stand. This culture of leaking must stop.

 

Furthering this goal, today, we are here to announce some of the steps being taken and underway by the National Insider Threat Task Force to ensure that this government’s first priority—to protect this country and her citizens—is not undermined by the very people who have been entrusted to protect it.

 

While the Department of Justice does not discuss ongoing investigations or confirm specific matters, it is important for the American people—and for those who might be thinking about leaking sensitive or classified information—to know that criminals who would illegally use their access to our most sensitive information to endanger our national security are, in fact, being investigated and prosecuted. Since January, the Department has more than tripled the number of active leak investigations compared to the number pending at the end of the last Administration. And we have already charged four people with unlawfully disclosing classified material or with concealing contacts with foreign intelligence officers.

 

Soon after I arrived here in February, I initiated a review of our leak investigations and prosecutions. I reviewed how these cases were being referred and handled and was concerned with what we found—too few referrals, too few investigations with insufficient resources dedicated to them. I concluded the unprecedented rise in leaks required a surge of additional support for more investigations and to speed up our existing investigations.

 

Our system here relies on the intelligence community making a determination of whether classified material has been improperly handled or released and then sending referrals to the Department of Justice. This means it is vital for the intelligence community to know that the Department of Justice is committed to investigating and prosecuting these referrals. And when few investigations take place, criminal leaks may occur more often and a culture of leaking takes hold.

 

So, today, I have this message for the intelligence community: The Department of Justice is open for business.

 

And I have this warning for would-be leakers: Don’t do it.

 

For the past several months, we have already made changes and are seriously ramping up our efforts.

 

First, I directed my Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein—whose district in Maryland encompassed the NSA headquarters and who has personally led these kinds of investigations— and FBI Director Christopher Wray to oversee all classified leak investigations and actively monitor the progress of each and every case.

 

Second, I directed the National Security Division and U.S. Attorneys to prioritize cases involving unauthorized disclosures. The Department will not hesitate to bring lawful and appropriate criminal charges against those who abuse the nation’s trust.

 

Third, as I said, we tripled the number of active leak investigations. In response, the FBI has increased resources devoted to leak cases and created a new counterintelligence unit to manage these cases. Simultaneously, the Department is reviewing policies that impact leak investigations.

 

I have listened to career investigators and prosecutors about how to most successfully investigate and prosecute these matters. At their suggestion, one of the things we are doing is reviewing policies affecting media subpoenas. We respect the important role that the press plays and will give them respect, but it is not unlimited. They cannot place lives at risk with impunity. We must balance their role with protecting our national security and the lives of those who serve in our intelligence community, the armed forces, and all law abiding Americans.

 

Finally, here is what I want to tell every American today: This nation must end the culture of leaks. We will investigate and seek to bring criminals to justice. We will not allow rogue anonymous sources with security clearances to sell out our country any longer.

 

These cases are never easy. But cases will be made, and leakers will be held accountable.

 

All of us in government and in every agency and in Congress must do better. The first requirement is personal discipline. Education and repetition will make a difference. Prevention is what’s required. An investigation of a leak is too late, the danger is done.

 

The Department of Justice today announced that, in order to be selected for participation in the Department’s Public Safety Partnership (PSP) program, local jurisdictions must show a commitment to reducing crime stemming from illegal immigration.

 

In making the announcement, Attorney General Jeff Sessions said:

 

“By protecting criminals from immigration enforcement, cities and states with so-called 'sanctuary' policies make all of us less safe. We saw that just last week, when an illegal alien who had been deported twenty times and was wanted by immigration authorities allegedly sexually assaulted an elderly woman in Portland, a city that refuses to cooperate with immigration enforcement.

 

"By forcing police to go into more dangerous situations to re-arrest the same criminals, these policies endanger law enforcement officers more than anyone. The Department of Justice is committed to supporting our law enforcement at every level, and that’s why we're asking 'sanctuary' jurisdictions to stop making their jobs harder. By taking simple, common-sense considerations into account, we are encouraging every jurisdiction in this country to cooperate with federal law enforcement. That’s what 80 percent of the American people want them to do, and that will ultimately make all of us safer—especially law enforcement on our streets.

 

“These policies are driven by politics and do not protect their citizens. We will fight them with every lawful tool available."

 

The PSP program was announced in June and is a training and technical assistance program designed to enhance the capacity of local jurisdictions to address violent crime in their communities. Twelve locations were initially selected and the Department may announce additional sites later this year.

 

In determining which jurisdictions to select, the Department will ask interested jurisdictions the following questions:

 

1. Does your jurisdiction have a statute, rule, regulation, policy, or practice that is designed to ensure that U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) personnel have access to any correctional or detention facility in order to meet with an alien (or an individual believed to be an alien) and inquire as to his or her right to be or to remain in the United States?

    

2. Does your jurisdiction have a statute, rule, regulation, policy, or practice that is designed to ensure that your correctional and detention facilities provide at least 48 hours advance notice, where possible, to DHS regarding the scheduled release date and time of an alien in the jurisdiction’s custody when DHS requests such notice in order to take custody of the alien?

    

3. Does your jurisdiction have a statute, rule, regulation, policy, or practice that is designed to ensure that your correctional and detention facilities will honor a written request from DHS to hold a foreign national for up to 48 hours beyond the scheduled release date, in order to permit DHS to take custody of the foreign national?

 

In the attached letters, the Justice Department today formally requested that information from the following four local jurisdictions interested in the PSP program: Albuquerque, New Mexico; Baltimore, Maryland; San Bernardino, California; and Stockton, California

 

Attorney General Jeff Sessions today issued the following statement on the swearing in of the new Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Chris Wray:

"Moments ago I had the honor of swearing in Chris Wray as our new Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

"Chris has the experience and the strength of character that the American people want in an FBI Director and I congratulate him for being overwhelmingly confirmed to that post and look forward to working with him every day to keep America safe.

“As a former federal prosecutor and head of the Department of Justice's Criminal Division, Chris Wray has successfully prosecuted terrorists, drug kingpins, and white-collar criminals. He has earned the respect of his colleagues at DOJ, receiving our highest honor, the Edmund Randolph award, and bipartisan support in the Senate.

"I am confident that the FBI, the premier investigative agency in the world, is in great hands with Director Chris Wray at the helm."

Attorney General Jeff Sessions today issued the following statement on the RAISE Act:

 

“This proposal will help the Department of Justice perform its duties to uphold our nation's immigration law and end the unlawful abuse of our public benefits program that undermine U.S. taxpayers. The higher entry standards established in this proposal will allow authorities to do a more thorough job reviewing applicants for entry, therefore protecting the security of the U.S. homeland. The additional time spent on vetting each application as a result of this legislation will also ensure that each application serves the national interest.

 

“The American people deserve a lawful immigration system that promotes our national interest. The RAISE Act would give us a more merit-based immigration system that admits the best and the brightest around the world while making it harder for people to come here illegally. The bill would end programs known to be rife with fraud and abuse and finally improve the vetting process, making our country--and working-class wages--much safer and stronger."

Andre Bernard, of Mount Kisco, New York, pleaded guilty today for his participation in a multi-state scheme to defraud biodiesel buyers and U.S. taxpayers by fraudulently selling biodiesel credits and fraudulently claiming tax credits, announced Acting Assistant Attorney General Jeffrey H. Wood of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division and Acting U.S. Attorney W. Stephen Muldrow of the Middle District of Florida.

According to his plea, Bernard conspired with Thomas Davanzo, of Estero, Florida, Robert Fedyna, of Naples, Florida, and Scott Johnson of Pasco, Washington in a scheme to defraud biodiesel credit (known as “RIN” credits) buyers and U.S. taxpayers. The conspiracy involved having Gen-X Energy Group (Gen-X), headquartered in Pasco, Washington, and its subsidiary, Southern Resources and Commodities (SRC), located in Dublin, Georgia, generate fraudulent RINs and tax credits multiple times on the same material.

Bernard and his co-conspirators operated several shell companies that claimed to purchase and sell the renewable fuel. The co-conspirators also cycled the funds through these shell companies’ bank accounts to perpetuate the fraud scheme and conceal its proceeds.

From March 2013 to March 2014, the co-conspirators generated at least 60 million RINs that were based on fuel that was either never produced or was merely re-processed at the Gen-X or SRC facilities. The co-conspirators received at least $42 million from the sale of these fraudulent RINs to third parties. In addition, Gen-X received approximately $4,360,724.50 in false tax credits for this fuel.

This case was investigated by the U.S. Secret Service, the Environmental Protection Agency Criminal Investigation Division, and the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation. It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Sara C. Sweeney of the Middle District of Florida and Trial Attorney Adam Cullman of the Environment and Natural Resources Division of the Department of Justice.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions today announced the formation of the Opioid Fraud and Abuse Detection Unit, a new Department of Justice pilot program to utilize data to help combat the devastating opioid crisis that is ravaging families and communities across America.

Speaking at the Columbus Police Academy today, Attorney General Sessions said that the new Opioid Fraud and Abuse Detection Unit will focus specifically on opioid-related health care fraud using data to identify and prosecute individuals that are contributing to this prescription opioid epidemic.

Additionally, as part of the program, the Department will fund twelve experienced Assistant United States Attorneys for a three year term to focus solely on investigating and prosecuting health care fraud related to prescription opioids, including pill mill schemes and pharmacies that unlawfully divert or dispense prescription opioids for illegitimate purposes.

The following districts have been selected to participate in the program:

1. Middle District of Florida,
2. Eastern District of Michigan,
3. Northern District of Alabama,
4. Eastern District of Tennessee,
5. District of Nevada,
6. Eastern District of Kentucky,
7. District of Maryland,
8. Western District of Pennsylvania,
9. Southern District of Ohio,
10. Eastern District of California,
11. Middle District of North Carolina, and
12. Southern District of West Virginia.

In his speech, the Attorney General discussed the new program:

“First, I am announcing a new data analytics program – the Opioid Fraud and Abuse Detection Unit. I have created this unit to focus specifically on opioid-related health care fraud using data to identify and prosecute individuals that are contributing to this opioid epidemic. This sort of data analytics team can tell us important information about prescription opioids—like which physicians are writing opioid prescriptions at a rate that far exceeds their peers; how many of a doctor's patients died within 60 days of an opioid prescription; the average age of the patients receiving these prescriptions; pharmacies that are dispensing disproportionately large amounts of opioids; and regional hot spots for opioid issues.

“With this data in hand, I am also assigning 12 experienced prosecutors to focus solely on investigating and prosecuting opioid-related health care fraud cases in a dozen locations around the country where we know enforcement will make a difference in turning the tide on this epidemic. These prosecutors, working with FBI, DEA, HHS, as well as our state and local partners, will help us target and prosecute these doctors, pharmacies, and medical providers who are furthering this epidemic to line their pockets. These prosecutors will be based in several states across the country, including Kentucky, West Virginia, Tennessee, and right here in Southern Ohio.

“With these new resources, we will be better positioned to identify, prosecute, and convict some of the individuals contributing to these tens of thousands of deaths a year. The Department is determined to attack this opioid epidemic, and I believe these resources will make a difference.”

 

Full remarks as prepared for delivery are provided below:

Thank you Benjamin (Glassman) for that introduction, and more importantly, thank you for your 12 years of hard work at the Department to keep this community safe. And, of course, thank you to your Attorney General Mike Dewine. I know they care about these issues deeply. And Senator Portman, who couldn’t be with us today, but I know firsthand he has been a passionate and steadfast leader in the Senate about tackling the opioid problem for years.

I wanted to be here with you all today because Ohio is at the center of this drug crisis that is gripping our entire nation. This crisis affects all of us, but it is especially taking its toll on this community.

On average, one person in Columbus dies of a drug overdose every day.

And that pace is only accelerating. According to a survey of Ohio’s coroners, more than 4,000 Ohioans died of a drug overdose last year. And in Columbus, the coroner has already seen a 66 percent jump this year from the same time last year.

These aren’t just numbers. These are moms and dads. These are sisters, brothers, and grandchildren. These are neighbors and co-workers. These are friends. These are Americans.

Just last week, a two-year-old girl in Dayton was hospitalized for a suspected opioid overdose—two years old.

In 2015, more than 52,000 Americans lost their lives to drug overdoses. And the numbers we have for 2016 show another increase—a big increase. Based on preliminary data, nearly 60,000 Americans lost their lives to drug overdoses last year. That will be the highest drug death toll and the fastest increase in that death toll in American history. This is not a sustainable trend nor an acceptable America.

This crisis is being driven primarily by opioids—prescription drugs, heroin, and synthetic drugs like fentanyl.

According to the New England Journal of Medicine, we’re seeing more availability, higher purity, and lower price. They’re lacing heroin and cocaine with fentanyl—a drug 30 to 50 times more powerful than heroin. As a result, the drugs on the street are now more powerful, more addictive, and more dangerous than ever. And they’re not just dangerous for users: even being accidently exposed to just a few grains of fentanyl can kill a police officer or paramedic.

Sadly, this was almost the case just a couple months ago in East Liverpool, Ohio when Officer Chris Green brushed off a few grains of white powder from his shirt an hour after a traffic stop and fell to the floor. Luckily, he was in his squad room and they got to him immediately. As his police chief said, “if he would have been alone, he would have been dead.” Or imagine if he’d gone straight home that day to give his kids a hug? These are terrifying thoughts for our law enforcement.

To confront a crisis on this scale, we must take a comprehensive approach to the problem. There are three components: prevention, enforcement, and treatment.

Treatment is important. In some cases, treatment can help break the cycle of addiction and crime and help people get their lives back together.

But treatment alone is not enough. Treatment often comes too late. By the time many people receive treatment, they, their families, and communities have already suffered so much. The struggle to overcome addiction can be a long process – and it can fail. And not only can it fail, it very often fails.

In recent years, some of the government officials in this country have sent mixed messages about the harmfulness of drugs. We must not capitulate intellectually or morally to drug use. We must create a culture that is hostile to drug abuse. We know this can work. It has worked in the past for drugs, but also for cigarettes and seatbelts. A campaign was mounted, it took time, and it was effective. We need to send such a clear message now.

The Department of Justice has been working diligently to improve our prevention efforts. We are doing that through raising awareness, through drug take-back programs, and through DEA’s 360 Strategy program – Dayton was recently announced as a 2017 pilot city.

Prevention is what we at the Department do every day—because enforcement is prevention. Enforcing our laws helps keep drugs out of our country, decrease their availability, drive up their price, and reduce their purity and addictiveness.

DEA tells us that 80 percent of heroin addiction starts with prescription drug addiction. We must stop the abuse of prescription drugs.

Earlier this month, the Department announced the largest health care fraud takedown in American history. DOJ coordinated the efforts of more than 1,000 state and federal law enforcement agents to arrest more than 400 defendants. More than 50 of these defendants were doctors and have been charged with opioid-related crimes, which means this was also the largest opioid-related fraud takedown in American history.

And, just a week after we made that announcement, we announced the seizure and take down of AlphaBay— the largest dark net marketplace takedown in history. This site hosted some 220,000 drug sale listings and was responsible for countless synthetic opioid overdoses, including the tragic death of a 13 year old in Utah.

These efforts build on the good work that U.S. Attorney Glassman and the Department have accomplished here. In late January, a doctor from New Albany, Ohio pled guilty to maintaining a clinic as a front for drug trafficking. He forfeited more than $29 million in seized assets from illegal drug trafficking.

A few months later, in April, a doctor from Portsmouth, Ohio, pled guilty to conspiring to distribute a controlled substance through a pain clinic. For six years, the clinic saw more than 20 patients a day, who each paid at least $200 in cash. At one point the defendant even opened her own dispensary at the clinic, so she could fill her own prescriptions for desperate patients.

These cases are beginning to roll in from all over the country.

On behalf of the Department, I want to say thank you to U.S. Attorney Glassman and everyone who worked on these cases. You have made this Department proud—and more importantly, you have made the people of Ohio safer.

And we can and must do more. Which is why today, we are announcing a new effort to target our federal resources against this epidemic. If you are a doctor illegally prescribing opioids for profit or a pharmacist letting these pills walk out the door and onto our streets based on prescriptions you know were obtained under false pretenses, we are coming after you. We will reverse these devastating trends with every tool we have.

First, I am announcing a new data analytics program – the Opioid Fraud and Abuse Detection Unit. I have created this unit to focus specifically on opioid-related health care fraud using data to identify and prosecute individuals that are contributing to this opioid epidemic. This sort of data analytics team can tell us important information about prescription opioids—like which physicians are writing opioid prescriptions at a rate that far exceeds their peers; how many of a doctor's patients died within 60 days of an opioid prescription; the average age of the patients receiving these prescriptions; pharmacies that are dispensing disproportionately large amounts of opioids; and regional hot spots for opioid issues.

With this data in hand, I am also assigning 12 experienced prosecutors to focus solely on investigating and prosecuting opioid-related health care fraud cases in a dozen locations around the country where we know enforcement will make a difference in turning the tide on this epidemic. These prosecutors, working with FBI, DEA, HHS, as well as our state and local partners, will help us target and prosecute these doctors, pharmacies, and medical providers who are furthering this epidemic to line their pockets. These prosecutors will be based in several states across the country, including Kentucky, West Virginia, Tennessee, and right here in Southern Ohio.

With these new resources, we will be better positioned to identify, prosecute, and convict some of the individuals contributing to these tens of thousands of deaths a year. The Department is determined to attack this opioid epidemic, and I believe these resources will make a difference.

And I issue a plea to all physicians, dentists, pharmacists: slow down. First do no harm.

These efforts will make all of us safer—and not just from the threat of drug addiction. They also help us reduce violence in our communities.

Drug trafficking is an inherently violent business. If you want to collect a drug debt, you can’t file a lawsuit in court. You collect it by the barrel of a gun.

By putting traffickers behind bars and reducing the supply of dangerous drugs, we will prevent much of the violence that is associated with drug dealing.

We also have to recognize that most of the heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine, and fentanyl in this country got here across our Southern border. Under President Trump’s strong leadership, the federal government is finally getting serious about securing our borders. Illegal entries are down 50 percent already and the wall has not even gone up.

We have also seen steep decreases in drug prices on the street. But the price we have paid as a country has only gone up. If you ask the economists, they’ll tell you that prescription opioid addiction costs our economy some $78 billion a year and other illicit drugs cost us another $193 billion a year. Remember, many of these drugs are paid for by private insurance, Medicaid, Medicare, and the VA. But what is even more devastating is the price we have paid in broken relationships, broken lives, and death rates the likes of which we have never seen before.

In the face of the worst drug crisis in our history, we need to use every lawful tool we have. But I’m convinced this is a winnable war. We will be calling on America’s great physicians and health care workers to take special care with addictive drugs. And in order to win, we are committing more Department of Justice resources to combat this epidemic, as well as continue to work to strengthen our partnerships with you—law enforcement on the front lines.

Let me ask you to do a simple thing: after every arrest for illegal possession of an illegal prescription, make every effort to get the arrestee to tell you where he or she got the drugs. We did that in Mobile and it led us to the two biggest sources in town. We need to hammer these illegal suppliers. You are ultimately the most effective resources that we as a country have in this effort. You have a tough job, but it’s a job worth doing.

But you can also know this: you have our thanks and this Department of Justice will always have your back. Thank you.

President Trump’s Executive Order on Public Safety in the Interior of the United States requires the Department of Justice and Department of Homeland Security to collect relevant data and provide quarterly reports on data collection efforts. The data in this release shows a significant prison population of incarcerated aliens.

Below is a summary of data collected under Section 16 of the Order, which directs “the Secretary [of Homeland Security] and the Attorney General . . . to collect relevant data and provide quarterly reports” regarding the following subjects: (a) the immigration status of all aliens incarcerated under the supervision of the Bureau of Prisons; (b) the immigration status of all aliens incarcerated as federal pretrial detainees; and (c) the immigration status of all convicted aliens in state prisons and local detention centers throughout the United States.

Information Regarding Immigration Status of Aliens Incarcerated Under the Supervision of the Federal Bureau of Prisons

The Department of Justice’s Bureau of Prisons (BOP) has an operational process for maintaining data regarding foreign-born inmates in its custody. On a daily basis, BOP supplies this information to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). ICE, in turn, analyzes that information to determine the immigration status of each inmate and provides that information back to BOP.

As a part of satisfying the Justice Department’s second quarterly report of this information, below is information regarding aliens currently incarcerated under the supervision of BOP.[1] This information is current as of June 24:

Out of the 187,855 inmates in BOP custody, 42,034 are foreign-born. The breakdown of the 42,034 aliens is as follows:

• 19,749 (46.9%) are aliens who have received final orders of removal;
• 21,121 (50.2%) are aliens who are under ICE investigation for possible removal;
• 1,157 (2.8%) are aliens whose cases are pending adjudication before an Immigration Judge in the Executive Office of Immigration Review (EOIR); and
• Seven (.0002%) are aliens who have been granted relief.

Information Regarding the Immigration Status of Aliens Incarcerated as Federal Pretrial Detainees

The U.S. Marshal Service (USMS), the Department of Justice’s component charged with the housing and care of federal pretrial detainees, recently instituted a program to capture data regarding the immigration status of these detainees.

Based upon records current as June 14, USMS identified 12,005 “self-reporting” foreign-born prisoners (aliens) out of 50,135 arrested and detained at USMS facilities. Further details follow for the 12,005 detained aliens:

• 9,857 (82.1%) are aliens who have received final orders of removal;
• 2,047 (17.1%) are aliens whose cases are still pending adjudication before an Immigration Judge in the EOIR; and
• 101 (.8%) are aliens still pending adjudication (ICE has charged these aliens as removal cases, but a final disposition has not yet been reached.)

 

Immigration Status of All Convicted Aliens Incarcerated in State Prisons and Local Detention Centers throughout the United States

The Department continues to progress towards establishing data collection of the immigration status of convicted aliens incarcerated in state prisons and local detention centers through its Office of Justice Programs (OJP), Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS).

 

[1] The previous report is available at: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/pursuant-executive-order-public-safety-department-justice-releases-data-incarcerated-aliens-0

An employee of the U.S. Department of the Navy  pleaded guilty today to accepting more than $250,000 in cash bribes from three people making unauthorized liquor purchases from the Navy Exchange Service Command where he worked, announced Acting Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Blanco of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and Special Agent in Charge Leo Lamont of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service’s (NCIS) Northeast Field Office.

Eric Jex, 29, of Uniondale, New York, pleaded guilty to one count of bribery before U.S. District Judge Joanna Seybert of the Eastern District of New York. Sentencing is set for Feb. 2, 2018.

According to admissions made in connection with his guilty plea, as a supervisory sales associate at the NEX at Mitchel Field in Garden City, New York, Jex was responsible for preparing and processing retail transactions, and he had direct authority to make decisions concerning large liquor orders and shipments from the NEX’s warehouse. He was also subject to policies limiting access to the NEX’s goods to authorized personnel, such as Navy service members, and requiring NEX employees to check purchasers’ IDs. In connection with his guilty plea, Jex admitted that from approximately November 2015 through December 2016, he agreed with three unauthorized purchasers, one of whom had a New York State Liquor License, to arrange repeated large purchases of liquor from the NEX. He allowed the three unauthorized purchasers access to the NEX’s low prices and frequently provided additional price-matching discounts to which the purchasers were not entitled. In exchange, the three unauthorized purchasers paid cash bribes to Jex, typically $5 to $20 per case of liquor. According to plea documents, these bribes added up to more than $250,000 for the period of the scheme.

The NCIS; U.S. Treasury Department, Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau; and the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance, Criminal Investigations Division investigated this case. Trial Attorneys Luke Cass and Andrew Laing of the Criminal Division’s Public Integrity Section are prosecuting the case with the assistance of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York.

The Department of Justice today released a report detailing the convictions of members of transnational criminal organizations during the third quarter of the Fiscal Year 2017. The report highlights this Administration and the Justice Department’s aggressive pursuit of criminal groups seeking to cause Americans harm.

On Feb. 9, 2017, President Donald J. Trump issued an Executive Order on Enforcing Federal Law with Respect to Transnational Criminal Organizations and Preventing International Trafficking. The Department of Justice is working together in partnership with the Department of State, Department of Homeland Security, and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence to implement Executive Order 13773.

Included in the report are 506 convictions in cases targeting transnational criminal organizations in the third quarter, together with additional reporting from the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces for the second quarter. This brings the number of convictions in the second quarter to 754. In all, the Department of Justice has reported 1,260 convictions of members of transnational criminal organizations and their subsidiaries since Jan. 1, 2017.

“At a time when homicide rates are up in 27 of our 35 biggest cities and violent crime is rising, the Trump administration has made it a top priority to deter and reduce violent crime through enforcing our laws,” said Attorney General Jeff Sessions. “One of the gravest threats we face is from transnational criminal organizations, and the Department of Justice is taking on this threat, convicting more than 1,260 gang members already this year. These convictions send a clear message to gang members and would-be criminals through this country: we will find you and bring you to justice.”

The accompanying report, provided in accordance with Section 3 (g) of the Executive Order, provides information pertaining to the number of convictions in investigations involving transnational criminal organizations as reported by the Department of Justice, for the period beginning April 1, 2017 and ending June 30, 2017.

Today Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced the selection of General Mark S. Inch as the director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP).

"General Mark Inch has served this country at home and abroad for 35 years," Attorney General Jeff Sessions said. "As a military policeman for nearly a quarter of a century and as the head of Army Corrections for the last two years, General Inch is uniquely qualified to lead our federal prison system. My confidence that he will be a highly effective leader of the Federal Bureau of Prisons is second only to my gratitude for his willingness to continue his service to this great country in this critical role."

General Inch most recently served as the Provost Marshal General and Commanding General of the Criminal Investigation Command and Army Corrections at Headquarters for the Department of the Army. In that position General Inch was the principal military advisor to the Secretary of the Army and Chief of Staff of the Army on all policing matters. In that role he was also responsible for developing and executing strategy, policies, plans and programs for the Army’s policing organizations.

General Inch previously held the role of Commanding General of the Combined Joint Interagency Task Force 435 in Kabul, Afghanistan where he was responsible for Detainee Operations and Rule of Law Development within the Army’s Security Sector.

The U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today announced that Harcros Chemicals Inc. has entered into a proposed agreement to settle claims that Harcros violated provisions of the Clean Air Act aimed at preventing accidental releases of chemicals that can have serious consequences for public health, safety and the environment. Under the proposed agreement, Harcros will assure that its accident prevention program complies with all applicable requirements.

Headquartered in Kansas City, Kan., Harcros maintains and operates 31 facilities in 19 states that manufacture, blend, repackage, and distribute a wide variety of commercial chemicals, including extremely hazardous substances.

“This resolution ensures that Harcros complies with important Clean Air Act requirements that seek to prevent catastrophic releases of hazardous chemicals to the environment,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Jeffrey H. Wood of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division. “Today’s action shows that DOJ and EPA are serious about enforcing compliance with the Clean Air Act and protecting American workers and their communities from risks associated with accidental releases of hazardous substances. We also appreciate the positive cooperation that we received from Harcros during the resolution of this matter.”

“This important agreement will improve chemical safety and minimize the risk of accidental releases at Harcros’ facilities nationwide,” said Acting Assistant Administrator Larry Starfield of the EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance. “It is a priority for EPA to ensure that companies properly manage risks posed by chemicals in a way that protects communities from accidental releases.”

Under the proposed settlement, Harcros will audit 28 of its facilities to identify and correct any potential violations of its risk management program and comply with Clean Air Act requirements that facilities adequately assess hazards, undertake measures to prevent accidents, and be prepared to effectively address such accidents when they do occur. Harcros will correct any violations identified in the audits according to a schedule set forth in the agreement. The settlement agreement also requires Harcros to pay a $950,000 penalty.

Also, as part of today’s agreement, Harcros will install foam-based sprinkler systems at eight of its facilities. The enhanced fire suppression system is expected to minimize the impacts of an accident by enhancing the speed and effectiveness of the facilities’ ability to extinguish the flames and prevent spread of chemicals.

The proposed settlement reflects the fact that Harcros Chemicals initially brought these violations to the attention of the EPA. In addition, Harcros cooperated fully with the Justice Department and the EPA during the negotiation of the consent decree.

The proposed consent decree was lodged with the United States District Court for the District of Kansas and will be subject to a 30-day public comment period following its publication in the Federal Register. A copy of the consent decree lodged today is available on the Department of Justice website at: http://www.justice.gov/enrd/Consent_Decrees.html.

For more information about today’s agreement, visit: https://www.epa.gov/enforcement/harcros-chemicals-inc-clean-air-act-settlement.

Today, the U.S. Department of Justice announced that, following the memorandum from Attorney General Sessions to prioritize firearm prosecutions, the number of defendants charged with unlawful possession of a firearm increased nearly 23 percent in the second quarter of 2017 (2,637) from the same time period in 2016 (2,149).

“Violent crime is on the rise in many parts of this country, with 27 of our biggest 35 cities in the country coping with rising homicide rates,” said Attorney General Jeff Sessions. “Law abiding people in some of these communities are living in fear, as they see families torn apart and young lives cut short by gangs and drug traffickers. Following President Trump’s Executive Order to focus on reducing crime, I directed federal prosecutors to prioritize taking illegal guns off of our streets, and as a result, we are now prosecuting hundreds more firearms defendants. In the first three months since the memo went into effect, charges of unlawful possession of a gun – mostly by previously convicted felons – are up by 23 percent. That sends a clear message to criminals all over this country that if you carry a gun illegally, you will be held accountable. I am grateful to the many federal prosecutors and agents who are working hard every day to make America safe again.”

In February, immediately after the swearing-in of Attorney General Jeff Sessions, President Trump signed an Executive Order that directs the Attorney General to seek to reduce crime and to set up the Task Force on Crime Reduction and Public Safety. The Task Force has provided Sessions with recommendations on a rolling basis. In March, based on these recommendations, Attorney General Sessions sent a memorandum to Department of Justice prosecutors, ordering them to prioritize firearms offenses.

In the three months immediately following the Attorney General’s memo – April, May and June – the number of defendants charged with unlawful possession of a firearm (18 U.S.C. 922) increased by nearly 23 percent compared to those charged over the same time period in 2016. The number of defendants charged with the crime of using a firearm in a crime of violence or drug trafficking (18 U.S.C. 924), increased by 10 percent.

Based on data from the Executive Office for United States Attorneys (EOUSA), in Fiscal Year 2016 (starting October 1), 11,656 defendants were charged with firearms offenses under 18 U.S.C. 922 or 924. EOUSA projects that in Fiscal Year 2017, the Department is on pace to charge 12,626 defendants with these firearms crimes. That would be the most federal firearms cases since 2005.  It would also be an increase of eight percent from Fiscal Year 2016, 20 percent from 2015, and an increase of 23 percent from 2014.

A federal court in New York permanently enjoined Elias Linares, Margea Zaldivar, and their businesses Taxes La Universal Corp., Universal Taxes & Staffing Corp. and Taxes La Universal II Corp., from preparing federal tax returns for others, the Justice Department announced today. Linares and Zaldivar agreed to a civil injunction order entered against them, which requires them and their businesses to cease tax return preparation and notify current and former clients of the injunction.

According to the government’s complaint, Linares and Zaldivar, through their businesses located in Freeport and Roosevelt, New York, routinely prepared federal tax returns for customers that contained false or erroneous claims for education tax credits, fuel tax credits and the Earned Income Tax Credit. For example, the complaint alleges that Linares and Zaldivar falsely claimed education tax credits, including listing the Department of Education as an educational institution at which their customers incurred fictitious educational expenses. During the Internal Revenue Service’s (IRS) investigation of Linares, Zaldivar, and their businesses, the IRS sent questionnaires to their customers whose returns contained suspicious items, according to the complaint. One of these customers dropped off the IRS’s questionnaire at Taxes La Universal and picked it up when it was completed, according to the complaint. This questionnaire stated that the customer attended a local community college, and during an interview with the IRS, this customer stated that this information was not true, according to the complaint.

The complaint alleges that these types of return preparer misconduct allowed Linares and Zaldivar to understate their customers’ tax liabilities and claim undeserved refunds. As alleged in the complaint, IRS examinations of 51 returns prepared by Linares, Zaldivar, or their businesses show that all 51 contained false or erroneous claims resulting in a collective tax deficiency of over $479,000.

Return preparer fraud is one of the IRS's Dirty Dozen Tax Scams for 2017. The IRS has some tips on their website for choosing a tax preparer. 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’s 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.

A Temple Hills, Maryland man pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to conspiring to file fraudulent claims for tax refunds, wire fraud, aggravated identity theft and false personation, announced Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg of the Justice Department’s Tax Division.

 

According to the Indictment and information provided to the court, Anthony Ferguson participated in a stolen identity refund fraud conspiracy from January 2012 through May 2016. Ferguson and his co-conspirators obtained personal identifying information from several sources and used those identities to file tax returns and obtain fraudulent refunds from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). In 2016, Ferguson pretended to be an employee of the U.S. Department of the Treasury and sent text messages to a witness in an attempt to obtain the details of an ongoing criminal investigation into his conduct.

 

Sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 23 before U.S. District Court Judge Royce C. Lamberth. He faces a statutory maximum sentence of 10 years in prison for conspiring to file false refund claims, 20 years in prison for each count of wire fraud, three years in prison for false personation and a mandatory minimum sentence of two years in prison for each count of aggravated identity theft. Ferguson also faces a period of supervised release, restitution and monetary penalties.

 

Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Goldberg commended special agents of IRS Criminal Investigation and Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA), who conducted the investigation, and Trial Attorneys Mark McDonald, Sean Green and Jack Morgan of the Tax Division, who are prosecuting the case.

 

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

 

INTERPOL Washington INTERPOL Washington Assistant Director Royce Walters addresses the audience at the Biometrics for Government & Law Enforcement International Conference.

On July 26, 2017, INTERPOL Washington--the U.S. National Central Bureau--participated in the Biometrics for Government & Law Enforcement International Conference.  Held in Arlington, Virginia, the three-day event brought together industry experts from various fields, including high level U.S. government officials, directors of security agencies, heads of acquisition, and biometric program managers, to discuss the challenges and best practices they have encountered with shaping national and global security.

INTERPOL Washington Assistant Director Royce Walters addressed the session called, “Leveraging Voice, Face and Physical Behavioral Biometrics to Enhance Security Layers.” He provided an overview of INTERPOL Washington, including its mission and participation in various information sharing initiatives.

Border points are critical locations for preserving national security and INTERPOL has a number of tools to support these efforts, including INTERPOL’s database of Stolen and Lost Travel Documents (SLTD). Walters explained the origins of SLTD which became operational in July of 2002, following the 9/11 terrorist attacks. SLTD helps INTERPOL member countries secure their borders and protect their citizens from terrorists and other dangerous criminals who travel freely using stolen, lost, revoked, and forged travel documents. The SLTD database is a searchable repository of visas and passports reported as lost or stolen.

INTERPOL National Central Bureaus (NCBs) and law enforcement agencies submit information about stolen and lost travel documents directly into the SLTD database via INTERPOL’s secure global police-to-police communications system, I-24/7.  Law enforcement officials use the SLTD database to screen the passports of individuals who are travelling internationally in order to rapidly ascertain the status of the individual and passport in question.

Walters emphasized the important role that individual countries play in the success of the SLTD. The database is only as strong as the information entered and the consistency of its use.

 A component of the U.S. Department of Justice, INTERPOL Washington is co-managed by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. As the designated representative to INTERPOL on behalf of the Attorney General, INTERPOL Washington serves as the national point of contact for all INTERPOL matters, coordinating international investigative efforts among member countries and the more than 18,000 local, state, federal, and tribal law enforcement agencies in the United States.

 

During their meeting in San Salvador this morning, Attorney General Jeff Sessions congratulated Attorney General Douglas Menéndez on their announcement that Salvadoran prosecutors today charged 113 MS-13 gang members in El Salvador. In addition, 593 gang members were charged yesterday, including many MS-13 members.

On February 9, 2017, President Donald J. Trump issued an Executive Order on Enforcing Federal Law with Respect to Transnational Criminal Organizations and Preventing International Trafficking to dismantle and eradicate transnational gangs threatening the safety of our communities. Pursuant to that order, Attorney General Sessions has made dismantling transnational gangs like MS-13 a priority. Today’s announcement comes as a result of the meeting the Attorneys General held in March of this year in Washington, D.C.

Earlier this year, members of the MS-13’s Peajes Locos Salvatruchas Clique, occupying territory in the La Paz Department of the country, allegedly committed several high profile murders including the killings of three victims from the LGBT community who were believed to have committed extortions without authorization from MS-13. The alleged shooter in these high profile murders fled to the United States and is now in ICE custody pending immigration proceedings. ICE agents in El Salvador are coordinating with their counterparts in the United States to ensure that he is quickly removed and brought back to El Salvador to face charges.  

The investigation into this MS-13 clique is being handled by Salvadoran gang prosecutors who were trained and mentored by FBI and State Department Bureau of International Narcotics and Law advisors, Justice Department embedded Office of Overseas Prosecutorial Development Assistance and Training (OPDAT) prosecutors, and police officers from the HIT Team. In addition, FBI and OPDAT teams worked with Salvadoran prosecutors to fund and arrange for essential witnesses to the murders to be transported to El Salvador for court proceedings.

Yesterday, a former supervisor at an aluminum extrusion manufacturing company in the Portland, Oregon, area pleaded guilty for his role in a decade-long scheme involving the fraudulent certification of mechanical properties for parts manufactured by his former employer.

Acting Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Blanco of the Department of Justice’s Criminal Division, Executive Officer Renee Juhans of the NASA Office of Inspector General, Special Agent in Charge Loren ‘Renn’ Cannon of the FBI’s Portland Division, Special Agent in Charge Chris Hendrickson of the Defense Criminal Investigative Service’s (DCIS) Western Field Office and Special Agent in Charge John Khin of DCIS’s Southeast Field Office made the announcement.

Dennis Balius, 60, of Portland, pleaded guilty to one count of mail fraud before U.S. District Judge Marco A. Hernández of the District of Oregon. Sentencing has been scheduled for November 30 before Judge Hernández.

As part of his guilty plea, Balius admitted that, as a lab supervisor at a Portland-area aluminum extrusion manufacturing facility, he trained and directed lab technicians – who conducted testing on aluminum extrusions – to falsify mechanical properties test results for extrusions that failed to meet industry specifications. Balius admitted that from the time he became a lab supervisor in or about 2003 through the end of his employment in 2015, he routinely falsified and instructed lab technicians to falsify test results to ensure the company’s unreliable and inconsistent production practices would not prevent aluminum extrusions from being shipped to customers. Balius admitted that he made, or directed lab technicians to make, alterations to failing test results if the shipping department asked him to rush an order because ensuring on-time delivery of aluminum helped him and other employees receive bonuses.

Balius further admitted that his former employer determined that he and the lab technicians altered the mechanical properties of aluminum extrusions over 4,000 times, allowing the manufacturing company to gross over $6.8 million in total sales based on altered test results.

This case was investigated by the NASA Office of Inspector General, the FBI’s Portland office and DCIS. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant Chief Thomas B.W. Hall and Trial Attorneys Jennifer G. Ballanytyne and Emily C. Scruggs of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section.

Individuals who believe that they may be a victim in this case should visit the Fraud Section’s Victim Witness website for more information.

A District of Columbia woman was sentenced today to 63 months in prison for her involvement in a scheme to fraudulently obtain millions of dollars in income tax refunds, announced Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg of the Justice Department’s Tax Division; U.S. Attorney Channing D. Phillips for the District of Columbia; Special Agent in Charge Kimberly Lappin of the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) Washington D.C. Field Office; Inspector in Charge Robert B. Wemyss of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Washington Division and Assistant Inspector General for Investigations John L. Phillips of the U.S. Department of the Treasury.

Tarkara Cooper, 34, was convicted by a jury on Feb. 17 for conspiring to commit theft of government funds and defraud the United States and theft of public money. Two of her co-defendants, Tony Bryant, 55, and his son, Brian Bryant, 29, both of Clinton, Md., were also convicted at trial and are awaiting sentencing.

Cooper was part of a massive sophisticated stolen identity refund fraud scheme that involved a network of more than 130 people, many of whom were receiving public assistance. Conspirators fraudulently claimed refunds for tax years 2005 through 2012, often in the names of people whose identities had been stolen, including the elderly, people in assisted living facilities, drug addicts and incarcerated prisoners. Returns were also filed in the names of, and refunds were issued to, willing participants in the scheme. The returns filed listed more than 400 “taxpayer” addresses located in the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia. According to court documents, the overall case involved the filing of at least 12,000 fraudulent federal income tax returns that sought at least $42 million in refunds.

Conspirators played various roles in the scheme: stealing identifying information; allowing their personal identifying information to be used; creating and mailing fraudulent federal tax returns; allowing their addresses to be used for receipt of the refund checks; cashing the refund checks; providing bank accounts into which the refund checks were deposited and forging endorsements of identity theft victims on the refund checks. The false returns typically reported inflated or fictitious income from a sole proprietorship and claimed phony dependents to generate an Earned Income Tax Credit, a refundable federal income tax credit for working families with low to moderate incomes. To date, approximately two dozen participants in this scheme have pleaded guilty.

According to the evidence presented at trial, from approximately April 2010 through June 2012, Cooper and the Bryants participated in claiming $4,959,310 in fraudulent refunds, of which the IRS paid out approximately $2,285,717. Cooper agreed to allow her residence to be used for the delivery of tax refund checks, and was paid by a co-conspirator when she provided the tax refund checks to him. The Bryants deposited refund checks fraudulently obtained by others into accounts that they controlled.

In addition to the term of prison imposed, U.S. District Judge Rosemary M. Collyer ordered Cooper to serve three years of supervised release and to pay $1,926,958.14 in restitution to the IRS. She also ordered a forfeiture money judgment of $16,750.

Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Goldberg, U.S. Attorney Phillips, Special Agent in Charge Lappin, Inspector in Charge Wemyss and Assistant Inspector General Phillips commended the special agents who conducted the investigation and acknowledged the efforts of those who worked on the case from the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the District of Columbia, including former Assistant U.S. Attorney Sherri L. Schornstein; Assistant U.S. Attorney Chrisellen Kolb; Paralegal Specialists Jessica Mundi, Aisha Keys, and Donna Galindo; former Paralegal Specialist Julie Dailey; Litigation Technology Specialist Ron Royal; Investigative Analysts William Hamann and Zachary McMenamin, and Victim/Witness Advocate Tonya Jones. They also expressed appreciation for the work of Trial Attorneys Jeffrey B. Bender, Thomas F. Koelbl, and Jessica Moran of the Tax Division, who worked on the case.

Finally, they commended the work of Assistant U.S. Attorneys Ellen Chubin Epstein and Michelle Bradford of the District of Columbia’s Fraud and Public Corruption Section and Trial Attorney Kimberly G. Ang of the Tax Division, who prosecuted the case, as well as Assistant U.S. Attorney Diane Lucas, who assisted with forfeiture issues.

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

The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee entered a consent decree of permanent injunction against Crown Laboratories Inc. and the firm’s Chief Executive Officer, Jeffrey Bedard, to stop the distribution of unapproved and misbranded drugs, the Department of Justice announced today. The products at issue include urea creams and lotions intended to treat a variety of skin ailments.

The Department filed a complaint in the Eastern District of Tennessee on March 1, at the request of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The complaint alleged that the defendants violated the federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act by, among other things, introducing unapproved and misbranded drugs into interstate commerce. Specifically, the complaint alleges that defendants sold a series of dermatological creams, despite the absence of FDA approval or a sufficient showing that these products were safe and effective.

“The public has a right to assume that drugs in the marketplace are safe, effective, have obtained proper approvals, and are labeled with the information necessary to allow for proper use,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Chad Readler of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “Where drug manufacturers violate these fundamental requirements, the Department of Justice will continue to work aggressively with the FDA to ensure that the pharmaceutical industry follows the rules. Doing so is necessary to protect American consumers.”

As detailed in the complaint, Crown manufactures a variety of prescription and OTC drugs including prescription urea cream and lotion. The products referenced in the complaint include Rea Lo (Urea 40 percent) Cream, Rea Lo (Urea 40 percent) Lotion, Rea Lo 39 (Urea 39 percent) Cream, Dermasorb XM Complete Kit (Urea 39 persent cream and moisturizer), and Sodium Sulfacetamide 10 percent and Sulfur 5 percent (Sodium Sulfacetamide).

As noted in the complaint, the various urea based products were sold as products intended to treat a series of dermatological conditions, such as dry, rough skin, xerosis, ichthyosis, skin cracks and fissures, dermatitis, eczema, psoriasis, keratosis, and calluses. Sodium Sulfacetamide is intended to treat acne vulgaris, acne rosacea, and seborrheic dermatitis. As products designed to provide dermatological treatment, these drugs required FDA approval for their intended uses – approval that was lacking for all of these products. Distributing unapproved drugs in interstate commerce is a violation of the federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.

In conjunction with the filing of the complaint, the defendants agreed to settle the case and to be bound by a permanent injunction. The injunction requires Crown to stop the manufacturing, selling and introducing into interstate commerce any Rea Lo (Urea 40 percent) Cream, Rea Lo (Urea 40 percent) Lotion, Rea Lo 39 (Urea 39 percent) Cream, Dermasorb XM Complete Kit, Sodium Sulfacetamide, or any drug labeled similarly to such drugs and containing the same active ingredient(s), unless and until an application has been filed with the FDA and approved by the agency.

In addition, within 20 days after the district court’s order, the defendants are required, among other things, to give FDA written notice that they are prepared to destroy all Rea Lo (Urea 40 percent) Cream, Rea Lo (Urea 40 percent) Lotion, Rea Lo 39 (Urea 39 percent) Cream, Dermasorb XM Complete Kit, Sodium Sulfacetamide, and any unapproved drug labeled similarly to such drugs and containing the same active ingredient(s).

The government is represented by Trial Attorney Mary M. Englehart of the Civil Division’s Consumer Protection Branch, with the assistance of Associate Chief Counsel for Enforcement Susan Williams of the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of General Counsel’s Food and Drug Division.

Additional information about the Consumer Protection Branch and its enforcement efforts may be found at http://www.justice.gov/civil/consumer-protection-branch.

Today Attorney General Jeff Sessions is honored to award the Public Safety Officer Medal of Valor to the following law enforcement officers and first responders for their heroic and extraordinary services:

• Special Agents David Bailey and Crystal Griner of the United States Capitol Police and Officers Nicole Battaglia, Kevin Jobe, and Alexander Jensen of the Alexandria Police Department for their heroic efforts on the morning of June 14, 2017. President Donald J. Trump presented these officers with the medals today at a White House ceremony.

Recipients approved by the Attorney General to receive the 2015-2016 Medal of Valor at a future ceremony are:

• Corporals Rafael Ixco and Chad Johnson and Deputies Shaun Wallen and Bruce Southworth (San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department), and Officers Nicholas Koahou and Brian Olvera (San Bernardino Police Department) for their heroic efforts to end the December 2015 terrorist attack in San Bernardino, California.
• Lieutenant William Buchanan (Avery County Sheriff's Office, North Carolina) and Emergency Medical Technician Sean Ochsenbein (Putnam County Rescue Squad, Tennessee) for their poise in rescuing a trapped driver from a burning car in February 2016.
• Firefighter/Harbor Patrol Officer David Poirier Jr. (Redondo Beach Fire Department, California) for single-handedly rescuing three injured people from dangerous surf in February 2016.
• Chief Douglas Schroeder (Hesston Police Department, Kansas) for ending a deadly workplace assault by a gunman in February 2016.
• Engineer Stephen Gunn (Peoria Fire-Medical Department, Arizona) for rescuing a man from a burning house without regard for his own safety in April 2016.
• Patrolman Andrew Hopfensperger Jr. (Antigo Police Department, Wisconsin) for saving many lives during a gunman’s assault on students at a prom in April 2016.

These recipients were recommended by the Medal of Valor Review Board and approved by the Attorney General. The Medal of Valor is the highest national award for public safety officers and is given to recognize an act of extraordinary valor above and beyond the call duty.

The Bureau of Justice Assistance will continue receiving nominations for the 2016-2017 class through Monday, July 31, 2017. Nominations may be submitted here: https://www.bja.gov/programs/medalofvalor/index.html.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions today issued the following statement on the work of the Task Force on Crime Reduction and Public Safety:

 

"Every American, no matter who they are or where they live, has the right to be safe in their homes and neighborhoods. And yet, in many locations, the violent crime rate is rising, and in some of our urban areas, the increase is staggering. Reducing this crime surge is a top priority for President Trump and the Department of Justice. Consistent with the President's Executive Order on a Task Force on Crime Reduction and Public Safety, I created the Task Force in February and it has provided me with recommendations on a rolling basis. Dedicated professionals from throughout the Department have been listening to our partners in state, local, and tribal law enforcement; identifying successful violent crime reduction strategies; and developing recommendations on actions the Department can take to help improve public safety.

 

"I have been acting on the Task Force's recommendations to set the policy of the Department. I will continue to review all of the Task Force's recommendations, and look forward to taking additional steps towards ensuring safer communities for all Americans."

After being convicted at trial, a Northern California real estate investor was sentenced today for his role in a conspiracy to rig bids at public real estate foreclosure auctions, the Department of Justice announced.

 

Alvin Florida Jr. was charged on Nov. 19, 2014, in an indictment returned by a federal grand jury in the Northern District of California. He was convicted on Dec. 15, 2016, of conspiring to rig bids at foreclosure auctions in Alameda County. Today, Florida was sentenced to serve 21 months in prison and to serve three years of supervised release. In addition to his term of imprisonment, Florida was ordered to pay a criminal fine of $325,803.

 

Between May 2008 and December 2010, Florida conspired with others not to bid against one another, but instead designated a winning bidder to obtain selected properties. The members of the conspiracy then held second, private auctions to award the properties to members of the conspiracy and determine payoffs for other conspirators who had agreed not to bid against each other at the public auctions. The private auctions often took place at or near the courthouse steps where the public auctions were held.

 

The primary purpose of the conspiracies was to suppress and eliminate competition in order to obtain selected real estate offered at Alameda County public foreclosure auctions at noncompetitive prices. When real estate properties are sold at public auctions, the proceeds are used to pay off the mortgage and other debt attached to the property, with the remaining proceeds, if any, paid to the homeowner.

 

The sentence announced today is a result of an ongoing investigation into bid rigging at public real estate foreclosure auctions in California’s Alameda, Contra Costa, San Francisco and San Mateo counties.

 

The investigation is being conducted by the Antitrust Division’s San Francisco Office and the FBI’s San Francisco Office.

 

Anyone with information concerning bid rigging or fraud related to public real estate foreclosure auctions should contact the Antitrust Division’s San Francisco Office at 415-934-5300 or call the FBI tip line at 415-553-7400.

The Justice Department filed a lawsuit today against Louisiana-based companies Technical Marine Maintenance Texas LLC, which provides contract shipyard labor, and Gulf Coast Workforce LLC, a related company, alleging that they violated the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) by discriminating against applicants and employees during the employment eligibility verification process based on the workers’ citizenship status.

According to the complaint, from at least January 2014 until at least July 2017, Technical Marine Maintenance Texas limited the documentation workers could provide to establish their work authorization based on the workers’ citizenship status. Specifically, the company asked U.S. citizens to produce “IDs” and Social Security cards, while requesting immigration documents from non-U.S. citizens. Under the INA, all workers, regardless of their citizenship status, must be allowed to choose from among the valid documentation that proves their employment eligibility. The INA specifically prohibits employers from discriminating by limiting workers’ choices based on their citizenship status. The complaint also alleges that Gulf Coast Workforce is liable for Technical Marine Maintenance Texas’s actions because Gulf Coast employs or jointly employs the affected workers.

“The law protects both U.S. citizens and non-citizens from discriminatory obstacles during the Form I-9 or E-Verify processes,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Tom Wheeler of the Civil Rights Division. “Employers cannot limit the types of documents a worker can present to prove employment authorization, and if this limitation occurs because of citizenship status or national origin, the Civil Rights Division will vigorously enforce the law.”

The division’s Immigrant and Employee Rights Section (IER), formerly known as the Office of Special Counsel for Immigration-Related Unfair Employment Practices, is responsible for enforcing the anti-discrimination provision of the INA. The statute prohibits, among other things, citizenship, immigration status, and national origin discrimination in hiring, firing, or recruitment or referral for a fee; unfair documentary practices; retaliation and intimidation.

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.

Applicants or employees who believe they were subjected to: different documentary requirements based on their citizenship status, immigration status or national origin; or discrimination based on their citizenship status, immigration status or national origin in hiring, firing or recruitment or referral for a fee, should contact IER’s worker hotline for assistance.

WASHINGTON – El Departamento de Justicia interpuso hoy una demanda contra dos empresas en Louisiana, Technical Marine Maintenance Texas LLC, que suministra mano de obra por contrato para astilleros, y Gulf Coast Workforce LLC, una empresa relacionada, alegando que vulneraron la ley de Inmigración y Nacionalidad (INA, por sus siglas en inglés) al discriminar a postulantes y empleados durante el proceso de verificación de la elegibilidad para trabajar por motivos de su estatus de ciudadanía.

 

Según la demanda, desde al menos enero del 2014 hasta al menos julio del 2017, Technical Marine Maintenance Texas limitó los documentos que los trabajadores podían presentar para establecer su autorización para trabajar con base en el estatus de ciudadanía de dichos trabajadores. En concreto, la empresa pidió que los ciudadanos estadounidenses mostraran sus y tarjetas de seguro social, mientras que pidió a aquellos que no eran ciudadanos estadounidenses documentos migratorios. Según la INA, se debe permitir a todos los trabajadores, independientemente de su estatus de ciudadanía, la posibilidad de elegir de entre los documentos válidos que demuestren su elegibilidad para trabajar. La INA específicamente prohíbe que los empleadores discriminen al limitar, con base en su estatus de ciudadanía, las opciones que los trabajadores tienen a su disposición. La demanda también alega que Gulf Coast Workforce es responsable de las acciones de Technical Marine Maintenance Texas porque Gulf Coast emplea o emplea conjuntamente a los trabajadores afectados.

 

La Ley protege tanto a personas que son ciudadanos de los Estados Unidos como los que no de barreras discriminatorias durante los procesos del Formulario I-9 o E-Verify declaró el Fiscal General Auxiliar en funciones, Tom Wheeler de la División de Derechos Civiles. Los empleadores no pueden restringir los tipos de documentos que un trabajador puede presentar para mostrar su autorización para trabajar, y si tal restricción se hace por motivos del estatus de ciudadanía o la nacionalidad de origen del individuo, la División de Derechos Civiles ejecutará la ley enérgicamente.

 

La Sección de Derechos de Inmigrantes y Empleados (IER, por sus siglas en inglés), que anteriormente se conocía como la Oficina del Consejero Especial para Prácticas Injustas en el Empleo Relacionadas con la Inmigración, que pertenece a la División, es responsable de aplicar la disposición antidiscriminatoria de la INA. Entre otras cosas, esta ley prohíbe la discriminación por motivos de estatus migratorio, ciudadanía o nacionalidad de origen en los procesos de contratación, despido o reclutamiento o recomendación por comisión; la discriminación en el proceso de verificación de la elegibilidad para trabajar; las represalias y la intimidación.

 

Para más información sobre protecciones contra la discriminación en el empleo en virtud de las leyes migratorias, 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); matricúlese para un seminario en línea gratuito; mande un correo electrónico a IER@usdoj.gov o visite la página web de la IER en inglés o español.

 

Aquellos postulantes o empleados que creen haber sido sometidos a otros requisitos documentales por motivos de su estatus migratorio, ciudadanía o nacionalidad de origen, o a la discriminación por motivos de su estatus migratorio, ciudadanía o nacionalidad de origen en los procesos de contratación, despido o reclutamiento o recomendación por comisión deben llamar a la línea directa de la IER para trabajadores para pedir ayuda.

 

Download Technical Marine Maintenance Gulf Coast Complaint (en inglés)

 

A Washington, D.C. tax return preparer was sentenced to 15 months in prison today for preparing fraudulent tax returns, announced Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg of the Justice Department’s Tax Division.

According to documents filed with the court, Joanne Little, 60, of Suitland, Maryland, worked as a return preparer in Washington, D.C. at Speedy Tax Service, a tax preparation business that previously operated under the name Instant Tax Service. Little prepared federal income tax returns for tax years 2009 through 2014 that sought refunds to which her clients were not entitled by including inflated charitable deductions, fictitious unreimbursed employee expenses and false business losses. Little admitted to causing a tax loss of $262,714.

In addition to the term of prison imposed, U.S. District Court Judge Reggie B. Walton ordered Little to serve one year of supervised release and to pay restitution to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in the amount $262,714. Little pleaded guilty in February 2016.

Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Goldberg commended special agents of IRS Criminal Investigation, who conducted the investigation, and Trial Attorney Jason Scheff and Assistant Chief Karen Kelly of the Tax Division, who prosecuted the case.

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

The Justice Department filed a complaint today alleging that Farmacia Lugo, Inc. (Farmacia Lugo), a business based in Puerto Rico, violated the employment rights of U.S. Army Reservist Anna J. Santiago under the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 (USERRA). Santiago has served her country as a member of the Army Reserves since 2012. She currently holds the rank of Private 1st Class and serves as a culinary specialist.

According to the complaint, filed in the United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico, Santiago’s military service was a motivating factor in Farmacia Lugo’s decision to terminate her employment. The Department claims that, in 2014 and 2015, Santiago served multiple periods of military duty which caused her to be absent from her job as a pharmacy technician. The complant alleges that during and after Santiago’s periods of military service, the owner of Farmacia Lugo began making negative statements about Santiago and her military service obligations. This pattern of disparagement of Santiago’s military service by her employer was ongoing and continued through November 2015 after she returned from military training. The complaint further alleges that, on November 11, 2015, the owner of Farmacia Lugo terminated Santiago in front of other employees and customers. The complaint alleges that during the termination, the employer told PFC Santiago that it was appropriate that it occurred on Veterans Day because her military service was the cause of her termination.

“The men and women who bravely wear our nation’s uniform need to know that they will be protected from unjust terminations when they return from periods of military service,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Thomas Wheeler. “The Department of Justice is committed to aggressively enforcing USERRA to protect our brave service members, whose rights do not end with their first day back on the job.”

“USERRA guarantees the rights of those who serve our nation with honor and distinction to return to civilian employment upon returning from military service,” said Rosa E. Rodríguez-Vélez, United States Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico. “This lawsuit demonstrates our steadfast commitment to leverage every resource and tool at the federal government’s disposal to protect the rights of the men and women who defend our freedom and safeguard our way of life.”

USERRA protects the rights of uniformed servicemembers to retain their civilian employment following absences due to military service obligations, and provides that servicemembers shall not be discriminated against because of their military obligations.

The lawsuit seeks damages equal to the amount of Santiago’s lost wages and benefits caused by Farmacia Lugo’s failure to comply with USERRA, as well as liquidated damages (in an amount equal to lost wages) for what the Department alleges is Famacial Lugo’s reckless disregard for USERRA. It also seeks orders requiring Farmacia Lugo’s compliance with all provisions of USERRA and requiring Farmacia Lugo to pay all related litigation fees.

This case stems from a referral by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), pursuant to an investigation by the DOL’s Veterans’ Employment and Training Service. The case is being jointly handled by the the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Puerto Rico and the Employment Litigation Section of the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division, which works collaboratively with the DOL to protect the jobs and benefits of Army Reserves servicemembers upon their return to civilian life.

The Justice Department gives high priority to the enforcement of servicemembers’ rights under USERRA. Additional information about USERRA can be found on the Justice Department’s websites at www.usdoj.gov/crt/emp and www.servicemembers.gov, as well as on the Labor Department’s website at www.dol.gov/vets/programs/userra/main.htm.

INTERPOL Washington has provided more than 6.6 million investigative leads regarding child sexual exploitation and abuse to NCMEC.

INTERPOL Washington-U.S. National Central Bureau-recently participated in the “National Symposium for AMBER Alert Coordinators and Clearinghouse Managers Symposium” hosted by AMBER Alert Training and Technical Assistance Program, at the National Criminal Justice Training Center at Fox Valley Technical College. Held June 27-29, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the symposium served as an opportunity for those involved with the AMBER Alert program across the United States and overseas to participate in practical training and develop relationships with each other.

Supervisory INTERPOL Washington Analyst Michelle Ford-Stepney participated in a panel on cross-border child abductions, focusing her remarks on International Parental Abductions. Even though INTERPOL Washington does not participate directly in the AMBER Alert system, the agency does partner with law enforcement to seek the return of missing children to their homes of origin. INTERPOL Washington also works with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) to provide law enforcement officials urgent and timely leads and information to prevent child sexual exploitation and abuse.

INTERPOL’s I-24/7 secure messaging system is the tool used to quickly and effectively make available the information and leads to investigative law enforcement entities around the world. Foreign Universal Resource Locators (URL) Internet leads received by INTERPOL Washington are provided to NCMEC. Images and other forms of media containing actual evidence are provided to U.S. law enforcement agencies for potential action. Today, more than 6.6 million reports have been made available through INTERPOL’s I-24/7.

The training was presented by the leadership of the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, and the AMBER Alert Training and Technical Assistance Program in partnership with the NCMEC. The objective was to learn current AMBER Alert strategies from partners nationwide by identifying AMBER Alert successes, lessons learned, and current training and technical assistance resources and needs.

A component of the U.S. Department of Justice, INTERPOL Washington is co-managed by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. As the designated representative to INTERPOL on behalf of the Attorney General, INTERPOL Washington serves as the national point of contact for all INTERPOL matters, coordinating international investigative efforts among member countries and the more than 18,000 local, state, federal, and tribal law enforcement agencies in the United States.

A federal court in Louisiana has permanently barred Finecia Draper from preparing federal income tax returns for others, the Justice Department announced today.

In its complaint, the government alleged that Finecia Draper of Simmesport, Louisiana prepared false returns through her sole proprietorship, B&R’s Unlimited Fashion located at 245 Moreau Street in Simmesport, Lousiana. In addition to barring Draper from preparing tax returns, the court ordered her to prominently post a notice in her place of business stating that she is barred from preparing tax returns for others.

According to the government’s complaint, Draper prepared tax returns that fraudulently understated her customers’ income and tax liabilities and/or overstated the refunds they were entitled to receive. According to the complaint, Draper did so by submitting Schedules C, Profit or Loss From Business, with the returns to fabricate or inflate business losses claimed by her customers. In many of the examples cited in the complaint, the taxpayer did not even own or operate a business. The bogus losses that Draper claimed fraudulently understated the income her customers earned which resulted in underreporting their tax liabilities and overstating the refunds they were due, according to the complaint. The complaint additionally alleged that Draper fraudulently claimed and/or inflated the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) on returns she prepared.

From 2011 to 2015, Draper prepared over 2,000 returns, according to the complaint. The complaint alleged that audits of 163 returns prepared by Draper in 2011, 2012 and 2013 revealed that she overstated refunds and understated tax liability by over $275,000 in the aggregate.

Return preparer fraud is one of the IRS's Dirty Dozen Tax Scams for 2017. The IRS has some tips on their website for choosing a tax preparer.

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’s 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.

The Department of Justice today posted a solicitation for the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Programs (“Byrne JAG”). Recipients for FY 2017 will be notified of new conditions of their grants that will increase information sharing between federal, state, and local law enforcement, ensuring that federal immigration authorities have the information they need to enforce immigration laws and keep our communities safe.

 

"So-called 'sanctuary' policies make all of us less safe because they intentionally undermine our laws and protect illegal aliens who have committed crimes,” Attorney General Jeff Sessions said. “These policies also encourage illegal immigration and even human trafficking by perpetuating the lie that in certain cities, illegal aliens can live outside the law. This can have tragic consequences, like the 10 deaths we saw in San Antonio this weekend. As part of accomplishing the Department of Justice's top priority of reducing violent crime, we must encourage these 'sanctuary' jurisdictions to change their policies and partner with federal law enforcement to remove criminals. From now on, the Department will only provide Byrne JAG grants to cities and states that comply with federal law, allow federal immigration access to detention facilities, and provide 48 hours notice before they release an illegal alien wanted by federal authorities. This is consistent with long-established cooperative principles among law enforcement agencies. This is what the American people should be able to expect from their cities and states, and these long overdue requirements will help us take down MS-13 and other violent transnational gangs, and make our country safer."

On July 12, 2017, officials from INTERPOL and INTERPOL Washington—the U.S. National Central Bureau-- participated in a gathering of the Small Group of the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS who met at the U.S. Department of State to synthesize the senior level Global Coalition meetings and discuss priorities to build on the progress in Mosul and Raqqa. The Small Group consists of key coalition stakeholders who play a major role, whether military or non-military, in the campaign to defeat ISIS. The day before, the 72-member Global Coalition met to discuss how to speed up Coalition efforts to defeat ISIS in the remaining areas it holds in Iraq and Syria, and maximize pressure globally on its branches, affiliates, and networks. The Small Group meetings sought to assess the campaign and discuss ways to intensify pressure on ISIS in each of the critical areas of counter finance, foreign terrorist fighters, stabilization support, and communications.

INTERPOL Washington Assistant Directors Royce Walters and Scott Suitts discussed “INTERPOL Tools and Techniques” during a panel on “Radical Information Sharing.” This panel explored the critical role information sharing plays between countries seeking to detect and disrupt ISIS plotting and ISIS-inspired homegrown attacks. The session addressed both available and merging tools, as well as strategies to overcome barriers to information sharing that can slow progress. The goal for the panel was to encourage attendees from various agencies to discuss the latest policy and practical developments within their institutions.

Walters and Suitts emphasized the opportunities for additional information sharing on a case-by-case basis between agencies with diverse roles–within single countries and between different countries. Additional progress in this area would make it possible to build a more comprehensive, cross-cutting picture of known and potential terrorists, and possibly to flag a higher percentage of potential attacks earlier in their planning stages, they said.

In addition, they described current information-sharing architecture, including INTERPOL’s I-24/7 and Stolen and Lost Travel Documents (SLTD) databases. They underscored the importance of collating information from diverse sources and regions to obtain a more comprehensive picture of potential terrorist activity. For example, taken separately, known associations with violent extremists in one country, travel into areas of conflict in a second country, and suspect financial transactions in a third country may not provide sufficient grounds for heightened surveillance. However, taken together, these discrete activities may form a pattern that may indicate a connection with potential terrorist action.

According to Walters, “Many coalition partners expressed gratitude to the Iraqi government and military for the significant advances that have occurred over the last few months to defeat ISIS and liberate large areas of the country. It is clearly understood; however, that the fight is far from over. Some ISIS fighters will invariably attempt to blend in with the Iraqi population or try to enter another country. Coalition members recognize this and expressed a need for continued collaboration and tighter border controls to address this threat.”

A component of the U.S. Department of Justice, INTERPOL Washington is co-managed by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. As the designated representative to INTERPOL on behalf of the Attorney General, INTERPOL Washington serves as the national point of contact for all INTERPOL matters, coordinating international investigative efforts among member countries and the more than 18,000 local, state, federal, and tribal law enforcement agencies in the United States.

Guan Zong Chen (“Graham Chen”), a Chinese national was arraigned today in federal court in Boston, Massachusetts on charges that he led a conspiracy to illegally export (smuggle) $700,000 worth of wildlife items made from rhinoceros horn, elephant ivory and coral from the United States to Hong Kong. Chen was arrested last year when he traveled from China to Australia and today’s hearing was his first court appearance on an indictment returned by a Boston grand jury in 2015 and unsealed in anticipation of the hearing.

According to the eight-count indictment, Chen purchased the wildlife artifacts at U.S. auction houses located in California, Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York and Texas. He conspired with another Chinese national, a recent college graduate in China to travel to the United States to pick up the purchased items and either hand carry or arrange for them to be mailed to another co-conspirator that owned a shipping business in Concord, Massachusetts. The shipper then repacked the wildlife items and exported (smuggled) them to Hong Kong with documents that falsely stated their contents and value and without obtaining required declarations and permits. In April 2014, Chen visited the United States and visited the shipper in Concord, Massachusetts. During the visit with the shipper, CHEN instructed the shipper to illegally export (smuggle) a sculpture made from elephant ivory to Hong Kong on Chen’s behalf and falsely declared it to be made of wood and worth $50.

The unsealing of the indictment and court appearance were was announced today by Acting Assistant Attorney General Jeffrey H. Wood of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division and Acting U.S. Attorney William D. Weinreb of the District of Massachusetts. In announcing the case today, Acting Assistant Attorney General Wood and Acting U.S. Attorney Weinreb expressed their appreciation to the Australian Federal Police and the Australian Attorney-General’s Department for their help in apprehending Chen and extraditing him to the United States.

Trade in rhinoceros horn, elephant ivory and coral have been regulated since 1976 under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), a treaty signed by over 175 countries around the world to protect fish, wildlife, and plants that are or may become imperiled due to the demands of international markets. Animals listed under CITES cannot be exported from the United States without prior notification to, and approval from, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.

was apprehended as part of Operation Crash, an ongoing effort by the Department of the Interior’s Fish and Wildlife Service, in coordination with the Department of Justice to detect, deter, and prosecute those engaged in the illegal killing of and trafficking in protected species including rhinoceros and elephants.

An indictment contains allegations that crimes have been committed. A defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

The investigation is continuing and is being handled by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service’s Office of Law Enforcement and the Justice Department’s Environmental Crimes Section, with assistance from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts and support on the extradition from DOJ's Office of International Affairs and the U.S. Marshals Services in the District of Massachusetts. The government is represented by Senior Litigation Counsel Richard A. Udell and Trial Attorney Gary N. Donner of the Justice Department’s Environmental Crimes Section of the Environment and Natural Resources Division.

 

In February 2017, INTERPOL Washington—the U.S. National Central Bureau--and the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) determined that a fugitive residing in the New York City area was a positive match for an INTERPOL Red Notice for a person wanted in Spain for a homicide. Last month, their investigative work resulted in the arrest of Rafael Alberto-Burgos, the 400th foreign fugitive arrest of the fiscal year for ERO. INTERPOL Washington played a key role in facilitating collaboration between ERO and the Spanish National Police in Barcelona. Read the ICE news release here.

ICE is the principal investigative arm of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. A key partner of INTERPOL Washington, ICE details personnel to support the agency mission. ICE’s primary mission is to promote homeland security and public safety through the criminal and civil enforcement of federal laws governing border control, customs, trade and immigration.

One of the primary missions of INTERPOL and INTERPOL Washington is to seek the location, and ultimately the arrest, of fugitives wanted in the U.S. and in other countries. INTERPOL Washington assists federal, state, local, and tribal authorities in the U.S. seeking the location of fugitives who have fled the U.S., and assists foreign police in locating their fugitives believed to be in the U.S. INTERPOL Washington is also responsible for seeking the publication of all INTERPOL Notices, including Red or wanted fugitives Notices, on behalf of U.S. authorities, and alerting U.S. authorities to the existence of INTERPOL Notices published on behalf of other countries.

A component of the U.S. Department of Justice, INTERPOL Washington is co-managed by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. As the designated representative to INTERPOL on behalf of the Attorney General, INTERPOL Washington serves as the national point of contact for all INTERPOL matters, coordinating international investigative efforts among member countries and the more than 18,000 local, state, federal, and tribal law enforcement agencies in the United States.

Photograph courtesy of ICE ERO. INTERPOL Washington provided critical support to ERO’s 400th foreign fugitive arrest of the fiscal year.

 

A former Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) task force officer pleaded guilty today to unlawfully possessing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence and later conspiring to misappropriate money seized by the DEA during the execution of a search. 

Acting Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Blanco of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey S. Sallet of the FBI’s New Orleans Field Office, Special Agent in Charge Monte Cason of the Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General (DOJ OIG), and Dallas Field Office and Chief Inspector Brian M. McKnight of the DEA’s Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) made the announcement.

Karl Emmett Newman, 50, of Kentwood, Louisiana, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Eldon E. Fallon of the Eastern District of Louisiana to a two-count superseding information.  According to admissions made in connection with the guilty plea, Newman unlawfully carried a firearm in furtherance of an August 2015 robbery, which was disguised as an execution of a search warrant of a drug dealer.  Newman further admitted to conspiring to misappropriate money that was confiscated by the DEA during an October 2015 search of the residence of another individual.

Newman was originally charged on May 13, 2016, in an indictment, and was charged with additional offenses on October 7, 2016, in a superseding indictment.  Former DEA task force officer Johnny Jacob Domingue, 28, of Maurepas, Louisiana, was arrested on a criminal complaint on May 12, 2016, and was also charged in the October 7, 2016 superseding indictment with falsifying records in a federal investigation.  Domingue’s case remains pending.

In addition to serving as DEA task force officers, Newman and Domingue previously served as deputies with the Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana, Sheriff’s Office.

The FBI, DOJ OIG and DEA-OPR investigated the case.  Assistant Chief Diidri Robinson and Trial Attorney Antonio Pozos of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section are prosecuting the case.

National Center for Spectator Sports Safety and Security (NCS4) group at INTERPOL Washington

The National Center for Spectator Sports Safety and Security (NCS4) in partnership with INTERPOL, presented the Sport Security Senior Management Course at a Working Group Meeting at INTERPOL Washington on 17 July. This course is a scenario-based practicum of primary areas within the field of sporting event policing and security management. It is intended to prepare senior law enforcement officials involved in the decision-making process for preparation and response to a large-scale incident during major and international sporting events.

The actual 3-day course is scheduled to be presented at the IPSG in Lyon on 12-14 Sept 2017.

On July 18, 2017, the Acting Commanding General of the District of Columbia (D.C.) National, Guard Brig. Gen. William J. Walker, visited INTERPOL Washington. General Walker assumed his current duties on January 20, 2017, and is responsible for operational readiness and command and control of the D.C. Army and Air National Guard units with an authorized end strength of 2,700 soldiers and airmen. He previously served as the Commander, Land Component Command, of the D.C. National Guard. In 2014, General Walker retired from civilian federal service as a career special agent of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration where he was a member of the Senior Executive Service.

The D.C. National Guard’s mission bridges the gap between Department of Defense and non-Defense institutions in the fight against illicit drugs and transnational threats to the Homeland. The program assists community-based groups to educate their communities; to assist in criminal intelligence gathering and information sharing; and to disrupt the drug market by supporting arrest operations. The counter-drug program conducts aerial reconnaissance, providing support to various District and federal law enforcement agencies and criminal analyst and linguist support to law enforcement agencies. In support of this mission area, in 2013 the D.C. National Guard assigned one detailee, and recently added a second, to INTERPOL Washington’s Drug Division to support criminal analysis and information-sharing activities.

Acting Director of INTERPOL Washington Wayne Salzgaber welcomed the General and his staff members to the agency before turning the session over to a senior advisor to present the orientation briefing. The briefing covered the critical roles of INTERPOL and INTERPOL Washington tools and services in the fight against transnational crime. The briefing placed a special emphasis on the expansion of collaborative efforts between INTERPOL Washington and the Department of Defense in the sharing of biometric and other law enforcement data. Acting Director Salzgaber thanked General Walker for his continued support to the INTERPOL mission. This is particularly significant as the D.C. National Guard is the first and only National Guard unit represented at INTERPOL Washington.

A component of the U.S. Department of Justice, INTERPOL Washington is co-managed by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. As the designated representative to INTERPOL on behalf of the Attorney General, INTERPOL Washington serves as the national point of contact for all INTERPOL matters, coordinating international investigative efforts among member countries and the more than 18,000 local, state, federal, and tribal law enforcement agencies in the United States.

 

INTERPOL Washington Acting Director H. Wayne Salzgaber and Acting Commanding General of the D.C. National Guard William J. Walker.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions today announced a new Department of Justice policy (attached) regarding the federal adoption of assets seized by state or local law enforcement under state law.

The Department’s new policy strengthens the civil asset forfeiture program to better protect victims of crime and innocent property owners, while streamlining the process to more easily dismantle criminal and terrorist organizations.

The policy and guidelines were formulated after extensive consultation with the Task Force on Crime Reduction and Public Safety, as well as line Assistant United States Attorneys, career officials in the Criminal Division’s Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section (MLARS), and career Main Justice attorneys.

In issuing this new policy, Attorney General Sessions made the following remarks to law enforcement officials:

“Good morning, and thank you all for being here. I especially want to thank our law enforcement partners like the Fraternal Order of Police, the National Sheriffs’ Association, the Major City Chiefs Association, the IACP, and so many others from all over the country who are here. Thank you for your service to this country and for keeping us all safe.

“As any of these law enforcement partners will tell you and as President Trump knows well, civil asset forfeiture is a key tool that helps law enforcement defund organized crime, take back ill-gotten gains, and prevent new crimes from being committed, and it weakens the criminals and the cartels. Even more importantly, it helps return property to the victims of crime. Civil asset forfeiture takes the material support of the criminals and instead makes it the material support of law enforcement, funding priorities like new vehicles, bulletproof vests, opioid overdose reversal kits, and better training. In departments across this country, funds that were once used to take lives are now being used to save lives.

“It also removes the instrumentalities of crimes, such as illegal firearms, ammunition, explosives and property associated with child pornography from criminals—preventing them from being able to use these tools in further criminal acts.

“President Trump has directed this Department of Justice to reduce crime in this country, and we will use every lawful tool that we have to do that. We will continue to encourage civil asset forfeiture whenever appropriate in order to hit organized crime in the wallet.

“At the same time, we must protect the rights of the people we serve. Law-abiding people whose property is used without their knowledge or without their consent should not be punished because of crimes that others have committed.

“Now, let me just say, in the vast majority of cases, this is not an issue. Our law enforcement officers do an incredible job. In fact, over the last decade, four out of five administrative civil asset forfeitures filed by federal law enforcement agencies were never challenged in court.

“Even so, we must take every precaution to protect the rights of claimants in that small minority of cases.

“And so today, the Department of Justice is issuing legal guidance that will clarify DOJ policy on the adoption of seized assets. It will return us to longstanding DOJ policy—and also provide additional, supplemental protections for law-abiding Americans. This will make us more effective at bankrupting organized criminals and at safeguarding the property of law-abiding Americans.

“Under today’s guidance, the federal government will not adopt seized property unless the state or local agency involved provides information demonstrating that the seizure was justified by probable cause. We will accomplish this through a new adoption form that state and local law enforcement must fill out before we will agree to adopt any property, which will include the necessary information to allow Department lawyers to carefully review and determine whether adoption is proper. Further, law enforcement agencies who wish to participate in the Department’s Equitable Sharing Program now must now provide their officers with enhanced training on asset forfeiture laws.

“The Department will adopt smaller seizures of cash—between $5,000 and $10,000—only if there exists some level of criminality or with the express concurrence of the U.S. Attorney’s office.

“When I was in the Senate, I worked with Senator Schumer to make modifications to the civil asset forfeiture program. We required probable cause for the seizure of property. And we raised the burden on the government, who has the initial burden in all of these cases, to the same preponderance of the evidence standard used in all civil cases. In addition, if the government lost the case, then the government pays attorneys’ fees. I believe those were good reforms that strengthened the program.

“Further, to better protect claimants, the Department will expedite the review of civil asset forfeiture cases. State and local law enforcement agencies requesting federal adoption must do so within 15 calendar days following the date of seizure. The adopting federal agency must then send notice to interested parties within 45 days of the date of seizure. This is twice as fast of a review as is required by statute. This streamlined process will ensure that people receive speedy resolutions of their cases, and that rightful owners will get their property back as soon as possible.

“In addition to these safeguards on federal adoptions, I am asking Department attorneys to proceed with an abundance of caution when handling all forfeitures involving vehicles and especially residences. I think that Department attorneys should think hard before they agree to forfeit these types of property, or waive any asset thresholds associated with them. Just like with cash seizures, if we operate this program in a careful and responsible way, something I believe the American people expect and deserve with a program such as this, the Department’s federal asset forfeiture program will be an effective tool, while at the same time protecting the rights of property owners.

“Finally, I am directing agencies and components adopting seized property to prioritize assets that will most effectively advance our overall goal of reducing violent crime. We need to send clear message that crime does not pay.

“This policy is effective immediately and applies to all new requests for adoption.

“With this new policy, the American people can be confident knowing that we are taking action to defund criminals and at the same time protecting the rights of law-abiding people.”

A former employee of a U.S. government contractor in Afghanistan pleaded guilty today to accepting over $250,000 in illegal kickbacks from an Afghan subcontractor in return for his assistance in obtaining subcontracts on U.S. government contracts.

Acting Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Blanco of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney John A. Horn of the Northern District of Georgia, Special Agent in Charge John Khin of the Defense Criminal Investigative Service’s (DCIS) Southeast Field Office, Atlanta Resident Agency, Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction John F. Sopko, and Director Frank Robey of the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command’s (CID) Major Procurement Fraud Unit (MPFU) made the announcement.

Nebraska McAlpine, 56, of Smyrna, Georgia, pleaded guilty in Atlanta before U.S. District Judge Mark H. Cohen to a one-count information filed on June 19, in the Northern District of Georgia, charging him with one count of accepting illegal kickbacks. Sentencing is scheduled for October 18.

In connection with his plea, McAlpine admitted that he maintained a principal place of residence within the Northern District of Georgia and was employed as a Project Manager for an American defense contractor in Kabul, Afghanistan (the Prime Contractor). McAlpine admitted that he and an Afghan executive agreed that in exchange for illicit kickbacks, McAlpine would ensure that the Prime Contractor awarded lucrative subcontracts to the executive’s companies. McAlpine repeatedly told his supervisors that these companies should be awarded “sole source” subcontracts, which allowed them to supply services to the Prime Contractor without having to competitively bid on them, he admitted. As a result of the kickback scheme, the Prime Contractor paid over $1.6 million to the subcontractor to assist with maintaining the Afghanistan Ministry of the Interior Ultra-High Frequency (“UHF”) radio communications system in Kabul, Afghanistan, McAlpine admitted.

McAlpine further admitted that the executive agreed to pay kickbacks to McAlpine totaling approximately 15% of the value of the subcontracts. In 2015 and 2016, McAlpine accepted over $250,000 in kickbacks from the executive, and he hid these kickbacks from his employer by storing the cash payments in his personal effects and then physically transporting them himself to the U.S., he admitted. McAlpine further admitted that he then deposited the majority of these funds in amounts less than $10,000 into his bank accounts at bank branches in the Atlanta metropolitan area.

DCIS, SIGAR and Army CID-MPFU investigated the case. Trial Attorney Daniel Butler of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas J. Krepp of the Northern District of Georgia are prosecuting the case.

The co-owners of an Indiana biofuel producer were sentenced today in the Northern District of Indiana by Senior Judge James T. Moody, announced the Justice Department.

Fred Witmer, 46, and Gary Jury, 58, of Triton Energy LLC and Gen2 Renewable Diesel LLC pleaded guilty to conspiracy, fraud, and false statements in October 2016. Witmer and Jury were sentenced to 57 months in prison and 30 months in prison, respectively. According to their pleas, Witmer and Jury generated over $60 million in fraudulent tax credits and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) renewable fuel credits (RIN credits). Witmer admitted to fraudulently claiming tax credits and RIN credits on non-qualifying renewable fuel and to deceiving the purchasers of his RIN credits. Although Witmer represented that the fuel was used as transportation fuel, he admitted selling it to be made into fire starter logs and for asphalt and cement production. Jury admitted conspiring to fraudulently claim tax credits and to providing false statements to the EPA.

“The defendants purposefully defrauded the federal government, taking illegal advantage of a program created by Congress to help our nation achieve energy, economic, and environmental goals,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Jeffrey H. Wood of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division. “These crimes have been prosecuted to the fullest extent, and our actions here demonstrate that the Justice Department will continue to prosecute fraud in the RIN markets.”

“Today’s sentencing sends a strong message that there are serious consequences for activity that defrauds the economy and taxpayers,” said Special Agent in Charge W. Jay Abbott of the Federal Bureau Investigation’s Indianapolis Division. “I commend the excellent cooperation between the prosecutors, agents and other investigators who worked tirelessly to uncover this fraudulent scheme and expose these perpetrators who were manipulating the system for their own gains.”

“Fred Witmer and Gary Jury used their company, Triton, to run a sophisticated shell game and exploit the Alternative Fuel Credit program,” said Chief Don Fort of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation. “Unfortunately for them, our special agents were able to track the movement of paperwork and uncover the deceit behind their actions. We are proud to partner with the EPA and other federal agencies in this important effort to stop those who abuse and illegally claim alternative fuel credits, a growing area of emphasis for IRS-CI.”

“The defendants’ massive fraud in this case undermines the competitive and fair marketplace on which law abiding renewable fuels producers depend,” said Acting Assistant Administrator Larry Starfield for the Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance. “This case shows that EPA is fully committed to working with our law enforcement partners to pursue and hold accountable entities that break the law.”

The investigation was conducted by the FBI’s Indianapolis Division, the IRS’ Criminal Investigation Indianapolis Field Office and the EPA’s Criminal Investigation Division.

The government is represented by Environmental Crimes Section Trial Attorney Adam Cullman and Senior Trial Attorney Jeremy Korzenik.

Photograph courtesy of INTERPOL. Associate Deputy Attorney General of the United States Sujit Raman addresses a high-level working group on cyber and financial crime.

On July 13, 2017, Sujit Raman, who serves as Associate Deputy Attorney General of the United States, addressed a high-level working group on countering cyber and financial crime sponsored by the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL). In his position, Raman assists the Attorney General and Deputy Attorney General in their oversight of all cyber-related investigations and prosecutions in the United States, and manages all cyber-related policy development in the U.S. Department of Justice.

Over two days, representatives from law enforcement, financial, telecommunications and Internet sectors participated in the conference called “Countering Cyber and Financial Crime: A High-level Dialogue for a New Governance Architecture.” The group’s mission was to develop recommendations for streamlining the global response to escalating cyber and financial crime threats.

During his remarks, Raman reinforced the importance of the Budapest Convention on Cybercrime, which is the first international treaty on crimes committed via the Internet and other computer networks. It deals specifically with copyright infringement, computer-related fraud, child pornography, hate crimes, and violations of network security. Its main purpose is to pursue a common criminal policy aimed at the protection of society against cybercrime, especially by adopting appropriate legislation and fostering international cooperation.

Raman called the Budapest Convention “the governance architecture to address internet crime.” He said that there is no need for a new international cyber agreement, as called for by some countries. He called for countries to “focus on capacity building and training efforts proven so successful in facilitating law enforcement operations and partnerships.” He also lauded INTERPOL’s efforts in building capacity by training police and promoting universal participation in the fight against cyber-crime.

The video of Raman’s remarks is available for viewing on the INTERPOL website.

A long-time federal prosecutor, Associate Deputy Attorney General Raman has led a number of international fraud, public corruption, and national security matters, and has particular expertise in dealing with the implications of technology on criminal and national security investigations. He was educated at Harvard College, Harvard Law School, and the University of Bristol (UK), where he studied as a Marshall Scholar.

 

Attorney General Jeff Sessions today issued the following statement on the Hawaii District Court’s decision:

“Once again, we are faced with a situation in which a single federal district court has undertaken by a nationwide injunction to micromanage decisions of the co-equal Executive Branch related to our national security. By this decision, the district court has improperly substituted its policy preferences for that of the Executive branch, defying both the lawful prerogatives of the Executive Branch and the directive of the Supreme Court.

"The district court has issued decisions that are entrusted to the Executive Branch, undermined national security, delayed necessary action, created confusion, and violated a proper respect for separation of powers. The Supreme Court has had to correct this lower court once, and we will now reluctantly return directly to the Supreme Court to again vindicate the rule of law and the Executive Branch’s duty to protect the nation.”