District Not Recorded

Assistant Attorney General for National Security John P. Carlin and U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara for the Southern District of New York announced that Wesam El-Hanafi was sentenced today in Manhattan federal court to 15 years in prison for his extensive efforts to support al Qaeda – including financial support and facilitating surveillance of a New York City landmark for an attack – that spanned nearly three years.  El-Hanafi was arrested in the United Arab Emirates in April 2010 and transferred to United States custody.  On June 10, 2012, El-Hanafi pleaded guilty to one count of providing and attempting to provide material support and resources to al Qaeda, and one count of conspiring to provide material support and resources to al Qaeda, before U.S. District Judge Kimba M. Wood, who also imposed today’s sentence.

“Wesam El-Hanafi was deeply involved in supporting al Qaeda both financially and by facilitating surveillance of a New York landmark to bring an attack to our homeland in our city,” said U.S. Attorney Bharara.  “Today’s sentence is a fitting punishment for these crimes and we will continue, with our law enforcement partners, to pursue punishment for those who provide and conspire to provide material support for terrorists.”

According to various public filings and statements made during public proceedings, including today’s sentencing:

From 2007 through late 2009, El-Hanafi supported al Qaeda in a variety of ways.  In 2007, El-Hanafi and his co-defendant Sabirhan Hasanoff developed contact with individuals whom they understood to be affiliated with al Qaeda.  After a period of providing financial support to these individuals, in February 2008, El-Hanafi traveled to Yemen to meet with two terrorist operatives who El-Hanafi understood were members of al Qaeda.  While in Yemen, El-Hanafi swore an oath of allegiance, called bayat, to al Qaeda and delivered money and other items, including a laptop computer, to the terrorist operatives.  El-Hanafi also taught the terrorist operatives in Yemen covert Internet communications techniques and supplied them with encryption tools that would facilitate communicating without detection.  El-Hanafi and Hasanoff additionally sent other items, including remote-controlled devices capable of use in an explosives attack, to El-Hanafi’s terrorist contacts in Yemen.

El-Hanafi and Hasanoff together funneled approximately $67,000 to terrorist operatives overseas.  El-Hanafi and Hasanoff collected some of this money from a third individual who resided in the United States.  During this time, both El-Hanafi and Hasanoff used aliases to disguise the source of their money when making cash donations to their terrorist contacts.

Moreover, at the direction of his Yemen-based terrorist contacts, El-Hanafi assigned Hasanoff to perform surveillance of locations in the United States, including the New York Stock Exchange in Manhattan, as potential targets of a terrorist attack by al Qaeda.  El-Hanafi received Hasanoff’s report of his surveillance of the New York Stock Exchange, and sent that report to the terrorist operatives in Yemen.

El-Hanafi and Hasanoff also undertook efforts to enable their own travel to engage in jihad in Somalia, Afghanistan, and Iraq.  Their al Qaeda contacts would not facilitate El-Hanafi’s and Hasanoff’s travel for jihad, however, because al Qaeda viewed the two men as more valuable for potential attacks on U.S. soil.

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In addition to his prison term, El-Hanafi, 39, of Brooklyn, New York, was sentenced to 3 years of supervised release.  El-Hanafi was also ordered to pay a $200 special assessment fee and forfeiture in the amount of $70,000.

Hasanoff pleaded guilty on June 4, 2012, to one count of providing and attempting to provide material support and resources to al Qaeda, and one count of conspiracy to provide material support and resources to al Qaeda.  On Sept. 30, 2013, Hasanoff was sentenced to a total term of 18 years in prison, to be followed by a three-year term of supervised release, and was ordered to pay forfeiture in the amount of $70,000.

Assistant Attorney General Carlin is grateful for the outstanding investigative work of the FBI’s New York-based Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) – which principally consists of special agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and detectives of the New York City Police Department.  Assistant Attorney General Carlin would also like to thank the Department of Justice’s National Security Division and Office of International Affairs, the Kansas City-based JTTF, and the United States Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Missouri for their extraordinary assistance in this matter.

This case is being handled by the Office’s Terrorism and International Narcotics Unit.  Assistant U.S. Attorneys John P. Cronan, Aimee Hector, Michael Lockard, and Brendan R. McGuire are in charge of the prosecution, with assistance from Trial Attorney Joseph Kaster of the Counterterrorism Section in the Justice Department’s National Security Division.

A federal court in Philadelphia has permanently barred a woman and her business from preparing tax returns for others and from operating a tax return preparation business, the Justice Department announced today. 

The injunction order, which was signed by U.S. District Judge Lawrence F. Stengel, also requires Denise Almanza to close her existing tax preparation business, Denise’s Centro De Servicios P.C.

The United States brought the civil injunction suit in September 2014, alleging that Almanza inappropriately reduced her customers’ income or wrongfully claimed tax credits on their returns, which caused the customers to receive tax refunds or increased refund amounts to which they were not entitled. 

Specifically, the suit alleged that Almanza improperly claimed the additional child tax credit on customers’ income tax returns, which allowed her customers to receive, on average, over $2,900 in improper benefits per tax return.  Almanza and her business have prepared more than 14,000 federal tax returns since 2010, according to the complaint.  In total, the complaint alleged that Almanza’s activities over the last four years have potentially cost the U.S. Treasury millions of dollars in lost tax revenue.

Return preparer fraud is one of the Internal Revenue Service’s (IRS) Dirty Dozen Tax Scams for 2014.  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 website.  An alphabetical listing of persons enjoined from preparing returns and promoting tax schemes can be found on this page.

A federal court has barred a Rapid City, South Dakota, company and its president from further manufacturing and distributing its laser devices, which they marketed to treat a variety of medical conditions and diseases, the Justice Department announced today.

U.S. District Court Chief Judge Jeffrey L. Viken for the District of South Dakota entered the preliminary injunction on Wednesday against Robert “Larry” Lytle and his businesses, QLasers PMA, 2035 PMA, and 2035 INC., in an action filed by the Justice Department to enforce provisions of the federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FDCA).  The court’s order prohibiting the manufacture and distribution of the QLaser devices also applies to Lytle’s business affiliates and franchisees.

Last October, the Justice Department and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of South Dakota filed a civil complaint for injunctive relief against Lytle and his businesses, alleging that they have been violating the FDCA by nationally marketing Lytle’s laser devices for the treatment of more than 200 different diseases and medical disorders without clearance or approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).  The preliminary injunction entered on Wednesday takes effect immediately and will remain in force while the government’s case seeking a permanent injunction proceeds to final judgment.

Judge Viken found, based on what he called an “extensive and well developed record,” that Lytle and his various businesses “have shown no intent to discontinue their activities and voluntarily comply with the FDCA.  “The injunction bars the defendants from continuing to market and distribute any medical devices until they receive written permission from the FDA to do so.

Lytle, whom the court noted was a dentist in Rapid City until his license to practice dentistry was permanently revoked by the South Dakota Board of Dentistry in 1998, markets the devices by soliciting purchasers to join his “private membership associations” or “PMAs” before purchasing his lasers.  As the court explained, however, “Hiding behind a curtain of private membership associations, 2035 PMA and QLaser PMA, does not shield Mr. Lytle from the authority of the FDCA or the jurisdiction of the court.”

“With the entry of this preliminary injunction, we have taken another step toward ensuring that only medical devices that have been shown to be safe and effective are placed in the hands of the American consumer,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Joyce R. Branda for the Justice Department’s Civil Division.  “Everyone who deals in products that affect people’s health must comply with the FDCA.”

According to court documents filed in the case, the defendants have been distributing the QLaser devices with labeling that contains false and misleading claims, touting their use in treating such serious conditions as cancer, HIV/AIDS, venereal disease and diabetes.  Although two of his laser devices were FDA-cleared for providing temporary relief of pain associated with osteoarthritis of the hand, none of the devices has been cleared or approved to treat any other medical conditions.  The government alleges that not only are there no published clinical studies to support the use of Lytle’s lasers to treat other serious medical conditions, but that in fact, using the devices according to the device’s labeling could be dangerous to health.  The court’s order finds that the United States is substantially likely to succeed on the merits on this claim and the others within the government’s complaint.

“The preliminary injunction granted should provide consumers a renewed sense of confidence,” said U.S. Attorney Brendan V. Johnson for the District of South Dakota.  “This action is crucial to prevent the company from continuing to operate on the periphery of the law, and potentially jeopardize the health and safety of its consumers.”

The FDA referred this enforcement action to the Department of Justice.  The government’s case is being litigated by Trial Attorney Ross S. Goldstein of the Civil Division’s Consumer Protection Branch, with assistance from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of South Dakota and the FDA’s Office of Chief Counsel.

Three New York residents were indicted in the Eastern District of New York for defrauding the U.S. government by filing false claims for millions in false tax refunds, the Justice Department and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced today. 

Charged in a 20-count indictment are Rodney Chestnut, of Middle Island, New York, a retired New York City Department of Corrections officer; Clive Henry, a former IRS employee in the business of preparing tax returns and Nafeesah Hines, a former U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) employee, both of  Jamaica, New York.  Chestnut and Henry were arrested on Jan. 15, and appeared in federal court in Brooklyn, New York. 

The defendants are each charged with one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States, 11 counts of assisting preparation of false returns and four counts of filing false tax returns.  Hines and Chestnut are each charged with one additional count of filing false tax returns.  If convicted, the defendants each face a statutory maximum sentence of five years in prison for conspiracy and a statutory maximum sentence of three years in prison for each false return charged against them.  All of the defendants are also subject to fines and mandatory restitution, if convicted.

According to the indictment, between 2008 and 2012, Hines, Chestnut and Henry recruited clients to a scheme using fake IRS Forms 1099-OID (Original Issue Discount) claiming fictitious tax withholdings and were attached to tax returns that falsely claimed refunds of taxes that were never paid to the IRS.  Hines used an electronic system to transmit the false Forms 1099-OID to the IRS.  The false refund claims listed in the indictment total more than $3.4 million. 

According to the indictment, the defendants collected fees based on a percentage the false refunds that they claimed as part of the scheme.  The indictment also charges the defendants with filing false income tax returns for themselves pursuant to the scheme. 

In 2013, a federal court permanently barred Hines and Chestnut from promoting an alleged tax fraud scheme involving thousands of false tax returns and from preparing tax returns for anyone other than themselves.

The case was investigated by special agents of IRS-Criminal Investigation.  Trial attorneys Mark Kotila, Jeffrey McLellan and Erin Pulice of the Justice Department’s Tax Division are prosecuting the case.  An indictment is only an accusation and a defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.         

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

The commonwealth of Pennsylvania will pay $48.8 million to resolve the federal government’s claims that it provided benefits to ineligible aliens in violation of federal law, the Justice Department announced today.  The benefits at issue were provided under three programs: Medicaid, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as food stamps.

“The Department of Justice will continue to ensure that everyone, including the states, follows the law, but also recognizes the importance of these programs administered by the state that are essential for lower income individuals,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Joyce R. Branda for the Justice Department’s Civil Division.  “This settlement demonstrates our commitment to protect taxpayer funds and ensure they are used for their intended purposes.” 

Under the Personal Responsibility Work Opportunity Act, enacted in 1996, only documented aliens who meet certain low-income requirements and who have been in the country for more than five years may receive non-emergency Medicaid, TANF or SNAP benefits.  The law also requires states to verify recipients’ eligibility before providing these means-tested benefits.  The United States alleged that, between 2004 and 2010, the commonwealth of Pennsylvania provided Medicaid, TANF and SNAP benefits to ineligible aliens in violation of these restrictions.  

“The staff of the civil division in our office has worked closely and diligently with our sister federal agencies, the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services and the Governor’s office to make needed corrections to the operation of programs that are vital to low income families,” said U.S. Attorney Peter J. Smith for the Middle District of Pennsylvania.  “At the same time, after lengthy negotiations, a fair and reasonable settlement has been achieved in the best interest of Pennsylvania tax payers.”

“Our agency will continue to work hard to ensure taxpayer-funded benefits are provided only to those eligible to receive them,” said Special Agent in Charge Nick DiGiulio for the Department of Health and Human Services-Office of Inspector General’s (HHS-OIG) Philadelphia Regional Office.

“We are pleased that this issue has been resolved,” said Administrator Audrey Rowe of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)’s Food and Nutrition Service. “We will continue to work with Pennsylvania to ensure that the SNAP program is administered appropriately to benefit only those who are eligible.”

Acting Assistant Attorney General Branda thanked HHS-OIG, USDA’s Office of Inspector General and Food and Nutrition Service, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania and the Civil Division’s Commercial Litigation Branch, for the collaboration that resulted in the settlement. 

The claims settled by this agreement are allegations only, and there has been no determination of liability.  

As a result of a lawsuit filed by the United States, a federal court in California has issued an injunction shutting down Health One Pharmaceuticals Inc., a City of Industry, California, based manufacturer of dietary supplements and unapproved new drugs.  The firm and its president, Richard S. Yeh, agreed to shut down and resolve the lawsuit as part of a consent decree.  The Justice Department filed the injunction action in the Central District of California at the request of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). 

The consent decree forbids the company from operating unless and until it takes a number of steps to improve its compliance with federal law.  The defendants have represented to the court that they have already ceased operations.

“Protecting the health of American consumers is some of the most important work we do,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Joyce R. Branda for the Justice Department’s Civil Division.  “We have an unwavering commitment to ensuring that the dietary supplements in this country are safe and have been manufactured in accordance with federal law.”          

Based on the results of FDA inspections, the complaint alleged that the defendants violated the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act by delivering, or causing to be delivered for introduction into interstate commerce, dietary supplements that have been prepared, packed or held under conditions that do not meet current good manufacturing practice regulations.  Among other things, the complaint alleged that the defendants failed to meet current good manufacturing practices for dietary supplements by failing to conduct at least one appropriate test or examination to verify the identity of every dietary ingredient prior to using the ingredient.  Furthermore, the complaint alleged that the defendants’ dietary supplements were misbranded because their labels do not include all the information required by federal law.

The complaint further alleged that some of the defendants’ products were unapproved new drugs—and therefore cannot be lawfully distributed under federal law—because they were articles intended for use in the cure, mitigation, treatment or prevention of disease and, among other things, are not generally recognized as safe and effective for their intended uses and were not the subjects of new drug applications approved by FDA.  Furthermore, the complaint alleged that these drugs were misbranded because it is impossible to provide “adequate directions for use” for an unapproved new drug. 

The FDA referred this matter to the Department of Justice.  The Civil Division’s Consumer Protection Branch, together with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California, filed this case on behalf of the United States. 

The claims alleged in the complaint are allegations only and there has been no determination of liability.

Today, Attorney General Eric Holder issued an order setting forth a new policy prohibiting federal agency forfeiture, or “adoptions,” of assets seized by state and local law enforcement agencies, with a limited public safety exception.  A federally adopted forfeiture – or “adoption” for short – occurs when a state or local law enforcement agency seizes property pursuant to state law and requests that a federal agency take the seized asset and forfeit it under federal law.  The U.S. Department of the Treasury, which has its own forfeiture program, is issuing a policy consistent with the Attorney General’s order and that policy will apply to all participants of the Treasury forfeiture program, administered by the Treasury Executive Office for Asset Forfeiture. 

“With this new policy, effective immediately, the Justice Department is taking an important step to prohibit federal agency adoptions of state and local seizures, except for public safety reasons,” said Attorney General Holder.  “This is the first step in a comprehensive review that we have launched of the federal asset forfeiture program.  Asset forfeiture remains a critical law enforcement tool when used appropriately – providing unique means to go after criminal and even terrorist organizations.  This new policy will ensure that these authorities can continue to be used to take the profit out of crime and return assets to victims, while safeguarding civil liberties.”

The Attorney General ordered that federal agency adoption of property seized by state or local law enforcement under state law be prohibited, except for property that directly relates to public safety concerns, including firearms, ammunition, explosives and property associated with child pornography.  The prohibition on federal agency adoption includes, but is not limited to, seizures by state or local law enforcement of vehicles, valuables, cash and other monetary instruments.  This order is effective immediately and applies to all Justice Department attorneys and components, and all participants in the Department of Justice Asset Forfeiture Program.  The new policy will ensure that adoption is employed only to protect public safety, and does not extend to seizures where state and local jurisdictions can more appropriately act under their own laws.

Both the Justice and Treasury Departments regularly review their asset forfeiture programs to ensure that federal asset forfeiture authorities are used carefully and effectively to take the profit out of crime, combat organized crime groups, and enable victim compensation, while ensuring that laws are followed, civil liberties are protected, and our constitutional system is strengthened.  Since 2000, the Justice Department has returned approximately $4 billion in forfeited funds to victims of federal crime.  Both departments will be part of the Law Enforcement Equipment Working Group, which will provide recommendations to the President regarding actions that can be taken to improve programs, like asset forfeiture, that help local law enforcement obtain equipment.  

The Justice Department’s policy permitting federal agencies to adopt seizures dates from the inception of the Asset Forfeiture Program in the 1980s.  The Treasury Department’s adoption policy has been part of its Asset Forfeiture Program since its inception in 1993.  At the time that these policies were implemented, few states had forfeiture statutes analogous to the federal asset forfeiture laws.  Consequently, when state and local law enforcement agencies seized criminal proceeds and property used to commit crimes, they often lacked the legal authority to forfeit the seized items.  Turning seized assets over to federal law enforcement agencies for adoption was a way to keep those assets from being returned to criminals.  Today, however, every state has either criminal or civil forfeiture laws, making the federal adoption process less necessary.  Indeed, adoptions currently constitute a very small slice of the federal asset forfeiture program.  Over the last six years, adoptions accounted for roughly three percent of the value of forfeitures in the Department of Justice Asset Forfeiture Program. 

The new policy applies only to adoptions, not to seizures resulting from joint operations involving both federal and state authorities, or to seizures pursuant to warrants issued by federal courts.  The policy does not limit the ability of state and local agencies to pursue the forfeiture of assets pursuant to their respective state laws.  Law enforcement agencies working on joint task forces are required to follow the 2015 Guidance for Federal Law Enforcement Agencies Regarding the Use of Race, Ethnicity, Gender, National Origin, Religion, Sexual Orientation or Gender Identity.

Attorney General Eric Holder released the following statement after the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear four cases on same-sex marriage equality:

“After the Justice Department's decision not to defend the constitutionality of Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act, the Supreme Court sent a powerful message that Americans in same-sex marriages are entitled to equal protection and equal treatment under the law.  This landmark decision marked a historic step toward equality for all American families.

“The Supreme Court has announced that it will soon hear several cases raising core questions concerning the constitutionality of same-sex marriages.  As these cases proceed, the Department of Justice will remain committed to ensuring that the benefits of marriage are available as broadly as possible.  And we will keep striving to secure equal treatment for all members of society—regardless of sexual orientation.

“As such, we expect to file a ‘friend of the court’ brief in these cases that will urge the Supreme Court to make marriage equality a reality for all Americans.  It is time for our nation to take another critical step forward to ensure the fundamental equality of all Americans—no matter who they are, where they come from, or whom they love.”

The Justice Department announced today that, as part of its Barrier-Free Health Care Initiative, the department has reached a settlement with Genesis Healthcare System (Genesis) to resolve claims that Genesis discriminated against a woman with HIV in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).  Genesis operates a healthcare system that includes a hospital, a network of more than 300 physicians, and multiple outpatient health care centers throughout southeastern Ohio. 

Title III of the ADA prohibits public accommodations, such as healthcare providers, from discriminating against people with disabilities, including HIV.  Following an investigation, the department found that Genesis discriminated against a woman with HIV when one of its primary care physicians refused to accept her as a new patient because of her HIV.  Genesis refused to accept her as a patient despite the fact that she was only seeking a general practitioner for medical care unrelated to HIV.  As a result, the woman had to seek medical treatment at the local emergency room for non-emergent health issues.  The department’s investigation revealed that it was this doctor’s practice to refer any patients with HIV seeking a primary care physician to an HIV specialist.

“Exclusion of patients with HIV creates unfair and illegal barriers to medical care for people with HIV,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Vanita Gupta for the Civil Rights Division.  “Under the law, healthcare providers cannot deny care or refer a patient to a specialist unless the decision is based on current medical knowledge about the particular patient and condition, not on stereotypes about a disability.  The ADA prohibits these types of discriminatory barriers, and the Justice Department is committed to tearing them down.”

Under the settlement, Genesis Healthcare System must pay $25,000 to the victim of discrimination, and $9,000 as a civil penalty.  In addition, it must train its staff on the ADA, develop and implement a non-discrimination policy, and report to the department every time a person with HIV (or who is suspected of having HIV) is denied or discharged as a patient, with a written justification for the decision.

This settlement agreement is part of the department’s Barrier-Free Health Care Initiative, a partnership of the Civil Rights Division and U.S. Attorney’s offices across the nation to target enforcement efforts on a critical area for individuals with disabilities: access to health care.  For more information on the Barrier-Free Health Care Initiative visit http://www.ada.gov/usao-agreements.htm.

For more information on the ADA, HIV discrimination, and this settlement, visit www.ada.gov/aids.  Those interested in finding out more about the obligations of healthcare providers under the ADA may call the Justice Department’s toll-free ADA information line at 800-514-0301 or 800-514-0383 (TDD), or access its ADA website at www.ada.gov.  ADA complaints may be filed by email to ada.complaint@usdoj.gov.

The Department of Justice announced today that it has entered into a consent decree with Clark County, Nevada, that, if approved by the United States District Court for the District of Nevada, will resolve the department’s lawsuit filed under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 regarding compensation discrimination and retaliation.  In its lawsuit, the department alleged that the county paid Therese Scupi, its Director of Diversity, significantly less than white and male county employees whose duties were substantially similar to hers.  The complaint also alleged that the county subjected Scupi to retaliation when she complained of disparities in her pay that she believed were based on her race and sex.   

Under the terms of the consent decree, the county has agreed to pay Scupi approximately $179,000 in back pay, compensatory damages, and pension contributions.  In accordance with the decree, Clark County has also agreed to maintain employment policies, practices and procedures that comply with federal discrimination laws and to conduct training designed to prevent against and correct both discrimination in compensation and retaliation. 

This lawsuit resulted from a joint project with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) designed to ensure vigorous enforcement of Title VII against state and local governmental employers by enhancing cooperation between the EEOC and the Civil Rights Division.

“Title VII protects employees who have the courage to challenge discriminatory pay compensation practices without fear of retaliation from their employers,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Vanita Gupta for the Civil Rights Division.  “We are pleased to have been able to work cooperatively with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to achieve a broad range of injunctive and monetary relief in this important case.”

“Pay inequity remains as a hurdle for working women,” said District Director Rosa Viramontes of the EEOC’s Los Angeles District, which includes southern Nevada in its jurisdiction.  “We were pleased that our partnership with the Department of Justice on this case yielded positive results and will lead to a more equitable working environment going forward.”

Scupi originally filed a charge of race and sex discrimination and retaliation with the EEOC, a federal agency that enforces laws against discrimination in employment.  The EEOC’s Las Vegas local office investigated the matter, determined that there was reasonable cause to believe that discrimination and retaliation had occurred and referred the matter to the department. 

The United States was represented by Civil Rights Division attorneys Antoinette Barksdale and Robert Galbreath.

Title VII prohibits discrimination in employment on the basis of gender, race, color, national origin or religion, and prohibits retaliation against an employee who opposes an unlawful employment practice, or because the employee has made a charge or participated in an investigation, proceeding or hearing under the act.  The enforcement of Title VII and other federal employment discrimination laws is a top priority of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division.  Additional information about the Civil Rights Division and its work is available on its website at www.justice.gov/crt. 

The EEOC enforces federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination.  Further information about the EEOC is available on its website at www.eeoc.gov.

The Justice Department announced today that it reached a settlement agreement with U.S. Service Industries (USSI), a janitorial company headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, and operating in Florida, Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C.  The agreement resolves allegations that USSI violated the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) by discriminating against work-authorized individuals who are not U.S. citizens.    

The Justice Department’s investigation found that USSI required workers who are not U.S. citizens to produce documents issued by the Department of Homeland Security as a condition of employment, but it did not make similar demands of U.S. citizens.  The INA’s anti-discrimination provision prohibits employers from placing additional documentary burdens on workers during the employment eligibility verification process based on their citizenship status. 

Under the settlement agreement, USSI will pay $132,000 in civil penalties to the United States; undergo training on the anti-discrimination provision of the INA; establish a $50,000 back pay fund to compensate any workers who may have lost wages; revise its employment eligibility verification policies; and be subject to monitoring of its employment eligibility verification practices for two years.

“Employers cannot create unlawful discriminatory obstacles for immigrants,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Vanita Gupta for the Civil Rights Division.  “It is important that large employers review their employment eligibility verification practices at all of their offices to make sure they are in compliance with the law.”  

The Office of Special Counsel for Immigration-Related Unfair Employment Practices (OSC) within the Justice Department is responsible for enforcing the anti-discrimination provision of the INA.  Among other things, the statute prohibits citizenship 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 OSC’s worker hotline at 1-800-255-7688 (1-800-237-2515, TTY for hearing impaired), call OSC’s employer hotline at 1-800-255-8155 (1-800-237-2515, TTY for hearing impaired), sign up for a free webinar at www.justice.gov/crt/about/osc/webinars.php, email osccrt@usdoj.gov or visit OSC’s website at www.justice.gov/crt/about/osc.   

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 OSC’s worker hotline for assistance.

The Justice Department announced today that First United Bank, of Dimmitt, Texas, will maintain uniform pricing policies, conduct employee training and pay $140,000 as part of a settlement to resolve allegations that it engaged in a pattern or practice of discrimination on the basis of national origin.

The settlement, which is subject to court approval, was filed in conjunction with the Justice Department’s complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas.  The complaint alleges that First United Bank charged higher prices on unsecured consumer loans made to Hispanic borrowers in violation of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA).

“The Civil Rights Division is committed to ensuring that lenders price all types of loans based on appropriate credit factors and not based on prohibited factors such as national origin,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Vanita Gupta for the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division.  “We commend First United Bank for implementing a system of loan pricing that provides objective guidance to the bank’s employees.”

The lawsuit originated from a referral by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) to the Civil Rights Division.  First United Bank is a member of the FDIC.

Under the settlement, First United Bank will pay a total of $140,000 to compensate hundreds of victims of discrimination, monitor its loans for potential disparities based on national origin and provide equal credit opportunity training to its employees.  First United Bank will also maintain its revised pricing policies to ensure that the price charged for its loans is set in a non-discriminatory manner consistent with the requirements of ECOA.  The agreement also prohibits the bank from discriminating on the basis of national origin in any aspect of a credit transaction.

“This district is committed to ensuring banks and other lending institutions do not discriminate against borrowers on the basis of national origin,” said Acting U.S. Attorney John Parker for the Northern District of Texas.  “I join the Acting Assistant Attorney General in recognizing First United Bank’s cooperation in accomplishing this settlement that will compensate hundreds of victims of this discrimination.”

The Justice Department’s enforcement of fair lending laws is conducted by the Fair Lending Unit of the Housing and Civil Enforcement Section in the Civil Rights Division.  Since the Fair Lending Unit was established in February 2010, it has filed or resolved 36 lending matters under the Fair Housing Act, ECOA and the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act.  The settlements in these matters provide for over $1.2 billion in monetary relief for impacted communities and individual borrowers.  The Attorney General’s annual reports to Congress subject to ECOA highlight the department’s accomplishments in fair lending and are available at www.justice.gov/crt/publication.

The Civil Rights Division and the FDIC are members of the Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force.  President Obama established the interagency Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force to wage an aggressive, coordinated and proactive effort to investigate and prosecute financial crimes.  The task force includes representatives from a broad range of federal agencies, regulatory authorities, inspectors general and state and local law enforcement who, working together, bring to bear a powerful array of criminal and civil enforcement resources.  The task force is working to improve efforts across the federal executive branch, and with state and local partners, to investigate and prosecute significant financial crimes, ensure just and effective punishment for those who perpetrate financial crimes, combat discrimination in the lending and financial markets and recover proceeds for victims of financial crimes.  For more information on the task force, visit www.StopFraud.gov .

A copy of the complaint and proposed order, as well as additional information about fair lending enforcement by the Justice Department, can be obtained from the Justice Department website at www.justice.gov/fairhousing.

The former Executive Director of International Adoption Guides Inc. (IAG), an adoption agency, pleaded guilty yesterday to making false and fraudulent statements to the Council on Accreditation with respect to IAG’s accreditation.  

Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Bill Nettles of the District of South Carolina made the announcement.

Mary Mooney, 57, of Belmont, North Carolina, admitted as part of her guilty plea that she made false statements to the Council on Accreditation (COA), which granted IAG accreditation to provide adoption services in certain countries.  IAG marketed itself as a COA-accredited adoption services provider and numerous clients relied on IAG’s accreditation to confirm that IAG’s adoption services were ethical and in compliance with U.S. and foreign law.  Mooney admitted that in support of IAG’s application for accreditation she made several false representations, including: falsely stating that IAG was in substantial compliance with the relevant regulations; intentionally failing to list her co-defendant, Alisa Bivens, as one of IAG’s employees providing adoption services; and intentionally failing to disclose that James Harding, another co-defendant, was the functional director and head of the company.  All of these false and fraudulent statements were material to COA’s decision to accredit IAG to conduct intercountry adoptions for purposes of the Hague Convention on the Protection of Children and Cooperation in Respect of Intercountry Adoptions.  Without that accreditation, IAG would not have been legally permitted to facilitate intercountry adoptions from any country that was a party to that convention and numerous families would have never retained IAG to provide adoption services.

Mooney is the third defendant to plead guilty as a result of this investigation.  Mooney pleaded guilty before Senior U.S. District Court Judge Sol Blatt Jr. of the District of South Carolina.  A sentencing hearing will be scheduled at a later date.

This ongoing investigation is being conducted by the Bureau of Diplomatic Security.  The department appreciates the assistance of the Office of Children’s Issues at the U.S. Department of State.  The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney John W. Borchert of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Jamie Lea Schoen of the District of South Carolina.

WASHINGTON – El Departamento de Justicia anunció hoy que llegó a un acuerdo con U.S. Service Industries (USSI), una empresa de limpieza, con base de operaciones en Bethesda, Maryland, y operando en la Florida, Maryland, Virginia, y Washington, D.C.  El acuerdo resuelve la alegacion del departamento que USSI violó la Ley de Inmigración y Nacionalidad (INA por sus siglas en inglés) cuando discriminó en contra de individuos autorizados a trabajar quienes no son ciudadanos estadounidenses. 

La investigación del Departamento de Justicia encontró que USSI requiría que sus trabajadores que no eran ciudadanos de los Estados Unidos, produjeran documentos emitidos por el Departamento de Seguridad Nacional como una condición de su empleo, mientras que a los trabajadores ciudadanos estadounidenses no se les hacía demandas parecidas. La provisión antidiscriminatoria de la INA prohíbe que los empleadores impongan cargas adicionales de documentos a sus empleados basado en su estatus inmigratorio durante el proceso de verificación de elegibilidad de empleo.

Bajo el acuerdo , USSI le pagará $132,000 en multas civiles a los Estados Unidos; se someterá a un adiestramiento proporcionado por el departamento sobre la provisión antidiscriminatoria de la INA; establecerá un fondo de $50,000 para compensar a los trabajadores que hayan recibido menos sueldo; revisará sus pólizas de verificación de elegibilidad de empleo; y será sujeto a monitoreo de sus prácticas de verificación de elegibilidad de empleo por dos años.

“Empleadores no pueden crear obstáculos ilegales y discriminatorios para inmigrantes,”  dijo la Subprocuradora General Interina para la División de Derechos Civiles, Vanita Gupta. “Es importante que los empleadores grandes revisen sus prácticas de verificación de elegibilidad de empleo en todas sus oficinas para asegurarse que estén en cumplimiento con la ley.”

La Oficina del Consejero Especial para Prácticas Injustas en el Empleo Relacionadas a la Inmigración (OSC por sus siglas en inglés) es la oficina responsable por hacer cumplir con la provisión anti-discriminatoria de la INA. La ley prohíbe, entre otras cosas, discriminación basada en estatus de ciudadanía o en origen nacional en la contratación, el despido, o el reclutamiento o la referencia por comisión, las prácticas injustas de documentación, y represalias e intimidación.

Para obtener más información acerca de las protecciones contra la discriminación en el empleo según las leyes de inmigración, o para registrarse para un seminario sin costo ofrecido a través del internet, llame a la línea directa de la OSC para trabajadores al 1-800-255-7688 1-800-237-2515, TTY (para personas con discapacidades auditivas); llame a la línea directa de la OSC para empleadores al 1-800-255-8155 (1-800-237-2515, TTY para personas con discapacidades auditivas); suscríbase a un seminario por internet gratis en www.justice.gov/crt/about/osc/webinars.php, envíe un correo electrónico a osccrt@usdoj.gov; o visite el sitio web de la OSC en www.justice.gov/crt/about/osc.

Solicitantes o trabajadores que creen que fueron sometidos a: (1) requisitos diferentes de documentación por causa de su estatus de ciudadanía, estatus migratorio o su origen nacional; o (2) discriminación por causa de su estatus de ciudadanía, estatus migratorio o el origen nacional en la contratación, el despido o el reclutamiento o referencia por comisión, deben comunicarse a la línea de trabajadores de la OSC para obtener ayuda.

WASHINGTON – El Departamento de Justicia anunció hoy que First United Bank de Dimmitt, Texas, mantendrá políticas de precios uniformes, brindará capacitación a empleados y pagará 140,000 dólares como parte de un acuerdo conciliatorio en resolución de alegaciones que adoptó un patrón o práctica de discriminación por razón de origen nacional.

El acuerdo conciliatorio, que está sujeto a aprobación del tribunal, fue presentado junto con la demanda del Departamento de Justicia en el Tribunal Federal de Distrito del Distrito Norte de Texas.  La demanda alega que First United Bank cobraba precios más altos en préstamos de consumidor sin garantía otorgados a prestatarios hispanos, lo que viola la Ley de Igualdad de Oportunidades de Crédito [Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA)].

“La División de Derechos Civiles se compromete a garantizar que los precios establecidos por los prestamistas para todos los tipos de préstamos se basen en factores de crédito adecuados y no en factores prohibidos, tales como el origen nacional”, dijo la Fiscal General Auxiliar Interina Vanita Gupta de la División de Derechos Civiles del Departamento de Justicia.  “Felicitamos a First United Bank por implementar un sistema de establecimientos de precios de préstamos que brinda orientación objetiva a los empleados del banco”.

La demanda se originó de una remisión a la División de Derechos Civiles del Departamento de Justicia por parte de la Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC).  First United Bank es un miembro de la FDIC.

Según el acuerdo conciliatorio, First United Bank pagará un total de 140,000 dólares para compensar a cientos de víctimas de discriminación, monitoreará sus préstamos con respecto a potenciales disparidades basadas en el origen nacional y brindará capacitación a sus empleados sobre oportunidades iguales de crédito.  First United Bank también mantendrá sus políticas de establecimientos de precios revisadas para garantizar que los precios cobrados por sus préstamos se establezcan de manera no discriminatoria compatible con las exigencias de ECOA.  El acuerdo también le prohíbe al banco discriminar por origen nacional en cualquier aspecto de una transacción de crédito.

“Este distrito se compromete a asegurar que bancos y otras instituciones de préstamo no discriminen contra prestatarios por su origen nacional”, dijo el Fiscal Federal Interino John Parker del Distrito Norte de Texas.  “Acompaño a la Fiscal Federal Auxiliar Interina en reconocer la cooperación de First United Bank en cumplir con este acuerdo conciliatorio que compensará a cientos de víctimas de esta discriminación.”

La Unidad de Préstamos Justos de la Sección de Vivienda y Cumplimiento de la Ley Civil de la División de Derechos Civiles del Departamento de Justicia es responsable de hacer valer las leyes de otorgamiento justo de préstamos.  Desde su fundación en febrero de 2010, la Unidad de Préstamos Justos ha iniciado o resuelto 36 casos asociados a préstamos bajo la Ley de Vivienda Justa [Fair Housing Act], ECOA y la Ley de Alivio Civil para los Miembros de las Fuerzas Armadas [Servicemembers Civil Relief Act].  Los acuerdos conciliatorios logrados en estos casos consistieron en más de 1.2 miles de millones de dólares en reparación monetaria para comunidades y prestatarios individuales afectados.  Los informes anuales del Secretario de Justicia de EE.UU. al Congreso bajo ECOA destacan los logros del Departamento en el otorgamiento de préstamos justos y están disponibles en www.justice.gov/crt/publication.

La División de Derechos Civiles y la FDIC son miembros de la Fuerza de Tarea de Coacción contra el Fraude Financiero.  El Presidente Obama estableció la Fuerza de Tarea de Coacción contra el Fraude Financiero interagencial para llevar a cabo una iniciativa enérgica, coordinada y proactiva para investigar y enjuiciar los delitos financieros.  La fuerza de tarea incluye a representantes de una amplia gama de dependencias federales, autoridades reguladoras, inspectores generales y miembros de las fuerzas del orden público estatales y locales, quienes, trabajando juntos, aprovechan un poderoso espectro de recursos de coacción penal y civil.  La fuerza de tarea está trabajando para mejorar la labor en todo el poder ejecutivo federal, y con asociados estatales y locales, para investigar y enjuiciar los delitos financieros importantes, asegurar un castigo justo y eficaz para quienes cometan delitos financieros, combatir la discriminación en los mercados de préstamos y financieros, y recuperar fondos para las víctimas de delitos financieros.  Para obtener más información sobre la fuerza de tarea, visite www.StopFraud.gov.

Para obtener una copia de la demanda y la orden propuesta, así como también información adicional sobre la labor del Departamento de Justicia para hacer valer las leyes de otorgamiento justo de préstamos, visite el portal del Departamento de Justicia en www.justice.gov/fairhousing.

 

The owner and chief executive of Glenn Defense Marine Asia (GDMA), a company providing services to the U.S. Navy, pleaded guilty to bribery and fraud charges in federal court today, admitting that he presided over a decade-long conspiracy involving “scores” of U.S. Navy officials, tens of millions of dollars in fraud and millions of dollars in bribes and gifts.  GDMA also pleaded guilty today, as did a Navy captain who pleaded guilty for accepting bribes in exchange for using his position to benefit GDMA.

Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Laura E. Duffy of the Southern District of California, Deputy Inspector General for Investigations James B. Burch of the Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS), Director Andrew L. Traver of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) and Director Anita Bales of the Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA) made the announcement.

“Today’s guilty pleas of Leonard Francis, his company, and a senior Navy officer are vitally important steps in our active, ongoing investigation,” said Assistant Attorney General Caldwell.  “We will continue our efforts to root out those involved in this long-running corruption scheme, both inside and outside the Navy.  The interests of justice and national security demand nothing less.”

“It is astounding that Leonard Francis was able to purchase the integrity of Navy officials by offering them meaningless material possessions and the satisfaction of selfish indulgences,” said U.S. Attorney Duffy.  “In sacrificing their honor, these officers helped Francis defraud their country out of tens of millions of dollars.  Now they will be held to account.”  

“The greed of all those involved in this massive fraud and bribery case has cost American taxpayers tens of millions of dollars,” said NCIS Director Traver.  “NCIS and our law enforcement partners have pored through mountains of documents and emails, discovering and documenting the crimes so that those who participated can be held accountable.  Although today’s pleas are a significant milestone in the case, this investigation is far from over; there is much more work to be done.”

“The guilty pleas entered today send a clear message to those who, driven by greed, betray the faith and trust of the American taxpayers,” said DCIS Deputy Inspector General Burch.  “The DCIS, along with its law enforcement partners, will relentlessly pursue those who corrupt the procurement process for their own personal benefit.”

“I’m extremely gratified that the work of our investigative support team could make a significant contribution to the outcome in this egregious case of defrauding the government and, ultimately, the American taxpayer,” said DCAA Director Bales.

Leonard Glenn Francis, 50, of Singapore, the owner and CEO of GDMA, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bribery, bribery and conspiracy to defraud the United States before U.S. Magistrate Judge Jan M. Adler of the Southern District of California.  GDMA likewise pleaded guilty today to conspiracy to commit bribery, bribery and conspiracy to defraud the United States.  A sentencing hearing for both Francis and GDMA is scheduled for April 3, 2015, before U.S. District Judge Janis L. Sammartino of the Southern District of California.  As part of their plea agreements, Francis and GDMA have agreed to forfeit $35 million and pay full restitution to the Navy, in an amount to be determined at sentencing. 

As part of his guilty plea, Francis admitted to defrauding the Navy of tens of millions of dollars by routinely overbilling for various goods and services, including fuel, tugboat services and sewage disposal. 

Francis also admitted that over the course of the conspiracy, he and GDMA gave Navy officials millions of dollars in gifts and expenses, including over $500,000 in cash; hundreds of thousands of dollars in prostitution services; travel expenses, including first class airfare, luxurious hotel stays and spa treatments; lavish meals, including Kobe beef, Spanish suckling pigs, top-shelf alcohol and wine; and luxury gifts, including Cuban cigars, designer handbags, watches, fountain pens, designer furniture, electronics, ornamental swords and hand-made ship models.  In exchange, Francis solicited and received classified and confidential U.S. Navy information, including ship schedules.  Francis also sought and received preferential treatment for GDMA in the contracting process.  Francis further admitted that he bribed a federal criminal investigator in an attempt to learn more about the federal investigation of his company.

Also today, U.S. Navy Capt. Daniel Dusek, 47, of San Diego, California, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit bribery before U.S. Magistrate Judge William V. Gallo of the Southern District of California.  A sentencing hearing before U.S. District Judge Janis L. Sammartino of the Southern District of California is scheduled for April 3, 2015.  

Dusek, the highest-ranking of five present and former Navy officials to plead guilty in the case so far, admitted that he used his influence as Deputy Director of Operations for the 7th Fleet, headquartered in Yokosuka, Japan, and later as commanding officer of the USS Bonhomme Richard and the executive officer of the USS Essex, to benefit Francis and GDMA.  Dusek admitted that he hand-delivered Navy ship schedules to the GDMA office in Japan or emailed them directly to Francis or a GDMA employee on dozens of occasions, each time taking steps to avoid detection by law enforcement or Navy personnel.  Dusek further admitted that Francis plied him with lavish meals, alcohol, entertainment, gifts, dozens of nights and incidentals at luxury hotels, including the Marriott Waikiki and the Shangri-La in Makati, Philippines, and the services of prostitutes.

Dusek admitted that, after accepting these gifts, he worked to direct Naval ships to GDMA’s port terminals.  For example, on one occasion, he steered an aircraft carrier and its strike group to Port Klang, Malaysia, a port terminal owned by Francis. 

In addition to Francis, GDMA and Dusek, five other individuals have pleaded guilty for their roles in the scheme to date: U.S. Navy Commander Jose Luis Sanchez, U.S. Naval Criminal Investigative Service Special Agent John Beliveau, U.S. Navy Petty Officer First Class Dan Layug and GDMA employees Alex Wisidagama and Edmond Aruffo.

The ongoing investigation is being conducted by NCIS, DCIS and DCAA.  The case is being prosecuted by Director of Procurement Fraud Catherine Votaw and Senior Trial Attorney Brian R. Young of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Mark W. Pletcher and Robert S. Huie of the Southern District of California. 

Those with information relating to fraud, corruption or waste in government contracting should contact the NCIS anonymous tip line at www.ncis.navy.mil or the DOD Hotline at www.dodig.mil/hotline, or call (800) 424-9098.

In a speech at a Justice Department ceremony honoring the late Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., Attorney General Eric Holder said Thursday that the nation must improve police officer safety at the same time that it confronts the sense of mistrust between law enforcement and the communities they serve.  As an initial step, the Attorney General called for better reporting of data on both issues, noting that the current level of reporting by localities on both uses of force by police—as well as officer fatalities—was incomplete.

“The troubling reality is that we lack the ability right now to comprehensively track the number of incidents of either uses of force directed at police officers or uses of force by police,” the Attorney General said in his remarks.  “This strikes many – including me – as unacceptable.  Fixing this is an idea that we should all be able to unite behind.”

Currently, federal authorities publish annual figures on the number of “justifiable homicides” by law enforcement, as well as figures on the number of law enforcement officers killed or assaulted.   But since reporting is voluntary, not all police departments participate, causing the figures to be incomplete.  In his comments Thursday, the Attorney General urged improving the method for collecting both these sets of data.

“This would represent a commonsense step that would begin to address serious concerns about police officer safety, as well as the need to safeguard civil liberties,” he said.

A complete version of the Attorney General’s remarks, as prepared for delivery, appear below:

“Thank you, Vanita [Gupta], for those kind words – and thank you all for being here.  It’s a privilege to welcome such a distinguished crowd to the Great Hall for this important observance and on what will be my last opportunity to share it with you as Attorney General.  It’s a pleasure, as always, to join so many valued colleagues and good friends in paying tribute to the enduring legacy of an extraordinary leader; in celebrating the contributions of a singular figure in our nation’s history; and in honoring the memory of a lifelong champion for equality, for peace, and for justice: the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

“I am glad to share the stage this morning with Dorothy Williams, Richard Toscano, Thomas Wright, and of course Assistant Attorney General Gupta.  I’d like to thank every member of the Junior ROTC Color Guard for opening today’s ceremony.  I want to extend a special welcome to civil rights activist Dorie Ann Ladner, whom we’re honored to have with us today.  And I particularly want to thank all of you for taking time out of your busy schedules to participate in this annual event – on what should have been Dr. King’s 86th birthday – as we join millions of our fellow citizens, throughout the country, in remembering the man who helped to lead a sweeping movement that forever changed the face of America – and inspired people around the world to reach for opportunity and inclusion.

“The remarkable and enduring achievements of the Civil Rights Era – in tearing down segregationist policies, expanding access to the ballot box, and enshrining key protections into law – did nothing less than alter the course of history.  The impact of the Movement has been transformative, and its power impossible to measure, over the last five decades.  Yet, as we’ve been reminded all too clearly in recent months – despite this once-unimaginable progress – there’s no denying, as we gather for this important commemoration, that a great deal of work remains to be done.  Even today, in 2015, our journey is not yet complete.  Economic progress remains uneven, educational opportunity is still not uniform, the right to vote is under siege.  And we continue to live in a world that’s too often divided – a world riven by misunderstanding and despair.  A world beset by momentous challenges, old and new.  And a world badly in need of the compassion, the inclusion, and the healing that Dr. King stood for, and worked toward, throughout his too-short 39 years.

“Especially in this time of trial, it is not only fitting – but essential – that we rededicate ourselves to the vision, and the values, that guided Dr. King at every stage of his career.  Today – just as they did 50 years ago – these values point us away from tired rhetoric and stale talking points.  They move us toward open dialogue and constructive engagement.  They impel us to remember the common humanity that Dr. King found in every person he met – in police officers as in protestors; in prisoners as in presidents.  And they call us to the service of our fellow citizens, the betterment of our nation, and the protection of all that is exceptional about the country we love.  After all, as Dr. King once said, “everybody can be great [. . .] because everybody can serve.”

“I am mindful, as we come together this morning, that there are few who answer this call to greatness more heroically – and fewer still who make more contributions and sacrifices in the name of public service – than those who stand on the front lines of our fight for public safety: America’s brave men and women in law enforcement.

“As the brother of a retired police officer, I know in a personal way that these courageous individuals perform their difficult and dangerous jobs with extraordinary valor, compassion, and honor.  They serve as steadfast guardians of our rights and liberties – shouldering tremendous and often-unheralded burdens.  They incur significant risks in order to keep the rest of us safe.  And they are routinely called upon to make split-second decisions to protect themselves and those around them.

“In short, they are true American heroes – whose patriotism, integrity, and commitment to the highest standards of excellence are simply beyond question.  I know this.  And I have been troubled and deeply disturbed by recent mischaracterizations of this Administration’s regard for those who wear the badge.

“Over the past six years, our record of support for law enforcement has been both strong and unambiguous.  This Justice Department, under my leadership, has taken significant, and in some cases unprecedented, steps to protect and empower our local, state, tribal, and federal law enforcement colleagues.  This is simple fact.  In 2011, I created an Officer Safety Working Group in response to concerns about officer-directed violence.  Through groundbreaking initiatives like VALOR, the Department is providing cutting-edge training to help prevent violence against law enforcement, to improve officer resilience, and to increase survivability during violent encounters.  We’re currently funding thorough analysis of 2014 officer fatalities, including ambushes and other incidents, so we can mitigate risks going forward.  Under our Bulletproof Vest Partnership Program, we’re helping to provide lifesaving equipment to those who serve on the front lines.  And through programs like the Public Safety Officers’ Benefits Program, we’re offering our strongest support to brave officers and their loved ones during the toughest of times.

“As someone who knows firsthand the pride of seeing a family member in uniform – and the anguish that comes with knowing a loved one is in harm’s way, out patrolling the street – my personal support for those who serve has been steadfast throughout my career.  I believe that every law enforcement officer is deserving not merely of our utmost respect, but our deepest gratitude.  And that’s why last month’s devastating and barbaric attack – which claimed the lives of two of New York’s finest, Officers [Wenjian] Liu and [Rafael] Ramos – was so shocking, and so deplorable.

“These senseless murders were assaults on us all – on our nation, on the rule of law, and on everyone who stands for justice.  They serve as tragic reminders of the dangers that all of our police officers regularly face.  And they have lent new urgency to our ongoing, national conversation about the need to reduce crime – while at the same time building public trust wherever it has been eroded.

“This afternoon, I’ll be traveling to Philadelphia to convene the latest in a series of roundtable discussions – with law enforcement leaders, elected officials, community members, young people, and civil rights advocates – in order to keep advancing this dialogue.  Over the course of my travels throughout the country, I’ve had the chance to discuss these critical issues with Americans of all ages, backgrounds, races, ethnicities, and walks of life – from Atlanta to Cleveland; from Memphis to Chicago.

“I’ve heard from police officers, protesters, faith leaders, and concerned citizens.  On many occasions, I have been deeply moved by the stories and perspectives I’ve heard – from parents hoping to secure brighter and safer futures for their children; from passionate young people becoming engaged in our national debate; from police officers valiantly putting their lives on the line to make our neighborhoods just a little bit safer.

“Through all of these interactions, I have been struck not by the differences that have emerged, but by the remarkable commonalities.  By the desire for peace, for safety, and for justice that drives everyone who’s engaged in this discussion.  And by the shared vision of a better tomorrow, and a more secure and inclusive future, that unites all Americans.

“Let me be clear: none of these goals are in tension.  None of our aims are in conflict.  And so it is incumbent upon all of us to protect both the safety of our police officers and the rights and wellbeing of all of our citizens.

“We can, and we must, examine new ways to do both.  The first step to achieving this is to obtain better, more accurate data on the scope of the challenges we face.  For instance, I’ve heard from a number of people who have called on policymakers to ensure better record-keeping on injuries and deaths that occur at the hands of police.  I’ve also spoken with law enforcement leaders – including the leadership of the Fraternal Order of Police – who have urged elected officials to consider strategies for collecting better data on officer fatalities.  Today, my response to these legitimate concerns is simple: we need to do both.

“This would represent a commonsense step that would begin to address serious concerns about police officer safety, as well as the need to safeguard civil liberties.  The troubling reality is that we lack the ability right now to comprehensively track the number of incidents of either uses of force directed at police officers or uses of force by police.  There has been some effort to address this in the past – in the 1990s, for example, Congress enacted legislation intended to help the Justice Department collect data on officer-involved shootings.  But since the reporting remains optional, and perhaps lacks sufficient incentives, many localities do not provide this data.  Likewise, absent a requirement for reporting of injuries and deaths of police officers, many localities fail to report these statistics as well.  This strikes many – including me – as unacceptable.  Fixing this is an idea that we should all be able to unite behind.

“On a more fundamental level, our shared objectives also require that we work together to confront the mistrust that exists – in some places – between law enforcement officers and the communities they serve.  This is why President Obama and I have announced a variety of proposals that will enable us to bridge these divides wherever they are uncovered – from a National Initiative for Building Community Trust and Justice, to new funding for body-worn cameras.  In recent weeks, I have also announced improvements to racial profiling guidance that applies to all federal law enforcement agents conducting law enforcement activities.  And the President has taken the historic step of convening a new Task Force on 21st Century Policing – which held its first hearing just two days ago, and which – under the leadership of Philadelphia Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey, former Assistant Attorney General Laurie Robinson, and other law enforcement leaders and experts – will provide strong, national direction to the profession as a whole, on a scale not seen since the Johnson Administration.

“I want to emphasize that these reforms are not aimed at individual officers themselves – who perform their jobs with distinction each and every day.  Rather, they are intended to strengthen the criminal justice system as a whole, as well as the policies and procedures that shape this system and govern the way it functions.  This will improve public confidence – allowing law enforcement to operate with maximum safety, effectiveness, fairness, and legitimacy – in every case and circumstance.  And it will help to ensure that our present dialogue can be translated into positive, meaningful action.

“We owe it to our brave law enforcement officers, to peaceful demonstrators – and, especially, to our youngest citizens – to talk forthrightly about the issues we face, no matter how difficult or complex they may be.  We owe it to ourselves and our nation to seek areas of consensus, rather than to exploit old divisions and reopen old wounds.  Most of all, we owe it to those who, throughout history, have fought, and sacrificed, and given their lives to bring our country to this moment – from Dr. King and the pioneers of the Civil Rights Era, to Officers Ramos and Liu and the colleagues who carry on their work – to lay aside meaningless grievances.  To reject political posturing from those who only demonstrate their interest in front of television cameras.  And to do everything in our power to confront the challenges of our time – and find a way to move forward – together.

“During my visit to Memphis last month, I had the opportunity to tour the National Civil Rights Museum at the Lorraine Motel, where Dr. King’s room is preserved just as it was on April 4, 1968 – the night he was taken from us by the very same forces of intolerance against which he had stood throughout his life.

“I could not help but think, as I stood on that motel balcony, about this great leader’s unshakeable belief that promoting love – and condemning all forms of violence – is the only way to “cut off the chain of hate.”

“I thought, as well, of the words of my predecessor as Attorney General, Robert Kennedy – who spoke about Dr. King’s legacy, and what he called the “mindless menace of violence,” just one day after Dr. King’s untimely murder.  In that emotional speech, then-Senator Kennedy urged a grieving nation to remember that “[t]he victims of . . . violence are black and white, rich and poor, young and old, famous and unknown.”  And he reminded us that – no matter where they came from or who they were – in life, all of these victims were “. . . human beings whom other human beings loved and needed.”

“As we gather today, in the shadow of recent acts of senseless violence, I cannot help but reflect on the lives that have been lost over the past few months – in communities where tragic deaths have exposed rifts between citizens and law enforcement; in New York City, where two brave police officers were murdered because of the uniforms they wore; and in Paris, where heinous and cowardly acts of terror shocked the world and targeted the freedoms we all hold dear.

“Unfortunately, none of this is new to us.  Senseless violence has coursed through the veins of this world for ages.  And we have seen, throughout history, that acts of hatred breed only hatred.  We understand that words of division only deepen division.  And we know that our most serious and systemic challenges continue to demand the very best of us – just as they did in Dr. King’s time.

“So today, once again, let us not shy away from – but embrace – the noisy discord of honest, frank, and vigorous debate.  Never forget – this great nation was born of protest – by residents of this land who took to the streets to demand fairness from those who governed them.  Let us never fail to support those who wear the badge, or to work alongside them in building a constructive dialogue – a dialogue founded on our common humanity.  Let us act on the crucial recognition that those who serve with honor serve greatly – and they deserve our deepest respect.  And let us reject the empty rhetoric of anyone who would engage in cynical attempts to divide and cast blame – choosing instead to affirm once more that Americans from all backgrounds and perspectives must come together to be part of positive change.

“In this great country – a nation of laws and of high ideals – we have always had the power to forge our own future.  Dr. King’s example offers inspiring proof of this fact.  And that’s why, as our present work unfolds – so long as we continue to rely on the engagement of our citizens, the ongoing commitment of our police officers, and the singular expertise and experience of leaders like you – I believe there is good reason for confidence in where this effort will take us.

“I want to thank you all, once again, for your dedication to this work.  Wherever I am and whatever I am doing, I will always be proud to count you as colleagues and partners in the work of making better the nation that we all love.

“Thank you for all that you have done these past six years and for all that you will do in the years ahead. “

The mastermind of a more than $700,000 stolen identity tax refund fraud scheme was found guilty by a jury of conspiracy to commit theft of public money, theft of public money and aggravated identity theft, the Department of Justice, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Alabama and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced today. 

Tarrish Tellis, 38, of Montgomery, Alabama, was found guilty after a three-day trial in Montgomery.  According to evidence presented at trial, Tellis’ co-conspirator, Nakia Jackson, obtained approximately 700 names, dates of birth and social security numbers from an employee of the Alabama Medicaid State Agency.  Jackson provided some of the names to Tellis, who in turn used them to file false tax returns.  In exchange, Tellis taught Jackson how to file false tax returns.

According to evidence presented at trial, in order to hide his involvement in the scheme, Tellis orchestrated means in which to conceal the origin of the funds.  Tellis recruited several friends and relatives, including Bobby Joe Means, Delancey Tolliver, Glen Powell Jr. and Tracey Montgomery, to open up bank accounts for the purpose of receiving fraudulent tax refunds.  When a tax refund was deposited into their bank accounts, Tellis directed them to withdraw the money and provide it to him.  He directed more than $300,000 to those accounts.  Tellis took additional steps by recruiting a bank teller, Laquanta Clayton, who used her position to open up bank accounts in the name of fictitious individuals and in the name of her daughter’s father.  Tellis directed around $200,000 into the accounts that Clayton controlled, which Clayton then withdrew and provided the majority of the money to Tellis.  Tellis also took steps to conceal his involvement in the filing of false tax returns, including filing numerous tax returns by accessing a residential wireless router that was not password protected.  By doing so, Tellis made it appear that the owner of the residence had filed the returns. 

At his April 15 sentencing, Tellis faces a statutory minimum sentence of two years in prison and a statutory maximum sentence of 125 years in prison, plus fines and forfeiture.

On April 25, 2014, Jackson was sentenced to serve 87 months in prison.  Clayton was sentenced on Feb. 19, 2014, to serve 21 months in prison.  Tolliver was sentenced to serve 15 months in prison, Powell Jr. and Means were each sentenced to serve 12 months and one day in prison and Montgomery was sentenced to serve six months in prison. 

The case was investigated by special agents of IRS - Criminal Investigation.  Trial Attorneys Gregory P. Bailey, Charles M. Edgar Jr. and Michael C. Boteler of the Justice Department’s Tax Division, with the assistance of Assistant U.S. Attorney Todd Brown for the Middle District of Alabama, prosecuted the case.

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

A Michigan physician involved in a $2.1 million home health care fraud scheme was sentenced today to 15 months in prison.

Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Barbara L. McQuade of the Eastern District of Michigan, Special Agent in Charge Paul M. Abbate of the FBI’s Detroit Field Office and Special Agent in Charge Lamont Pugh III of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG), Office of Investigations Detroit Office made the announcement.

Dr. Paula Williamson, 69, of Redford Township, Michigan, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Paul D. Borman of the Eastern District of Michigan.  In addition to her prison term, Williamson was ordered to pay $1,343,261.61 in restitution.

According to her plea agreement, from August 2009 through October 2012, Williamson conspired with others to commit health care fraud by referring Medicare beneficiaries for home health care services that were medically unnecessary and never provided.  Williamson also falsified documents that were used to support false and fraudulent claims to Medicare.

According to her admissions, Williamson signed referrals for a home health care agency known as AMB Healthcare Inc. (AMB), which was located in Farmington Hills, Michigan, and owned by a co-conspirator.  AMB needed a physician’s referral to bill Medicare for purported home health care services.  Williamson admitted that, at the request of her co-conspirators, including the owner of AMB, she falsified medical documentation and certified Medicare beneficiaries as homebound—a requirement for Medicare reimbursement—when, in fact, she had never examined nor even met the beneficiaries, and they were not homebound.  AMB used the falsified documents to support fraudulent claims to Medicare for home health care services that were never rendered and not medically necessary. 

Between April 2009 and December 2012, Medicare paid AMB approximately $2.1 million for purported home health care services.  Of that amount, approximately $1.3 million was based on Williamson’s false home health referrals.

This case was investigated by the FBI and HHS-OIG, and was brought by the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, supervised by the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Michigan.  The case was prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Matthew C. Thuesen and Niall M. O’Donnell of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section. 

Since its inception in March 2007, the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, now operating in nine cities across the country, has charged nearly 2,000 defendants who have collectively billed the Medicare program for more than $6 billion.  In addition, HHS’s Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, working in conjunction with HHS-OIG, is taking steps to increase accountability and decrease the presence of fraudulent providers.  

To learn more about the Health Care Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Team (HEAT), go to: www.stopmedicarefraud.gov.

Assistant Attorney General for National Security John P. Carlin, U.S Attorney A. Lee Bentley III for the Middle District of Florida and Special Agent in Charge Michelle S. Klimt of the FBI Jacksonville Division announced that Shelton Thomas Bell, 21, of Jacksonville, Florida, was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison for conspiring and attempting to provide material support to terrorists.  U.S. District Judge Timothy J. Corrigan also ordered Bell to a lifetime of supervision following his release from prison.  Bell pleaded guilty on March 19, 2014.

"We must be vigilant in investigating and prosecuting United States citizens who seek to travel overseas to assist terrorists," said U.S. Attorney Bentley.  "Not only do these individuals present an obvious threat abroad, they could also return to the United States after being radicalized and trained in the use of firearms, explosives, and weapons of mass destruction.  Cases such as these remain a top priority for the United States Attorney’s Office and the Department of Justice."

"With our local, state and federal agencies working together through the JTTF, we’re able to detect, deter and defend our nation from these types of threats," said Special Agent in Charge Klimt.  "We’re strongest working together and this is a perfect example of success through collaboration."

According to court documents, beginning in May 2012 and continuing through at least July 18, 2012, Bell conspired to train and prepare as a combatant for overseas violent jihad, then travel from Jacksonville to the Middle East for the ultimate purpose of providing the skills to terrorists, including members of Ansar al-Sharia in Yemen.  Once overseas, the plan included receiving further training and deadly weapons from Ansar al-Sharia, and then engaging in violent jihad against, and killing, others in Yemen and elsewhere.

In May 2012, Bell recruited a juvenile for the purpose of engaging in violent jihad and inspired him with the teachings of an Al Qaida spokesperson, Anwar al-Awlaki.  Bell suggested traveling to Yemen to fight because of al-Awlaki's teachings - that all young people should travel to Yemen to “take up the fight.”  Bell and the juvenile subsequently agreed to travel to Israel and then make Hajj.  As part of the plan, the conspirators told others, including their parents, that they were traveling overseas to make Hajj, to study, and to get an education.  By July 2012, the conspirators began taking actions to train for their unlawful activities by conducting mental training that included watching al-Awlaki videos and looking at images of dead Muslims. 

Another part of the training took place on July 4, 2012, when Bell conducted a late-night “jihadi training mission” that involved the destruction of religious statues in a multi-denominational cemetery located in Jacksonville.  In preparation for the mission, he dressed in all black clothing, wore tactical gloves, a mask, and wrapped his shoes in black duct tape to avoid leaving footprints.  Bell brought a loaded 9 mm pistol with him on the mission to use “in case any kuffar want to cause any trouble.”  Other training sessions conducted by Bell included a homemade firing range and impromptu battlefield lessons intended for recording and uploading to the Internet, to be used in the recruitment of others in the “the actions of jihad.”  At the conclusion of one training session, Bell placed an American flag on a machete, burned it, and commented that the flag was “burning to the ground by the mujahidin’s hands.”  To recruit other youth to travel and join in armed conflict, Bell and the juvenile also planned to take footage of their participation in armed conflict in the Middle East, once they made it there and began fighting. 

On Sep. 25, 2012, Bell and the juvenile left Jacksonville and flew to New York, Poland, and Tel Aviv, Israel, where they were detained by Israeli officials and deported to Poland.  From there, Bell and the juvenile traveled to Jordan to stay with the juvenile's relatives.  While in Jordan, Bell and the juvenile contacted another person to assist in their plan of joining up with Ansar al-Sharia.  Bell and the juvenile also bought airline tickets to Oman, believing they would fly to Oman and walk across the border to Yemen and join the armed conflict there.  During their overseas travel, Bell and the juvenile took steps to avoid detection by law enforcement.

Ultimately, Bell and the juvenile were deported from Jordan to the United States on Nov. 21, 2012.

This case was investigated by the FBI's Jacksonville Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF). The JTTF is a multi-agency task force comprised of full-time personnel from the FBI, U.S. Coast Guard Investigative Service, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations, the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office, Florida Highway Patrol, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, and the Naval Criminal Investigative Service.  It was prosecuted by Trial Attorney Mara M. Kohn from the Department of Justice National Security Division’s Counter Terrorism Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Mac D. Heavener III.

Assistant Attorney General for National Security John P. Carlin and Acting Special Agent in Charge John A. Barrios of the Cincinnati Division of the FBI announced today that the Joint Terrorism Task Force has arrested a Cincinnati-area man for a plot to attack the U.S. Capitol and kill government officials.  Acting Special Agent in Charge Barrios noted that the public was not in danger during this investigation.

Christopher Lee Cornell, 20, of Green Township, Ohio, was charged in a criminal complaint with attempting to kill officers and employees of the United States and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence.

Cornell was taken into custody today by the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF).  The JTTF is made up of officers and agents from the Cincinnati Police Department, Colerain Police Department, Dayton Police Department, Ohio State Highway Patrol, United States Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, United States Secret Service, West Chester Police Department and the Xenia Police Department.

The department would also like to acknowledge the Cincinnati Police Department, Colerain Police Department, Green Township Police Department and the U.S. Capitol Police for the cooperation and assistance they provided during this investigation.

The criminal complaint was filed today before a U.S. District Court Magistrate Judge.  The public is reminded that criminal complaints contain only allegations of criminal misconduct and that defendants are presumed to be innocent unless proven guilty in a court of law.

Elite Estate Buyers Inc., doing business as Elite Decorative Arts, an auction house located in Boynton Beach, Florida, and the company’s president and owner, Christopher Hayes, pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Miami to an illegal wildlife trafficking and smuggling conspiracy in which  the auction house sold rhinoceros horns and objects made from rhino horn, elephant ivory and coral that were smuggled from the United States to China.

The guilty plea was announced today by Assistant Attorney General John C. Cruden for the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division, U.S. Attorney Wifredo Ferrer for the Southern District of Florida and Director Dan Ashe of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS).  The prosecution of Elite and Hayes is part of Operation Crash, a continuing effort by the Special Investigations Unit of the FWS’ Office of Law Enforcement in coordination with the Department of Justice to detect, deter and prosecute those engaged in the illegal killing of rhinoceros and the unlawful trafficking of rhinoceros horns.

According to records filed in court, Hayes and his company sold six endangered black rhino horns.  Two of the horns were sold for $80,500 to a Texas resident involved in smuggling the horns to China.  Two more rhino horns were purchased by an undercover FWS special agent.  Another undercover agent with the FWS consigned two horns for auction. 

As part of today’s plea agreement, Hayes and Elite have admitted to being part of a far reaching felony conspiracy in which the company helped smugglers traffic in endangered and protected species in interstate and foreign commerce, and falsified records and shipping documents related to the wildlife purchases in order to avoid the scrutiny of the FWS and U.S. Customs and Border Protection.  Elite aided foreign buyers by directing them to third-party shipping stores that were willing to send the wildlife out of the country with false paperwork.   

“In pleading guilty this auction house is admitting that it played a key role in the supply chain of rhino horn and elephant ivory to wildlife smugglers and foreign markets,” said Assistant Attorney General Cruden.  “Auction houses and art galleries should be especially mindful of abiding by the laws designed to prevent the extinction of these species rather than devoting their expertise to help smugglers evade the law.  This prosecution is the result of a sophisticated and long-ranging investigation into every aspect of the illegal wildlife trade and we will hold all law violators fully accountable for their actions.”

“Not only did Hayes and his company illegally profit from obtaining rhinoceros horns and elephant ivory, but his greed and indifference contributed to the senseless slaughter of these animals,” said U.S. Attorney Ferrer.  “Trafficking in endangered and threatened species is illegal.  Together with our law enforcement partners, we will strictly enforce the laws that protect our environment and our wildlife.”

“As this guilty plea demonstrates, ivory and rhino horn trafficking is not just a problem for other countries to solve,” said Director Ashe.  “The ongoing slaughter of rhinos and elephants in Africa is driven by rising consumer demand and United States citizens like Christopher Hayes are intimately involved in illegal trade both here and abroad.  We will continue to work with international law enforcement agencies and the international community to apprehend and bring to justice those whose callous disregard threatens the survival of the world’s wildlife heritage.”

Elite and Hayes also admitted to selling items made from rhinoceros horn, elephant ivory and coral to an antiques dealer in Canada, who they then directed to a local shipper that agreed to mail the items in Canada without required permits.  The defendants also admitted to selling raw rhinoceros horns, which they believed were from a black rhinoceros, to a person in Texas. 

Hayes, 55, of Wellington, Florida, will be sentenced by Judge Daniel T. K. Hurley on a date yet to be determined.  The maximum penalty is five years in prison and a maximum fine of $500,000 for Elite and $250,000 for Hayes, or up to twice the gross gain.  Elite has agreed to pay a $1.5 million fine and to no longer engage in the receipt, consignment or sale of endangered or protected wildlife, or items containing endangered or protected wildlife, including items containing rhinoceros horn, elephant ivory and red coral.     

The investigation is continuing and is being handled by the FWS Office of Law Enforcement, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida and the Environment and Natural Resources Division’s Environmental Crimes Section.  The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas Watts-FitzGerald for the Southern District of Florida and Trial Attorney Gary N. Donner of the Environmental Crimes Section.

WASHINGTON –Attorney General Eric Holder announced today expanded revisions to the Justice Department’s policy regarding obtaining information from, or records of, members of the news media.

The updated policy was announced via a memo by Attorney General Holder to all Justice Department employees.

“These revised guidelines strike an appropriate balance between law enforcement’s need to protect the American people, and the news media’s role in ensuring the free flow of information,” Attorney General Holder said.  “This updated policy is in part the result of the good-faith dialogue the department has engaged in with news industry representatives over the last several months.  These discussions have been very constructive and I am grateful to the members of the media who have worked with us throughout this process.”

Attorney General Holder first ordered a review of the department’s media guidelines in 2013.  He then announced initial revisions to those guidelines in February of last year.  The latest revisions arose following comments from federal prosecutors and other interested parties, including news media representatives.  These meetings with news media representatives included the inaugural convening of the Attorney General’s News Media Dialogue Group in May 2014.

Among the new revisions announced today, the Attorney General has directed that the guidelines eliminate the use of the word “ordinary” when describing newsgathering activities affected by the policy.  The revisions also serve to expand high-level review by the Attorney General for the use of certain law enforcement tools, such as subpoenas and applications for warrants, where the information sought from a member of the news media relates to newsgathering activities.

The updates announced today will revise existing department regulations, and the U.S. Attorney’s Manual will be updated to reflect the changes and provide further guidance to prosecutors as well.

A copy of the Attorney General’s memorandum accompanying the revised guidelines is attached.

The Department of Justice and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today announced a proposed settlement with Pechiney Plastic Packaging Inc. (Pechiney), Albéa Americas Inc., Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, Citigroup Inc., and Rexam Beverage Can Company regarding the cleanup of the Pohatcong Valley Groundwater Contamination Superfund Site in Washington Borough, Washington Township, Franklin Township and Greenwich Township in Warren County, New Jersey.  The Pohatcong site is contaminated with trichloroethylene (TCE) and perchloroethylene (PCE).

Under the proposed settlement, Pechiney will have primary responsibility for cleaning up contaminated soil and groundwater at the site, connecting some residents to public water to avoid contaminated groundwater, and operating systems to capture vapors that are getting into a manufacturing facility.  As a precaution, Pechiney is continuing to monitor for vapor intrusion into homes at the site.  In addition, EPA will receive approximately $29.5 million for certain past costs.  Pechiney will also perform current and future cleanup work estimated to cost $62.5 million and will pay EPA’s future oversight costs.

As part of the settlement, EPA will recover civil penalties from Pechiney to resolve allegations that Pechiney violated a previous EPA order by failing to make satisfactory progress on a portion of the cleanup at the site.  Pechiney will pay a cash penalty of $282,000.  Pechiney will also restore and preserve approximately 60 acres of land, valued at $1.1 million, in Warren County, through a supplemental environmental project.  This land will be converted to native grassland and will become part of the Morris Canal Greenway.  The land will be managed by Warren County through its existing relationship with the New Jersey Youth Corps of Phillipsburg, a “second chance” program for young adults that provides opportunities to earn a GED while providing a valuable service to the community.

“This agreement will address a legacy of contaminated groundwater and soil in Warren County that exposed this community to dangerous health risks,” said Assistant Attorney General John C. Cruden for the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division.  “The settlement will help ensure residents have access to clean drinking water, require Pechiney to restore and preserve valuable native grasslands and pay for millions in past cleanup costs.”

“The settlement advances our cleanup and will help protect drinking water as well as safeguard people’s health,” said Regional Administrator Judith A. Enck for EPA.  “The remaining cleanup work at the Pohatcong Valley site will proceed and an area of open space that can be enjoyed by members of the public will be restored and preserved.”

EPA added the Pohatcong site to the Superfund list in 1989 because of elevated levels of volatile organic contaminants, including TCE and PCE, in the groundwater.  These contaminants were detected in public supply wells, which are now treated to meet drinking water standards before the water is distributed.  The site includes a contaminated groundwater plume that is approximately 10 miles long and approximately 1.5 miles wide; nearly 9,800 acres.

Because of the size and complexity of the site, EPA divided the site into three parts.  Today’s settlement covers work in all three portions of the site.

The first part is a large area of groundwater contamination located in Washington Borough.  Residents of this area do not drink the groundwater because they receive drinking water from a public water supply that meets drinking water standards.  For this part of the site, in 2006, EPA finalized a plan to pump out the contaminated groundwater and treat it using a technology that will strip out the pollutants by blowing air through the contaminated water to separate out the chemicals.  The resulting clean water will be pumped back into the ground.  An engineering design is underway to carry out this remedy.  EPA is also performing a pump and treat remedy for a portion of the groundwater that is primarily contaminated with PCE.  Some of the proceeds recovered through the settlement will fund this part of the site cleanup.

The second area of the site includes contaminated ground water in Franklin and Greenwich Townships.  There is no public water supply currently available in most of this area and drinking water wells that are impacted by contamination have received individual treatment systems to provide safe drinking water.  For this area, EPA is requiring the construction of water lines to provide potable water.  The engineering design for this part of the project in ongoing.

The third part of the site is the contaminated soil and sediment in and around the former American National Can facility in Washington Township.  EPA has determined that the primary source of TCE contamination in this area is the former American National Can facility, which was owned and operated by Pechiney in the 1990s and is currently owned and operated by Albéa Americas Inc.  EPA is continuing to investigate this contamination.  Pechiney has agreed to perform the cleanup on Albéa’s property, and the parties have reserved the issue of who will be responsible for remaining cleanup activities in this area.

In 2013, EPA’s indoor air sampling of the Albéa Americas facility showed unacceptable levels of TCE.  EPA worked with Albéa to take actions to protect workers from exposure to harmful gases by reducing the levels of toxic contaminants in the air in the facility to safe levels.  These steps included building a system that removes harmful chemicals from soil by extracting them in vapor form with a vacuum and then filtering the vapors through carbon filters to remove contaminants.  EPA will be reimbursed for this work through the settlement.

The Superfund program operates on the principle that polluters should pay for the cleanups, rather than passing the costs to taxpayers.  EPA searches for parties legally responsible for the contamination at sites, and it seeks to hold those parties accountable for the costs of investigations and cleanups.  Under today’s settlement, the parties responsible for the site are paying for or performing the cleanup work.

The proposed settlement will be subject to a 30-day public comment period upon the publication of a notice in the Federal Register.

Once it is published, a copy of the Federal Register notice with instructions about how to comment can be found on the Justice Department’s website.

The settlement requires approval by the U.S. District Court before becoming final.

For more information on the Pohatcong Valley Groundwater Contamination Superfund site, go to EPA’s website.

A former bank employee was sentenced today to serve 87 months in prison for her role in a far-reaching identity theft and tax fraud scheme in which she used her position to help process deposits and withdrawals of nearly $1.1 million in fraudulently obtained federal income tax refunds.

Yvette Haden, 50, of Suitland, Maryland, is among approximately a dozen people who have pleaded guilty in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to charges in one of the largest prosecutions to date involving the use of stolen identifying information.  The overall case involves the filing of at least 12,000 fraudulent federal income tax returns.

The sentencing was announced by U.S. Attorney Ronald C. Machen Jr., Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Larry J. Wszalek for the Justice Department’s Tax Division, Special Agent in Charge Thomas J. Kelly of the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation’s (IRS-CI) Washington Field Office, Acting Inspector in Charge David M. McGinnis of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service’s Washington Division, Assistant Inspector General for Investigations John L. Phillips for the  U.S. Department of Treasury, and Special Agent in Charge Kathy A. Michalko for the U.S. Secret Service’s Washington Field Office.

Haden pleaded guilty in April 2014 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States and one count of bank fraud.  She was sentenced by the Honorable Rosemary M. Collyer.  As part of her plea agreement, Haden must pay $973,376 in restitution to the IRS and she also is subject to a forfeiture money judgment of the same amount.  Upon completion of her prison term, Haden will be placed on three years of supervised release.

Haden was among participants in a massive and sophisticated identity theft and false tax refund scheme involving an extensive network of more than 130 people, many of whom were receiving public assistance.  At least 12,000 fraudulent federal income tax returns were filed for the tax years of 2005 through 2012, seeking refunds of at least $40 million.  The returns were often filed in the names of people whose identities had been stolen, including the elderly, people in assisted living facilities, drug addicts and incarcerated prisoners.  The refunds listed more than 400 “taxpayer” addresses in the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia.

The government’s evidence showed that participants in the schemes had various roles: some stole the identifying information; some permitted their personal identifying information to be used; some created and mailed the fraudulent federal tax returns; some permitted their addresses to be used for receipt of the refund checks; some helped cash the checks; some provided bank accounts for negotiation of checks; and some forged endorsements of identity theft victims on the refund checks.

According to the government’s evidence, from 2007 through 2010, Haden was employed as a financial services representative at a bank branch in Southeast Washington, D.C.  She assisted co-conspirators in the scheme and violated the bank’s policies and procedures through a series of actions, including opening three business checking accounts in the names of three purported sole proprietorships.  Haden, who at the time of her crimes had more than 25 years of banking industry experience, was solely responsible for verifying client identities and documents and entering client information directly into the computer.  Once the accounts were opened, Haden aided the co-conspirators by processing deposits of fraudulently obtained U.S. income tax refund checks, as well as withdrawals.  To hide her activity, she falsified slips documenting withdrawals.  Haden was compensated by one of the co-conspirators for her role in the offenses.

Also, according to the government’s evidence, Haden opened a checking account in her own name at a credit union in 2012 and deposited or transferred 14 refund checks to that account.

In total, from June 2010 through November 2012, Haden negotiated 398 fraudulent income tax refund checks totaling $1,024,271.

In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Machen, Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Wszalek, Special Agent in Charge Kelly, Acting Inspector in Charge McGinnis, Assistant Inspector General Phillips and Special Agent in Charge Michalko commended those who investigated the case.  They also acknowledged the efforts of those who worked on the case from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including former Assistant U.S. Attorney Sherri L. Schornstein and Paralegal Specialist Donna Galindo.  Finally, they expressed appreciation for the work of Assistant U.S. Attorney Ellen Chubin Epstein of the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s Fraud and Public Corruption Section and Trial Attorneys Jessica N. Moran and Jeffrey B. Bender of the Tax Division, who are prosecuting cases in the investigation.

The Department of Justice announced today that it has reached a settlement with the National Museum of Crime and Punishment (Crime Museum) to address alleged violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).  The settlement agreement resolves allegations that some of the Crime Museum’s programs, exhibits and facilities were not accessible to people with disabilities.  As a place of public accommodation under Title III of the ADA, the Crime Museum is required to be accessible to people with disabilities and provide full and equal enjoyment of its goods, services and facilities.

The Crime Museum, located in Washington, D.C., explores the history of crime, law enforcement, forensic science and crime scene investigation (CSI).  Displays and exhibits are spread across three stories and 28,000 square feet of gallery space focusing on law enforcement from medieval times, the time of pirates and the old west, up to the present.  The Crime Museum’s permanent exhibits include a CSI lab, a simulated FBI shooting range, a high speed police simulator, a galley of notorious criminals and America’s Most Wanted stage set.

Under the settlement, the Crime Museum must take steps to ensure that all of its programs, exhibits and facilities are accessible to people with disabilities, including by:

• providing staff assistance or pre-recorded audio description of program and exhibit information for patrons who are blind or have low vision;
• providing a printed copy of program information that is not currently available in print, such as daily and seasonal exhibits that are not in the printed brochure, for patrons who are deaf or hard of hearing;
• providing museum tours that are audio described and include tactile experiences for individuals who are blind or have low vision;
• providing printed materials, floor plans and maps in alternate formats (audio, large print and Braille); 
• providing a description in an accessible format of each museum-sponsored public program and special event;
• ensuring that its website conforms to the Level AA Success Criteria and Conformance Requirements of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0; and
• remediating physical barriers such as protruding objects, inaccessible routes and restroom barriers.

“This agreement ensures that people with disabilities will be able to enjoy the fascinating elements of the history of crime and law enforcement together with their friends and family just like other patrons,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Vanita Gupta for the Civil Rights Division.  “The Justice Department is committed to removing these types of barriers, and we commend the Crime Museum’s efforts to improve accessibility for all patrons.”   

The agreement resolves a compliance review under the ADA.  People interested in finding out more about the ADA, the Standards for Accessible Design or this agreement can call the Justice Department’s toll-free ADA Information Line at 1-800-514-0301 or 1-800-514-0383 (TTY), or visit the ADA website.

A leader of a street gang that operated on the east side of Detroit was sentenced to 346 months in prison today for aiding and abetting an armed robbery of a Little Caesars pizza restaurant, announced Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Barbara L. McQuade of the Eastern District of Michigan and Special Agent in Charge Steven Bogdalek of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) in Detroit.

Christopher LaJuan Tibbs, 38, of Detroit, was convicted on Aug. 29, 2014, of aiding and abetting an armed robbery after a three-day trial before U.S. District Judge Bernard A. Friedman of the Eastern District of Michigan.

The evidence at trial established that Tibbs, also known as “Chief Fatah,” was the leader of the Michigan branch of the Mafia Insane Vice Lords, a violent street gang that operated primarily on the east side of Detroit.  The Mafia Insane Vice Lords was a local faction of the national Vice Lord gang that originated in Chicago.  The evidence at trial further showed that, during his leadership of the Mafia Insane Vice Lords, Tibbs recruited and used young adults and children to commit crimes for the gang, and ordered the murder of a witness in connection with this case.

The evidence at trial showed that Tibbs helped plan an armed robbery of a Little Caesars restaurant in Redford, Michigan, in September 2013.  Tibbs “blessed” it as a mission for the gang, and sent four subordinate members to commit the crime.  As part of the planning for the robbery, Tibbs instructed the robbers to disable the cameras and phones in the Little Caesars.  Tibbs also told the robbers what to wear, had them diagram the Little Caesars, and instructed them how to use the gun during the robbery.  During the robbery, one of the robbers brandished a gun and forced the employees, including a pregnant woman, inside the store, where the robbers tore down the surveillance cameras.  At the robbers’ direction, the employees disabled the alarm and opened the safe.  Although he was not present for the robbery itself, Tibbs took a majority of the proceeds, some of which were spent on the gang.

This case marked the first time that the federal criminal street gang enhancement was charged in the Eastern District of Michigan.  Because the jury found that Tibbs committed the crime to advance the criminal activities of his gang, the maximum penalty for aiding and abetting the robbery was increased.

The case was investigated by the ATF, with assistance from the Redford Police Department, Detroit Police Department, and Chicago Police Department.  The case was prosecuted by Trial Attorney Joseph Wheatley of the Criminal Division’s Organized Crime and Gang Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Louis Gabel of the Eastern District of Michigan.

The Department of Justice filed today a civil forfeiture complaint seeking the forfeiture of nine properties worth approximately $1,528,000 that were allegedly purchased with funds traceable to a $2 million bribe paid by a Honduran information-technology company to the former Executive Director of the Honduran Institute of Social Security.

Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Kenneth Polite, Jr. of the Eastern District of Louisiana and Executive Associate Director Peter T. Edge of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) made the announcement.

“Mario Zelaya was the director of Honduras’s social security agency, but instead of building a social safety net for his country’s citizens, he allegedly used his position of public trust to steal public money for himself,” said Assistant Attorney General Caldwell.  “Our action today highlights how the Criminal Division’s Kleptocracy Initiative, with our network of law enforcement partners around the globe, will trace and recover the ill-gotten gains of corrupt officials.  Criminals should make no mistake:  the United States is not a safe haven for the proceeds of your crimes.  If you hide or invest your stolen money here, we will use all the legal tools we have to find it and seize it.”

“The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Louisiana is committed to working with our law enforcement partners, both domestically and internationally, to ensure that this district is not used to launder corruptly obtained funds, no matter the source of the corruption,” said U.S. Attorney Polite.

“ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations will continue to work in cooperation with our international law enforcement partners to ensure that our country is not used as a safe haven for corrupt foreign officials to hide their assets,” said HSI Executive Associate Director Edge.  

From 2010 to 2014, Dr. Mario Roberto Zelaya Rojas, 46, of Tegucigalpa, Honduras, served as the Executive Director of the Honduran Institute of Social Security (HISS), a Honduran Government agency that provides social security services, including workers’ compensation, retirement, maternity, and death benefits.  According to allegations in the forfeiture complaint, Zelaya solicited and accepted $2.08 million in bribes from Compania De Servicios Multiples, S. de R. L. (COSEM) in exchange for prioritizing and expediting payments owed to COSEM under a $19 million contract with HISS.  Zelaya also allegedly instructed COSEM to make bribe payments to two members of the Board of Directors of HISS charged with overseeing the COSEM contract.  To conceal the illicit payments, COSEM allegedly sent the bribes through its affiliate company, CA Technologies. 

As further alleged in the complaint, the bribe proceeds were then laundered into the United States and used by Zelaya and his brother, Carlos Alberto Zelaya Rojas, to acquire real estate in the New Orleans area.  Certain properties were titled in the name of companies nominally controlled by Zelaya’s brother in an effort to conceal the illicit source of the funds as well as the beneficial owner.  The current action seeks forfeiture of nine properties acquired with the proceeds of Zelaya’s alleged bribery scheme. 

The investigation was conducted by HSI’s New Orleans and Miami Field Offices.  The case is being handled by Trial Attorneys Stephen A. Gibbons and Marybeth Grunstra of the Criminal Division’s Asset Forfeiture and Money Laundering Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel P. Friel of the Eastern District of Louisiana.  Substantial assistance was provided by the Public Ministry of the Republic of Honduras and the HSI Attaché Tegucigalpa.  The Criminal Division’s Office of Overseas Prosecutorial Development, Assistance and Training Resident Legal Advisor in Tegucigalpa also provided valuable assistance.

This case was brought under the Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative.  Under that initiative, dedicated prosecutors in the Criminal Division’s Asset Forfeiture and Money Laundering Section work in partnership with U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and federal law enforcement agencies to forfeit the proceeds of foreign official corruption and, where possible and appropriate, put forfeited corruption proceeds to use for the benefit of the people of the country harmed by the abuse of public office.  Individuals with information about possible proceeds of foreign corruption located in or laundered through the United States should contact federal law enforcement or send an email to kleptocracy@usdoj.gov.

 Complaint

A Brooklyn man was sentenced yesterday in Honolulu for his involvement in a counterfeit DVD movie ring, announced Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Florence T. Nakakuni of the District of Hawaii.

Yakov Meir Chazanow, 41, was sentenced yesterday by U.S. District Judge Leslie E. Kobayashi of the District of Hawaii to serve 21 months in prison for conspiring to commit criminal copyright infringement, manufacturing counterfeit goods and to traffic in goods bearing counterfeit Dolby trademarks and counterfeit labels. 

According to the evidence set forth in the record and at sentencing, from 2004 to 2011, Chazanow supplied over 30,000 high-quality pirated DVDs containing infringing copies of copyright-protected Asian action movies and corresponding counterfeit labels and packaging.  He then distributed them to co-conspirators, who in turn sold them to consumers in stores and online. 

Chazanow, Sharon Josef and Jeffrey Alan Stockton were all charged in June 2013, and Stockton pleaded guilty to the charged conspiracy and two counts of trafficking in counterfeit labels on Sept. 19, 2013.  On Feb. 3, 2014, Chazanow pleaded guilty to the above charges, and Josef pleaded guilty to misdemeanor copyright infringement.  On May 12, 2014, the court sentenced Stockton to 21 months in prison, ordered him to pay restitution of $150, and entered a preliminary order directing Stockton to forfeit $250,000 in illegal proceeds, $32,154 in U.S. currency, a 2003 Toyota Tundra, 29 gold bars, 62 gold coins, six palladium coins and five silver coins.  Josef, who supplied pirated DVDs from 2011 to 2012, was sentenced yesterday to serve four months in prison.

The case was investigated by Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations.  Assistance was provided by the Motion Picture Association of America, Dolby Laboratories, Inc. and DVD Format/Logo Licensing Corporation.  The case was prosecuted by Assistant Deputy Chief for Litigation John H. Zacharia of the Criminal Division’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Andrea W. Hattan and Leslie E. Osborne, Jr. of the District of Hawaii.

Attorney General Eric Holder announced today that – as the nation observes National AMBER Alert Awareness Day – the Justice Department has partnered with Facebook and Bing to expand the reach of the AMBER Alert system.  Facebook will begin sending alerts to its members in designated search areas and Bing will allow users to access AMBER Alerts through its online tools.  Attorney General Holder continued to urge other companies and organizations to step forward and do their part by offering whatever assistance they can provide.

“Protecting the well-being of our young people is a responsibility that falls to every American,” said Attorney General Holder.  “Each of us can help by paying close attention to alerts that come in – and by making sure you are plugged into the AMBER Alert network via social media.  Remember: finding an abducted child and returning him or her to safety depends on a fast response.  The more vigilant citizens we have on the look-out, the better our chances of a quick recovery.”

The complete text of the Attorney General’s video message is below:

“At the Department of Justice, we are committed to ensuring the safety and security of everyone in this country – and especially our young people.  Over the last two decades, a key tool in this effort has been the AMBER Alert system – an early warning system that helps us find and return abducted children.

“Since the first AMBER Alert system became operational in 1996, AMBER Alert’s strong network of law enforcement and transportation officials, broadcasters, private-sector representatives – and dedicated ordinary citizens – has helped to rescue and safely return more than 700 abducted children.  Just last month, two young children were recovered.  In one incident, a three-year-old boy who had been taken in a domestic dispute was used as a shield by his abductor.  In another, an infant just 20 days old was abducted by a carjacker.  Fortunately, with the help of the AMBER Alert system, both children were rescued unharmed.

“Through radio announcements, highway signs, wireless notifications, and Web posts, AMBER Alerts are now capable of rapidly reaching millions of people across the country.  But we have a great deal more to do in order to ensure that we can spread the word about missing children as quickly and as widely as possible.

“Today – as our nation observes National AMBER Alert Awareness Day – I am pleased to announce that we are making two vital additions to our innovative national partnerships in order to expand the reach of the AMBER Alert system.  Facebook, already an AMBER Alert partner, will now begin sending alerts, along with detailed information and photographs, to its members in designated search areas.  And the search engine Bing will begin allowing users to access AMBER Alerts through its online tools.  These cutting-edge tools are available as a result of agreements with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, which coordinates our AMBER Alert distribution efforts.

“Facebook’s geo-targeted alerts and Bing’s online broadcast tools will give AMBER Alerts an expanded social media and Internet presence – extending our web of child protection resources into new and critical areas.  I am grateful for their involvement, and for the participation of so many organizations and agencies that have helped to make the AMBER Alert system such an important public safety asset.  And I urge other companies and organizations to step forward and do their part by offering whatever assistance they can provide.

“Protecting the well-being of our young people is a responsibility that falls to every American.  Each of us can help by paying close attention to alerts that come in – and by making sure you are plugged into the AMBER Alert network via social media.  Remember: finding an abducted child and returning him or her to safety depends on a fast response.  The more vigilant citizens we have on the look-out, the better our chances of a quick recovery.

“For more information on how to get involved, please go to AMBERAlert.gov or www.missingkids.com.”

The full video of the Attorney General’s message is available at http://www.justice.gov/opa/video/expanding-amber-alert-tools-recover-missing-children.

*****UPDATED MEDIA ADVISORY*****

Members of the President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing will hold the first public listening session on TUESDAY, JAN. 13, 2015, AT 9:00 A.M., EST, at the Newseum in Washington, D.C.  The Task Force members will hear testimony from five panels of witnesses on ways to improve the collaborative relationship between law enforcement and the communities they serve, exchange best practices for policing strategies, promote effective crime reduction and address concerns about violence directed at law enforcement.

WHAT:          Task Force on 21st Century Policing’s First Listening Session

WHO:            Task Force on 21st Century Policing

WHEN:          TUESDAY, JANUARY 13, 2015

                          9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. EST

WHERE:      The Newseum

                         555 Pennsylvania Avenue NW

                         Washington, DC 20001

                      OPEN PRESS (MEDIA PRE-SET 7:45 a.m. EST//FINAL MEDIA ACCESS TIME 8:30 a.m. EST)

NOTE: All media must present government-issued photo I.D. (such as a driver’s license as well as valid media credentials).  Due to space limitations, entrance is not guaranteed.  Media inquiries regarding logistics should contact Silas Darden at Silas.Darden@usdoj.gov or at (202) 307-0703.  This event will be live streamed on the Task Force on 21st Century Policing webpage.

 

Task Force on 21st Century Policing Listening Session

9:00 a.m. EST           Welcome Remarks and Task Force Overview

Ronald Davis, Executive Director of the Task Force and Director of the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office)

9:05 a.m. EST           Opening Statements by Task Force Chairs & Introduction of Task Force

Members

 

Task Force Co-Chairs:

Charles Ramsey, Commissioner of the Philadelphia Police Department

Laurie Robinson, Professor at George Mason University

 

Task Force Members:

Cedric Alexander, Deputy Chief Operating Officer for Public Safety of DeKalb County and President of the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives

Jose Lopez, Lead Organizer of Make the Road New York

Tracey Meares, Walton Hale Hamilton Professor of Law at Yale Law School

Brittany Packnett, Executive Director of Teach for America – St. Louis

Susan Rahr, Executive Director of Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission

Constance Rice, Co-Director of The Advancement Project

Sean Smoot, Director and Chief Counsel of Police Benevolent & Protective Association of Illinois and the Police Benevolent Labor Committee

Bryan Stevenson, Founder and Executive Director of the Equal Justice Initiative

Roberto Villaseñor, Chief of Police of the Tucson Police Department    

     

9:30 a.m. EST           Witness Panel Discussion I:

Jennifer Eberhardt, Associate Professor of Psychology at Stanford University

Charles Ogletree, Jesse Climenko Professor of Law and Director at Harvard Law School

Tom Tyler, Macklin Fleming Professor of Law and Professor of Psychology at Yale Law School

Samuel Walker, Emeritus Professor of Criminal Justice at the University of Nebraska–Omaha

 

10:30 a.m. EST         Witness Panel Discussion II:

Carmen Perez, Executive Director of The Gathering for Justice

Jim St. Germain, Founder of Preparing Leaders for Tomorrow

Jim Winkler, President and General Secretary of the National Council of Churches

Ashley Yates, Co-Founder of Millennial Activists United

 

11:30 a.m. EST         Witness Panel Discussion III:

Richard Beary, President of the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP)

Chuck Canterbury, National President of the Fraternal Order of Police

Andrew Peralta, National President of the National Latino Peace Officers Association

Richard Stanek, Past President and Executive Committee’s Sergeant-at-Arms of the Major County Sheriffs’ Association and National Sheriffs’ Association

 

1:30 p.m. EST          Witness Panel Discussion IV:

Sherrilyn Ifill, President and Director-Counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund (NAACP LDF)

Laura Murphy, Director, Washington Legislative Office, American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)

Vikrant Reddy, Senior Policy Analyst, Texas Public Policy Foundation’s Center for Effective Justice

Maria Teresa Kumar, President and CEO, Voto Latino

 

2:30 p.m. EST          Witness Panel Discussion V:

Kevin Johnson, Mayor of Sacramento

Michael Nutter, Mayor of Philadelphia

Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, Mayor of Baltimore

 

3:30 p.m. EST            Testimonies from the Audience

4:30 p.m. EST            Task Force Closing Remarks

5:00 p.m. EST            Meeting ends        

*Written testimonies and a live stream of the meeting will available on the Task Force on 21st Century Policing webpage. 

***

About the President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing

The President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing was established by an Executive Order signed by the President on Dec. 18, 2014.  The Task Force – which includes law enforcement representatives, community leaders, young adults and notable scholars – will examine, among other issues, how to strengthen public trust and foster strong relationships between local law enforcement and the communities that they protect, while also promoting effective crime reduction.  Members of the Task Force will engage federal, state, tribal and local officials, subject matter experts, young leaders, and nongovernmental organizations through meetings and 21st century technology.  The Task Force will also convene listening sessions where they will hear testimony, including proposed recommendations for consideration, from invited witnesses and also receive comments and questions from the public.

The two physician owners of a Houston-area mental health clinic were sentenced today to 148 months and 120 months respectively for their roles in a $97 million Medicare fraud scheme. A group home owner who sent residents to the clinic in exchange for kickbacks was also sentenced to 54 months in prison for her role.

Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Kenneth Magidson of the Southern District of Texas, Special Agent in Charge Perrye K. Turner of the FBI’s Houston Field Office, Special Agent in Charge Mike Fields of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services-Office of the Inspector General (HHS-OIG) Dallas Regional Office, the Texas Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit (MFCU), Special Agent in Charge Joseph J. Del Favero of the Railroad Retirement Board-Office of Inspector General (RRB-OIG) Chicago Field Office and Inspector General Patrick E. McFarland of the Office of Personnel Management-Office of Inspector General (OPM-OIG) made the announcement. 

“Doctors are not only bound by oath to serve the health of their patients, they are bound by duty to serve as gatekeepers for Medicare spending,” said Assistant Attorney General Caldwell.  “In this case, without the criminal participation of Drs. Sanjar and Sajadi, this fraud simply could not have happened.”                         

Physicians Mansour Sanjar, 81, and Cyrus Sajadi, 67, the owners of Spectrum Care P.A., a community mental health clinic, were each convicted following a jury trial on March 12, 2014, of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and conspiracy to pay and receive kickbacks, as well as related counts of health care fraud and paying illegal kickbacks.  Chandra Nunn, 36, a group home owner, was convicted of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and conspiracy to pay and receive kickbacks, as well as related counts of receiving illegal kickbacks.  In addition to the prison sentences, U.S. District Judge Vanessa D. Gilmore of the Southern District of Texas ordered Sanjar and Sajadi to pay $8,058,612.39 in restitution, and Nunn to pay $1,885,667.41 in restitution.  Co-defendants Adam Main, Shokoufeh Hakimi, Sharonda Holmes and Shawn Manney were also convicted and are scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 20, 2015.

According to evidence presented at trial, Sanjar and Sajadi orchestrated and executed a scheme to defraud Medicare beginning in 2006 and continuing until their arrest in December 2011.  Sanjar and Sajadi owned Spectrum, which purportedly provided partial hospitalization program (PHP) services.  A PHP is a form of intensive outpatient treatment for severe mental illness.  The Medicare beneficiaries for whom Spectrum billed Medicare for PHP services did not qualify for or need PHP services. 

Evidence presented at trial showed that Sanjar and Sajadi signed admission documents and progress notes certifying that patients qualified for PHP services, when in fact, the patients did not qualify for or need PHP services.  Sanjar and Sajadi also billed Medicare for PHP services when the beneficiaries were actually watching movies, coloring and playing games, which are not activities covered by Medicare. 

Evidence presented at trial also showed that Sanjar and Sajadi paid kickbacks to group care home operators and patient recruiters, including Nunn, Holmes and Manney, in exchange for delivering ineligible Medicare beneficiaries to Spectrum.  In some cases, the patients received a portion of those kickbacks.  According to evidence presented at trial, Spectrum billed Medicare for approximately $97 million in services that were not medically necessary and, in some cases, not provided.

The case was investigated by the FBI, HHS-OIG, Texas MFCU, RRB-OIG and OPM-OIG and was brought as part of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, supervised by the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant Chief Laura M.K. Cordova, Senior Trial Attorney Jonathan T. Baum and Trial Attorney William S.W. Chang of the Fraud Section.

Since its inception in March 2007, the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, now operating in nine cities across the country, has charged more than 2,000 defendants who have collectively billed the Medicare program for more than $6 billion.  In addition, HHS’s Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, working in conjunction with HHS-OIG, is taking steps to increase accountability and decrease the presence of fraudulent providers.

To learn more about the Health Care Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Action Team (HEAT), go to www.stopmedicarefraud.gov.

Andrew J. Zarauskas, a New Jersey resident, was sentenced to 33 months in prison for illegally importing and trafficking in narwhal tusks and associated money laundering crimes, announced Assistant Attorney General John C. Cruden for the Environment and Natural Resources Division.  Zarauskas was also ordered to forfeit $85,089, six narwhal tusks and one narwhal skull.  In addition, Zarauskas was ordered to pay a fine of $7,500.  His prison sentence will be followed by three years of supervised release.  

On Feb. 14, 2014, a federal jury in Bangor, Maine, convicted Zarauskas on six counts, including conspiracy, smuggling violations for buying and illegally importing narwhal tusks into the United States and money laundering violations associated with the illegal importations.  The market value of the teeth and tusks illegally imported by Zarauskas was determined to be between $120,000 and $200,000. 

Narwhals are marine mammals that are protected by the Marine Mammal Protection Act and are listed on Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). It is illegal to import parts of the narwhal into the United States without a permit and without declaring the parts at the time of importation to U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 

“The Justice Department is committed to the fight to save the world’s protected wildlife species, many of which are under sustained attack by poachers and wildlife traffickers,” said Assistant Attorney General Cruden.  “We are particularly grateful to our federal and Canadian law enforcement partners for unraveling this scheme to traffic in narwhal tusks and for bringing Zarauskas and his co-conspirators to justice.”

“The significant penalties imposed today for Mr. Zarauskas send a powerful message to any individual that decides to engage in the trade of illegal wildlife,” said Deputy Assistant Director for Law Enforcement Edward Grace of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.  “We will continue to work closely with our international, federal and state partners to root out those individuals who exploit protected wildlife species for their own financial gain.”

“This is yet another case where dedicated investigators helped stop an international smuggling ring attempting to profit from the illegal exploitation and trade of vulnerable and threatened marine species,” said Assistant Administrator Eileen Sobeck for National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries.  “NOAA will continue to work in collaboration with our international, federal and state law enforcement partners to make sure marine resources are protected now and into the future.”

According to the evidence presented a trial, Zarauskas purchased approximately 33 narwhal tusks over nearly six years from two Canadian co-defendants.  The Canadian co-defendants purchased the narwhal tusks in Canada and subsequently brought them into the United States illegally by concealing the narwhal tusks either under their truck or under a utility trailer and not declaring the wildlife to border officials as required.  Once in the United States, a Canadian co-defendant shipped the narwhal tusks to Zarauskas from Bangor, Maine.  Zarauskas knew that the co-defendants lived in Canada and had illegally imported the narwhal tusks into the United States.

The case was investigated by agents from the Law Enforcement Offices of NOAA, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and Environment Canada.  The case was prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Todd S. Mikolop and James B. Nelson of the Department of Justice’s Environmental Crimes Section.

The Justice Department and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence released the following joint statement today:

On Dec. 8, 2014, the Director of National Intelligence declassified and disclosed publicly that the U.S. government had filed an application with the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court seeking renewal of the authority to collect telephony metadata in bulk, and that the FISC renewed that authority.

The FISC’s Dec. 4, 2014, primary order renewing the collection expires on Feb. 27, 2015.  The DNI also announced that the administration was undertaking a declassification of the Dec. 4, 2014, primary order.  Following this declassification review by the executive branch, the DNI has declassified and released in redacted form the Dec. 4, 2014, Primary Order signed by Judge Michael W. Mosman.

This order is now publicly available at the ODNI website, dni.gov, and the ODNI’s public website dedicated to fostering greater public visibility into the intelligence activities of the government, icontherecord.tumblr.com.

Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Larry J. Wszalek for the Department of Justice’s Tax Division, U.S. Attorney S. Amanda Marshall for the District of Oregon and Chief Richard Weber for the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) announced that Jheraun Dunlap, Ernest Bagsby, Jermaine Moore and Brandi McCall pleaded guilty today to a $1 million federal tax refund fraud scheme.

Dunlap admitted to filing 208 false federal income tax returns with false wages, false withholding and false refundable credits that claimed a total of more than $1 million in fraudulent refunds.  Dunlap filed false tax returns using the names and social security numbers of other individuals obtained directly and through Bagsby, Moore and McCall.  Dunlap filed a number of false tax returns using identities stolen by co-defendant Carolyn Gallagher, who previously pleaded guilty to identity theft.  Dunlap also used addresses obtained by Bagsby, Moore and McCall to receive stored-value debit cards loaded with fraudulent income tax refunds.

On Jan. 12, all four defendants pleaded guilty before Senior District Judge Robert E. Jones in the District of Oregon.  Dunlap pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud the government, wire fraud and aggravated identity theft.  Bagsby and Moore pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud the government, theft of government funds and aggravated identity theft.  McCall pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud the government.  All four defendants have agreed to pay full restitution to the U.S. Treasury in the amount of $427,896.

This case was investigated by the IRS-CI’s Stolen Identity Refund Fraud Task Force.  Trial Attorneys Leslie A. Goemaat and Lori A. Hendrickson of the Tax Division are prosecuting the case.

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

Former Police of Puerto Rico Officer Angel Torres Quinones was sentenced today to serve 46 months in prison for obstructing the civil rights investigation into the fatal beating of Jose Luis Irizarry Perez, 19, announced Acting Assistant Attorney General Vanita Gupta for the Civil Rights Division, U.S. Attorney Rosa Emilia Rodriguez-Velez for the District of Puerto Rico and Special Agent in Charge Carlos Cases of the FBI San Juan Field Office.  

Torres Quinones pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice for providing misleading information to the local Puerto Rico prosecutor who initially investigated the police-involved beating of Irizarry Perez.  Five other former Puerto Rico police officers, who also pleaded guilty, are currently awaiting sentencing for their roles in the beating of Irizarry Perez and subsequent obstruction of the investigation.  According to documents filed in connection with the guilty pleas, two former Puerto Rico police officers violated the constitutional rights of Irizarry Perez by striking him with their police batons while another former police officer physically restrained Irizarry Perez during an election evening celebration at the Las Colinas housing development in Yauco, Puerto Rico, on Nov. 5, 2008.    

U.S. District Court Judge Juan M. Perez Gimenez issued the sentence, which will be followed by three years of supervised release.  During the three-year term, the defendant will be under federal supervision, and risks additional prison time should he violate any terms of his supervised release. 

“The department will continue to ensure that those who cover up civil rights violations are brought to justice,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Gupta.  “Like an officer who unnecessarily uses excessive force, a police officer who obstructs a civil rights investigation violates his oath to the people he serves.”

“Today’s sentencing brings a measure of justice to the family of Jose Luis Irizarry Perez,” said U.S. Attorney Rodriguez-Vélez.  “The U.S. Attorney’s Office and its law enforcement partners will hold accountable those who abuse their power and official positions at the expense of constitutionally guaranteed civil rights.”

This case was investigated by the FBI’s San Juan Division and is being prosecuted by Senior Litigation Counsel Gerard Hogan and Trial Attorneys Shan Patel and Olimpia E. Michel of the Civil Rights Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney Jose A. Contreras for the District of Puerto Rico.

A Miami owner of a home health care company pleaded guilty today in connection with a $32 million Medicare fraud scheme.

Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Wifredo A. Ferrer of the Southern District of Florida, Special Agent in Charge George L. Piro of the FBI’s Miami Field Office and Special Agent in Charge Derrick Jackson of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General’s (HHS-OIG) Miami Regional Office made the announcement.

Felix Gonzalez, 45, of Miami, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud before U.S. District Judge Kathleen M. Williams of the Southern District of Florida.  A sentencing hearing is scheduled for March 19, 2015.

According to his plea documents, Gonzalez was an owner of AA Advanced Care Inc. (AA Advanced), a Miami home health care agency that purported to provide home health and therapy services to Medicare beneficiaries.  In connection with his guilty plea, Gonzalez admitted that he and his co-conspirators operated AA Advanced for the purpose of billing the Medicare program for, among other things, expensive physical therapy and home health care services that were not medically necessary or not provided at all.

Gonzalez further admitted that he negotiated and paid kickbacks and bribes to patient recruiters in exchange for patient referrals, as well as prescriptions, plans of care (POCs) and certifications for medically unnecessary therapy and home health services for Medicare beneficiaries.  Gonzalez admitted that he and his co-conspirators used these prescriptions, POCs and medical certifications to fraudulently bill the Medicare program for home health care services.   

From approximately January 2006 through March 2009, AA Advanced submitted approximately $32 million in claims for home health services that were not medically necessary or not provided, and Medicare paid approximately $22 million for these fraudulent claims.

The case was investigated by the FBI and HHS-OIG, and was brought as part of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, supervised by the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida.  This case is being prosecuted by Assistant Chief Joseph S. Beemsterboer and Trial Attorney Kelly Graves of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section. 

Since its inception in March 2007, the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, now operating in nine cities across the country, has charged nearly 2,000 defendants who have collectively billed the Medicare program for more than $6 billion.  In addition, the HHS Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, working in conjunction with the HHS-OIG, are taking steps to increase accountability and decrease the presence of fraudulent providers.  To learn more about the Health Care Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Action Team (HEAT), go to: www.stopmedicarefraud.gov.

Convicted After Trial of Multiple Counts of Providing Material Support to al Qaeda

Charges Based on Participating in a Deadly Hostage-Taking in Yemen,

Conspiring to Establish a Terrorism Training Camp in the United States, and

Sending One of his Followers to Train and Fight with al Qaeda in Afghanistan

Assistant Attorney General for National Security John P. Carlin and U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara for the Southern District of New York announced that Mustafa Kamel Mustafa, aka “Abu Hamza,” aka “Abu Hamza al Masri,” (“Abu Hamza”) was sentenced today in Manhattan federal court to life imprisonment by U.S. District Judge Katherine B. Forrest for his participation in a hostage-taking in Yemen in 1998 that resulted in four deaths, a conspiracy to establish a terrorist training camp in Bly, Oregon, and sending a follower to train and fight with al Qaeda in Afghanistan in 2000.  Abu Hamza, who was extradited from the United Kingdom to the Southern District of New York in October 2012, was found guilty on May 19, 2014, following a four-week jury trial, of each of the 11 charges he faced. 

“Abu Hamza is an unrepentant all-purpose terrorist,” said Assistant Attorney General Carlin.  “With today’s sentence, he is being held accountable for the many ways in which he supported terrorism and other terrorists through much of his life, including his role in a hostage-taking in Yemen, his plot to create a terrorist training camp on U.S. soil, and his facilitation of violent jihad in Afghanistan.  This case was charged over ten years ago and was tried after years of extradition proceedings—and is but one example of our resolve to pursue those who threaten the United States and our interests anywhere in the world, no matter how long it takes.  I applaud the many prosecutors, agents, and analysts who have devoted years of hard work to the pursuit of justice in this case.”

“Abu Hamza’s blood-soaked journey from cleric to convict, from Imam to inmate, is now complete,” said U.S. Attorney Bharara.  “In May, after a fair and public trial, a jury pronounced Abu Hamza guilty for his leadership and support of, as well as participation in, terrorist activities, ranging from a fatal hostage-taking in Yemen to establishing a terrorist training camp in Oregon to sending a follower to aid Al Qaeda in Afghanistan.  After years of fighting extradition, Abu Hamza finally faced justice, as all those who engage in terrorism against innocent civilians must, here in the U.S., and all around the globe, as the terrible events in Paris remind us.”

According to the evidence presented at trial, statements made during other public proceedings including today’s sentencing, and other court documents:

Hostage-Taking in Yemen in December 1998

On Dec. 28, 1998, in Yemen, hostage-takers stormed a caravan of sport utility vehicles carrying 16 tourists, including two United States citizens, and took the tourists hostage by force.  Before the hostage-taking, Abu Hamza issued a public warning to “infidels” not to travel to Yemen.  In addition, five days prior to the hostage-taking, Abu Hamza’s stepson and other associates of Abu Hamza were arrested in Yemen.  During the hostage-taking, the hostages told their victims that they were taken prisoner to free the hostage-takers’ “friends.”

Before the hostage-taking, Abu Hamza provided the leader of the hostage-takers with a satellite telephone, and subsequently spoke with him on that satellite telephone the night before the hostage-taking and during the hostage-taking.  During the call on the day of the hostage-taking, Abu Hamza agreed to act as an intermediary on behalf of the hostage-takers.  Abu Hamza also provided advice to the leader of the hostage-takers over the telephone.

On Dec. 29, 1998, the Yemeni military launched a rescue operation to free the hostages.  The hostage-takers fought the Yemeni military, using the hostages as human shields.  During the rescue operation, four of the hostages were killed and several others were wounded.

Subsequently, in a recorded interview with one of the surviving hostages conducted at his mosque, Abu Hamza said that hostage-taking was “a good thing” under Islam, that people had been warned to stay out of Yemen, that the plan was to hold the tourists captive “until the government let my people go,” and that the hostage-takers “snatched you to exchange you.” 

Efforts to Create a Terrorist Training Camp in Bly, Oregon, in 1999

In late 1999, Abu Hamza and several of his followers, including Oussama Abdullah Kassir, Haroon Rashid Aswat, Earnest James Ujaama, and others, attempted to create a terrorist training camp to support al Qaeda on property located in Bly, Oregon.  The primary purpose of the Bly, Oregon, camp was to provide various types of terrorist training, including weapons training.  In late November 1999, at Abu Hamza’s direction, Kassir and Aswat traveled from London, England, to Bly to assist in setting up the camp.  Kassir brought with him to the camp a manual on the use of sarin nerve gas and letters of appreciation to Usama bin Laden and Abu Hamza.  Aswat subsequently was present at an al Qaeda guest house in Pakistan.

On May 12, 2009, after a four-week jury trial in this district, Kassir was convicted of various criminal offenses, including conspiring to provide material support to terrorists and to al Qaeda, and conspiracy to kill persons overseas, as a result of Kassir’s participation in the efforts to establish the Bly terrorist training camp.  On Sept. 15, 2009, United States District Judge John F. Keenan sentenced Kassir to multiple terms of life in prison.  The conviction was subsequently affirmed by the Court of Appeals.

Aswat was arrested in Zambia in July 2005 and then deported to England, where he was arrested at the request of the United States, pursuant to a warrant issued in this district.  Aswat was extradited to the United States on Oct. 21, 2014.  The charges against Aswat are currently pending, and trial is scheduled to commence before Judge Forrest on June 1, 2015.

Facilitating Violent Jihad in Afghanistan in 2000 and 2001

In November 2000, Abu Hamza requested that Ujaama escort another one of Abu Hamza’s followers, Feroz Abassi, from London to Ibn Sheikh al-Libi, a commander at a terrorist training camp in Afghanistan.  Thereafter, Ujaama and Abassi traveled from London to Pakistan. Ujaama and Abassi then separately entered Afghanistan. Abu Hamza subsequently conveyed instructions for Abassi to contact Ibn Sheikh al-Libi, who was expecting Abassi.  Thereafter, Abassi passed through an al Qaeda safe house in Afghanistan, attended al Qaeda’s al Faruq training camp, and met with senior al Qaeda leaders.  In December 2001, United States forces took Abassi into custody in Afghanistan.

In addition, from the spring of 2000 through late 2001, Abu Hamza provided goods and services to the Taliban by, among other things, directing Ujaama to deliver money to Taliban-controlled parts of Afghanistan.

Ujaama was arrested in 2002 and testified against Abu Hamza as a cooperating witness for the government.

*                      *                      *

Abu Hamza, 56, a naturalized citizen of the United Kingdom, was convicted after trial of 11 offenses, including conspiracy to take hostages; hostage-taking; conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists; providing material support to terrorists; conspiracy to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization (al Qaeda); providing material support to a foreign terrorist organization (al Qaeda); and conspiracy to provide goods and services to the Taliban.

In addition to the prison term, Abu Hamza was ordered to pay a $1,100 special assessment fee.  In addressing Abu Hamza's conduct, Judge Forrest described it as "barbaric, misguided and wrong," and remarked, "It is important to me that you have not expressed sympathy for the victims of the Yemeni kidnappings."

Abu Hamza’s conviction is the result of the close cooperative efforts of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, the Justice Department's National Security Division, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the New York City Police Department, the United States Marshals Service, and New Scotland Yard in the United Kingdom.

The U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs contributed extraordinary assistance with the extradition in this case.  The U.S. Attorney also thanked the FBI’s Seattle Field Office, the Home Office of the United Kingdom, the United States Department of State, and the United States Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control for their assistance.

The prosecution is being handled by the Office’s Terrorism and International Narcotics Unit, with assistance from the Counterterrorism Section of the Justice Department's National Security Division. Assistant U.S. Attorneys John P. Cronan, Edward Y. Kim and Ian McGinley are in charge of the prosecution.

Justice Department Will Defend Constitutionality of Trademark Statute

Earlier today, the government filed a notice of intervention in Pro-Football, Inc. v. Amanda Blackhorse, et al. notifying the court in the Eastern District of Virginia that it would defend the federal authorities of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s U.S. Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB), the Justice Department announced. 

In August 2006, five Native Americans, Amanda Blackhorse, Marcus Briggs, Philip Gover, Jillian Pappan and Courtney Tsotigh, sought the cancellation of six Washington Redskins trademark registrations under the Lanham Act on the grounds that the trademarks were disparaging to Native Americans at the time they were registered.  A panel of the TTAB agreed and issued a June 18, 2014 decision that the registrations should be canceled.

Pro-Football Inc., the owner of the Washington Redskins, filed a complaint in U.S. District Court on Aug. 14, 2014, against the five individuals who had petitioned the TTAB for invalidation of the Redskins trademarks.  Pro-Football Inc. is challenging the constitutionality of Section 2(a) of the Lanham Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1052(a) on the grounds that the act violates the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.  The Lanham Act permits denial or cancellation of a trademark application if the trademark is disparaging or falsely suggests a connection with persons living or dead, institutions, beliefs or national symbols.  The act further provides that if a private party believes that a trademark was improperly registered, the party may commence a review proceeding before the TTAB seeking to have the trademark canceled.

The United States will defend the constitutionality of the federal statute.

“The Department of Justice is dedicated to defending the constitutionality of the important statute ensuring that trademark issues involving disparaging and derogatory language are dealt with fairly,” said Acting

Assistant Attorney General Joyce R. Branda for the Civil Division.  “I believe strongly in the rights of all Americans to celebrate and maintain their unique cultural heritage.  Going forward, we will strive to maintain the ability of the United States Patent and Trademark Office to make its own judgment on these matters, based on clear authorities established by law.” 

The United States is specifically authorized by federal statute to intervene in any federal action in which the constitutionality of an act of Congress is drawn into question.  Intervention by the United States will not interfere with the timely adjudication of this action.

The case is being handled by the Justice Department’s Civil Division’s Federal Programs Branch with the assistance of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia.

Today, the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division reached an agreement with the state of Kansas to reform the Kansas State Department of Corrections (KDOC) correctional practices at the Topeka Correctional Facility (TCF) to protect its women prisoners from sexual victimization.  The agreement resolves allegations that the state subjects women prisoners at TCF to harm due to sexual abuse and misconduct by correctional staff and other prisoners in violation of their constitutional rights.     

“This agreement will help ensure that women incarcerated at Topeka Correctional Center are safe and protected from sexual exploitation,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Vanita Gupta for the Civil Rights Division.  “As a result of this agreement, state officials will be required to protect women prisoners from sexual violence and abuse as is required under the Constitution.” 

“This will go a long way toward reducing the harm women have experienced while being held at the TCF,” said U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom for the District of Kansas.  “The state of Kansas and the KDOC are to be commended for working with the Justice Department to reform the state’s correctional practices.”   

On Sept. 6, 2012, the Justice Department issued a findings letter concluding that women prisoners were subjected to a pattern or practice of sexual abuse.  This finding was consistent with other state reports that recognized a long-standing problem of sexual assault in the prison.  The findings report identified several systemic failures that led to the pattern of abuse.  The state failed to employ accepted correctional practices designed to protect women prisoners from harm due to sexual abuse and misconduct.  TCF did not have effective procedures to classify and manage predatory guards andand prisoners.  Further, TCF lacked effective investigative and grievance processes, and did not have enough officers, including female officers, to appropriately supervise and monitor prisoners.      

The agreement requires numerous ways to remedy the deficiencies including the requirement that the state to abide by the Prison Rape Elimination Act National Standards.  The agreement details that the state must mandate zero tolerance toward all forms of sexual abuse and sexual harassment and implement specific policies and procedures designed to prevent, detect, and respond to such conduct. 

The state will work to prevent and detect sexual abuse of women prisoners by ensuring adequate levels of staffing supplemented by targeted video monitoring.  The state will also implement a classification system specific to the female population at TCF, and maintain a risk assessment process that adequately identifies potential victims and predators.  The state will maintain a grievance process and by provide multiple internal ways for prisoners to privately report sexual abuse and sexual harassment. 

The state will also effectively respond to any allegations of sexual abuse or sexual harassment by adhering to guidelines and timeframes for initiating and concluding investigations; ensuring prompt corrective action following any administrative or criminal finding of sexual abuse or sexual harassment; and holding culpable staff accountable through disciplinary sanctions up to and including termination.

Finally, TCF will ensure that all staff are trained on their responsibilities to prevent sexual abuse, and on how to indentify, detect, report, and respond to allegations of sexual abuse.  The women prisoners at TFC will similarly be educated on these issues.  Implementation of the agreement will be overseen by a monitor who will issue a compliance report every six months.  

The Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act authorizes the department to seek a remedy for a pattern or practice of conduct that violates the constitutional rights of persons confined in a jail, prison, or other correctional facility.  Please visit the division website to learn more about this act and other laws enforced by the Civil Rights Division.

This agreement is due to the efforts of the Special Litigation Section of the Civil Rights Division, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Kansas and the leadership of the Governor of Kansas, the Kansas State Attorney General’s Office and the Kansas Department of Corrections.

A former London, Kentucky, doctor pleaded guilty today to filing false tax returns on which he falsely reported millions in fictitious business expenses to reduce his taxable income, announced Deputy Assistant Attorney General David A. Hubbert for the Justice Department’s Tax Division. 

According to the documents filed with the court, Dr. Visa Haran Sivasubramaniam owned and operated Hematology Oncology Physicians East (HOPE), where he offered medical oncology and hematology services.  During a three year period, from 2007 through 2009, Sivasubramaniam earned more than $16 million in total income from HOPE, but he reported nearly $13 million worth of false and fictitious medical supply expenses to offset that income.  Sivasubramaniam admitted that for 2008 and 2009, he signed false corporate tax returns for HOPE and false personal tax returns, which reported limited taxable income and ficticious losses from HOPE when he in fact knew that his net income was millions of dollars more.  According to court documents, Sivasubramaniam owes more than $4.5 million in taxes.

Sivasubramaniam faces a statutory maximum sentence of six years in prison and a $500,000 fine.  His sentencing is set for July 7 before U.S. District Judge Amul R. Thapar for the Eastern District of Kentucky.

This case was investigated by special agents of the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation.  Trial Attorneys Yael T. Epstein and Thomas G. Voracek of the Tax Division are prosecuting the case.

A former state circuit judge in Arkansas pleaded guilty today for accepting a bribe in exchange for reducing a negligence jury verdict against a Conway, Arkansas, company. 

Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and First Assistant United States Attorney Patrick C. Harris of the Eastern District of Arkansas made the announcement.

Michael A. Maggio, 53, of Conway, Arkansas, pleaded guilty to a one-count information charging him with bribery concerning programs receiving federal funds.  A sentencing hearing before Chief U.S. District Judge Brian S. Miller of the Eastern District of Arkansas will be scheduled at a later date.

As part of his plea agreement, Maggio admitted that in 2013, he served as an elected circuit judge for the state of Arkansas, Twentieth Judicial District, Second Division, presiding over a civil matter in Faulkner County Circuit Court.  The plaintiff in that matter, the estate of a decedent, filed a complaint alleging, among other things, that a company, its owner, and others had neglected and mistreated the decedent leading to the decedent’s death while the decedent was in their care.  On May 16, 2013, a jury returned a verdict in the plaintiff’s favor, awarding damages against the sole-remaining defendant, the company, in the amount of $5.2 million.  Approximately one month later, the company filed a motion for new trial or to reduce the amount of damages awarded by the jury to the plaintiff. 

Maggio further admitted that he formally announced his candidacy for the Arkansas Court of Appeals on June 27, 2013, while the post-trial motions were pending.  On July 10, 2013, Maggio entered an order reducing the verdict against the company to $1 million.  Prior to that order, a fundraiser for Maggio’s campaign told Maggio that the company’s owner had committed money to support Maggio’s campaign.  The fundraiser also communicated with Maggio regarding the pending post-trial motions.  On July 9, 2013, the owner  donated approximately $24,000 to Maggio’s campaign.  As part of his plea, Maggio admitted that his decision to remit the judgment was improperly influenced by the donations that his campaign received from the company’s owner.  Maggio further acknowledged that he attempted to delete text messages between the fundraiser and himself after the media became aware of the illicit contributions to his campaign. 

The case was investigated by the FBI’s Little Rock Field Office, and is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Edward P. Sullivan of the Criminal Division’s Public Integrity Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Julie Peters of the Eastern District of Arkansas.

A southwest suburban Bolingbrook man who was arrested in October, was indicted by a federal grand jury for allegedly attempting to travel overseas to join a foreign terrorist organization operating inside Iraq and Syria, federal law enforcement officials announced today.  The defendant, Mohammed Hamzah Khan, 19, a U.S. citizen, was charged with attempting to provide material support to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in a single-count indictment returned late yesterday.

The indictment was announced by Assistant Attorney General for National Security John P. Carlin, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois Zachary T. Fardon and Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation Robert J. Holley.  The investigation is continuing, they said.  

A date for Khan to be arraigned in U.S. District Court in Chicago has not yet been determined.  Khan has been detained in federal custody since he was arrested on Oct. 4, 2014, at O’Hare International Airport by members of the Chicago FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force before he attempted to fly to Vienna, Austria, on his way to Istanbul, Turkey.

Khan was initially charged in a criminal complaint with attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization, and the indictment formalizes that same charge.  According to the indictment, between February and Oct. 4, 2014, Khan attempted to provide material support and resources, specifically, personnel, to ISIL.

Attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization carries a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.  If convicted, the court must impose a reasonable sentence under federal statutes and the advisory United States Sentencing Guidelines.

The Chicago JTTF is comprised of Special Agents of the FBI, officers of the Chicago Police Department, and representatives from an additional 20 federal, state and local law enforcement agencies.  U.S. Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), and the Illinois State Police also provided significant assistance in the investigation. 

The government is being represented by Trial Attorney Michael Dittoe of the National Security Division and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Matthew Hiller, Angel Krull, and Sean Driscoll.

The public is reminded that an indictment contains only charges and is not evidence of guilt.  The defendant is presumed innocent and is entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.   

Indictment    

A federal court in Dallas has permanently barred Ricia Daniels and Ricia Daniels doing business as Ricia’s Convenience Tax Service and Ricia’s Convenience Tax Service Inc. from preparing tax returns for others, the Justice Department announced today.

U.S. District Judge Jorge A. Solis entered the order, which the defendants agreed to, on Jan. 9.

The order requires the defendants to turn over to the United States a list of all persons for whom they prepared federal tax returns since Dec. 1, 2013.  The order further authorizes the United States to monitor the defendants’ compliance with the terms of the injunction.

The complaint alleged that the defendants prepared returns for their customers that falsely claimed improper or inflated deductions of medical expenses, unreimbursed employee business expense and other deductions on the customers’ Schedule A (Itemized Deductions), improper or inflated business expense deductions on Schedule C (Profit and Loss from Business Sole Proprietorship), improper or inflated education expenses, and improper or inflated fuel taxes in order to understate income and overstate the taxpayers’ refunds.  The complaint also alleged that the defendants have filed tax returns without the permission of some customers.

Return preparer fraud is one of the Internal Revenue Service’s (IRS) Dirty Dozen Tax Scams for 2014.  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 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.

Daiichi Sankyo Inc., a global pharmaceutical company with its U.S. headquarters in New Jersey, has agreed to pay the United States and state Medicaid programs $39 million to resolve allegations that it violated the False Claims Act by paying kickbacks to induce physicians to prescribe Daiichi drugs, including Azor, Benicar, Tribenzor and Welchol, the Justice Department announced today.

“The Anti-Kickback Statute prohibits payments intended to influence a physician’s ordering or prescribing decisions,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Joyce R. Branda for the Civil Division.  “The Department of Justice is committed to preserving the independence and objectivity of those decisions, which are cornerstones of our public health programs.”

The Anti-Kickback Statute was enacted to ensure that physicians’ medical judgment is not compromised by improper payments and gifts by other health care providers.  The statute generally prohibits anyone from offering, paying, soliciting or receiving remuneration to induce referrals of items or services covered by federal health care programs, including Medicare and Medicaid. 

In this case, the government alleged that Daiichi paid physicians improper kickbacks in the form of speaker fees as part of Daiichi’s Physician Organization and Discussion programs, known as “PODs,” which were run from Jan. 1, 2005, through March 31, 2011, as well as other speaker programs that were run from Jan. 1, 2004, through Feb. 4, 2011.  Allegedly, payments were made to physicians even when physician participants in PODs took turns “speaking” on duplicative topics over Daiichi-paid dinners, the recipient spoke only to members of his or her own staff in his or her own office, or the associated dinner was so lavish that its cost exceeded Daiichi’s own internal cost limitation of $140 per person. 

“Drug companies are prohibited from using lavish entertainment and padded speaker program payments to induce physicians to prescribe their drugs for beneficiaries of federal health care programs,” said U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz for the District of Massachusetts.  “Settlements like this one show that the government will continue to pursue health care companies that use kickbacks to promote their products.”

As part of the settlement, Daiichi has agreed to enter into a corporate integrity agreement with the Department of Health and Human Services-Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG), which obligates the defendants to undertake substantial internal compliance reforms for the next five years.

“Schemes such as this are particularly abhorrent,” said Inspector General Daniel R. Levinson for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.  “Manufacturers and physicians who engage in them are cheating Medicare and Medicaid out of millions of dollars and threatening programs upon which many elderly and disabled Americans rely.  My office will take whatever steps necessary to guard against improper alliances between manufacturers of drugs and those who prescribe them.  Through our corporate integrity agreement we will be closely monitoring Daiichi.”

The settlement announced today stems from a complaint filed by Kathy Fragoules, a former Daiichi sales representative, under the whistleblower provisions of the False Claims Act, which authorize private parties to sue on behalf of the United States, and to receive a portion of any recovery.  Fragoules will receive $6.1 million of the federal recovery.

This settlement illustrates the government’s emphasis on combating health care fraud and marks another achievement for the Health Care Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Action Team (HEAT) initiative, which was announced in May 2009 by the Attorney General and the Secretary of Health and Human Services.  The partnership between the two departments has focused efforts to reduce and prevent Medicare and Medicaid financial fraud through enhanced cooperation.  One of the most powerful tools in this effort is the False Claims Act.  Since January 2009, the Justice Department has recovered a total of more than $23.3 billion through False Claims Act cases, with more than $14.9 billion of that amount recovered in cases involving fraud against federal health care programs. 

The investigation and litigation was conducted by the Civil Division, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, the Department of Defense Criminal Investigative Service, HHS-OIG and the FBI.  The claims settled by this agreement are allegations only and there has been no determination of liability.

The case is captioned U.S. ex rel. Fragoules v. Daiichi Sankyo, Inc., Civil Action No. 10-10420 (D. Mass.).

Andrew Weissmann has been selected as the Chief of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section, announced Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell.

“Andrew Weissmann is an extraordinary attorney with an incomparable dedication to the pursuit of justice,” said Assistant Attorney General Caldwell.  “As his deep experience demonstrates, many of the top officials throughout the Department of Justice have come to rely upon his wise counsel over the years, and I am pleased to welcome him back to the Criminal Division.” 

Weissmann has dedicated the majority of his 30-year professional career to public service and the Department of Justice.  He returns to the Criminal Division after serving as the FBI’s general counsel under former Director Robert S. Mueller and, most recently, teaching criminal procedure and national security law courses and seminars at NYU School of Law.  Before his tenure at the FBI, Weissmann was a partner at Jenner & Block in New York for five years, a member of its Management Committee, and co-chair of the firm’s White Collar Practice Group, where he worked on a broad range of matters including ones involving securities fraud, antitrust, health care fraud and the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. 

Prior to joining that law firm, Weissmann served as special counsel to the Director of the FBI.  Before that he was the deputy director and then the director of the Enron Task Force from 2002 through 2005, where he oversaw the investigations and prosecutions of more than 30 individuals, including Jeffrey Skilling, Kenneth Lay, and Andrew Fastow, as well as the corporate prosecutions of Merrill Lynch and CIBC. 

Weissmann began his career with the Department of Justice in 1991 at the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Eastern District of New York, where he served in various leadership positions, including as chief of the Criminal Division, until joining the Enron Task Force.  While at the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Weissmann tried more than 25 cases and was instrumental in bringing to justice high-ranking members of the Genovese, Colombo and Gambino crime families and combating the infiltration of organized crime on Wall Street.

During his tenure with the Department of Justice, Weissmann received many honors, including the Attorney General’s Award for Exceptional Service in 2006, Director’s Awards for Superior Performance in 1994, 1996, 1999 and 2000, and Special Achievement Awards in 2003 and 2004.

Weissmann joined the U.S. Attorney’s Office after working as an associate at Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP.  He served as a law clerk for the Hon. Eugene H. Nickerson in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York.  He graduated magna cum laude from Princeton University, was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship to study at the University of Geneva, and graduated from Columbia Law School, where he served on its law review.  Weissmann has also taught at Fordham Law School and Brooklyn Law School.

Three former correctional officers with the Louisiana State Penitentiary in Angola, Louisiana, were sentenced today before United States District Judge James J. Brady for the Middle District of Louisiana for abusing an inmate and engaging in conduct to cover up the criminal conduct.  Mark Sharp, 33, received 73 months.  Kevin Groom, 47, was sentenced to one year probation and a $500 fine.  Matthew Cody Butler, 29, received two years probation and a $3,000 fine.

According to court documents filed in connection with their guilty pleas, on January 24, 2010, defendants Groom, Sharp and Butler were on duty as correctional officials when they learned that an inmate had escaped from his assigned location.  Shortly after the defendants joined the search for the escapee, the inmate surrendered to prison officials.  The inmate was handcuffed behind his back and placed in the back of a pick-up truck to be transported to the medical unit.  Groom, Butler, and Sharp escorted the inmate on the back of that truck.  During the drive to the medical unit, Sharp repeatedly struck the inmate with a baton.  During the investigation of the inmate’s complaint that officers had abused him, Groom and Butler engaged in various conduct to cover up the assault.

Sharp pleaded guilty to violating the civil rights of the inmate and to making false statements to the FBI.  Groom pleaded guilty to falsifying records in a federal investigation and making false statements to the FBI.  Butler pleaded guilty to misprision of a felony.

Another former officer, Jason Giroir, also pleaded guilty on May 29, 2013, to falsifying a report and making a false statement to the FBI.  He will be sentenced separately on January 29, 2015.

“The vast majority of American law enforcement officers conduct themselves with honor,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Vanita Gupta for the Civil Rights Division.  “But when law enforcement officers abuse inmates and attempt to cover-up their misconduct, the Department of Justice stands ready to hold those officers accountable for their conduct.”

“It is unfortunate that the defendants’ criminal activities threaten to overshadow the courageous and outstanding work performed every day by the vast majority of law enforcement officers, both inside and outside the penal system,” said U.S. Attorney J. Walter Green for the Middle District of Louisiana.

“This thorough and patient investigation  not only resulted in the full accountability of all correctional officers involved, but also demonstrated unwavering adherence to the procedural rights of the victim and accused,” said Special Agent in Charge Michael J. Anderson of the FBI’s New Orleans Office.

The investigation in this matter was conducted by Special Agent Taneka Harris of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and prosecuted by Civil Rights Division Trial Attorney AeJean Cha and Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert W. Piedrahita.

The former International Program Director of International Adoption Guides Inc. (IAG), an adoption agency, pleaded guilty today to conspiring with others to defraud the United States by submitting fraudulent documents to the State Department for adoptions from Ethiopia and paying bribes to foreign officials.

Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Bill Nettles of the District of South Carolina made the announcement.

James Harding, 55, of Atlanta, Georgia, admitted as part of his guilty plea that, between 2008 and 2009, he and his co-conspirators submitted fraudulent documents to the State Department to facilitate adoptions of Ethiopian children by U.S. parents.  Harding admitted that, in support of U.S. visa applications for the Ethiopian children, he and others submitted false documentation, including contracts of adoption signed by orphanages that could not properly give the children up for adoption because, for example, the child in question was never cared for or never resided at the orphanage.

In entering his guilty plea, Harding also admitted that he and others paid bribes to two Ethiopian officials so that those officials would help with the fraudulent adoptions.  Specifically, Harding admitted that an audiologist and teacher at a government school was given money and other valuables in exchange for non-public medical information and social history information for potential adoptees.  Additionally, Harding and his co-conspirators provided cash and all-expense paid travel to the head of a regional ministry for women’s and children’s affairs in exchange for his approval of IAG’s applications for intercountry adoptions and ignoring IAG’s failure to maintain a properly licensed adoption facility. 

Harding pleaded guilty before Senior U.S. District Court Judge Sol Blatt Jr. of the District of South Carolina, and a sentencing hearing will be scheduled at a later date.

This ongoing investigation is being conducted by the Bureau of Diplomatic Security.  The department appreciates the assistance of the Office of Children’s Issues at the U.S. Department of State.  The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney John W. Borchert of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Jamie Lea Schoen of the District of South Carolina.

A federal court in Columbus, Georgia, has permanently barred Natashia and Detrick Tucker and their business, T&T Express Tax, from preparing federal tax returns for others, the Justice Department announced today. 

The civil injunction order, to which the defendants consented, was signed by Chief Judge Clay D. Land of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia.

According to the complaint, the Tuckers prepared federal income tax returns for customers that understated the taxes due or generated inappropriate tax refunds.  The understatements were caused by improper earned income tax credits and education credits that the Tuckers claimed for their customers.  According to the complaint, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) examined 337 returns of the 2,239 returns prepared by the Tuckers for the tax years 2009 through 2011.  Of those returns, the IRS determined that adjustments were needed on more than 87 percent of the examined returns.

On Jan. 9, 2014, Natashia Tucker pleaded guilty to conspiring to defraud the United States in the assessment and collection of federal income taxes and Detrick Tucker pleaded guilty to aiding and assisting in the preparation of false tax returns.  Natashia Tucker was later sentenced to serve 46 months in federal prison and was ordered to pay $1,483,025 in restitution to the IRS.  Detrick Tucker was sentenced to serve 12 months and one day in federal prison and ordered to pay $66,235 in restitution to the IRS.

Return preparer fraud is one of the IRS’s Dirty Dozen Tax Scams for 2014.  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 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 U.S. Departments of Education (ED) and Justice (DOJ) today released joint guidance reminding states, school districts and schools of their obligations under federal law to ensure that English learner students have equal access to a high-quality education and the opportunity to achieve their full academic potential.

“The diversity of this nation is one of its greatest attributes,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Vanita Gupta for the Civil Rights Division at DOJ.  “Ensuring English learner students are supported in their education supports all of us.  Today’s guidance – 40 years after passage of the landmark Equal Educational Opportunities Act – will help schools meet their legal obligations to ensure all students can succeed.”

“Four decades ago, the U.S. Supreme Court held in Lau v. Nichols that all students deserve equal access to a high-quality education regardless of their language background or how well they know English,” said ED Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Catherine E. Lhamon.  “Today’s guidance not only reminds us of the court’s ruling, but also provides useful information for schools as they work to ensure equity for students and families with limited English proficiency.”

In addition to the guidance, the departments also released additional tools and resources to help schools in serving English learner students and parents with limited English proficiency:

• A fact sheet in English and in other languages about schools’ obligations under federal law to ensure that English learner students can participate meaningfully and equally in school. 
• A fact sheet in English and in other languages about schools’ obligations under federal law to communicate information to limited English proficient parents in a language they can understand.
• A toolkit to help school districts identify English learner students, prepared by the Education Department’s Office of English Language Acquisition.  This is the first chapter in a series of chapters to help state education agencies and school districts meet their obligations to English learner students. 

This is the first time that a single piece of guidance has addressed the array of federal laws that govern schools’ obligations to English learners.  The guidance recognizes the recent milestone 40th anniversaries of Lau v. Nichols and the Equal Educational Opportunities Act of 1974 (EEOA), as well as the 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act.  The EEOA, similar to Lau, requires public schools to take appropriate action to help English learner students overcome language barriers and ensure their ability to participate equally in school.

The guidance explains schools’ obligations to:

• identify English learner students in a timely, valid and reliable manner;
• offer all English learner students an educationally sound language assistance program;
• provide qualified staff and sufficient resources for instructing English learner students;
• ensure English learner students have equitable access to school programs and activities
• avoid unnecessary segregation of English learner students from other students;
• monitor students’ progress in learning English and doing grade-level classwork;
• remedy any academic deficits English learner students incurred while in a language assistance program;
• move students out of language assistance programs when they are proficient in English and monitor those students to ensure they were not prematurely removed;
• evaluate the effectiveness of English learner programs; and
• provide limited English proficient parents with information about school programs, services, and activities in a language they understand.

Almost 5 million students in the United States are English learners - about 9 percent of all public school students.  From 2002 to 2011, the percentage of English learners in public schools increased in 40 states and the District of Columbia, and currently three out of every four public schools enroll English learner students. 

The mission of the ED Office for Civil Rights (OCR) is to ensure equal access to education and promote educational excellence throughout the nation through the vigorous enforcement of civil rights.  OCR is responsible for enforcing federal civil rights laws that prohibit discrimination by educational institutions on the basis of race, color, national origin, disability, sex and age, as well as the Boy Scouts of America Equal Access Act of 2001.  Additional information about OCR is available here and additional resources, including previous guidance released on this topic, is available here.

The enforcement of the EEOA and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to ensure that English learner students and limited English proficient parents receive the services to which they are entitled is a top priority of the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division.  Additional information on DOJ’s efforts to provide equal educational opportunities to all students is available here.