District Not Recorded

Kenneth Jerome Blackmon Jr., a resident of Montgomery, Ala., was sentenced today to 51 months in prison, the Justice Department and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced.

In January 2013, Blackmon pleaded guilty to aggravated identity theft and access device fraud. According to court documents, Blackmon was involved in a scheme to use stolen identities to file false federal income tax returns with the IRS. He admitted to acquiring names and Social Security numbers, to using that identity information on false tax returns, and to directing fraudulent tax refunds onto debit cards. Blackmon also admitted to possessing at least 15 Social Security numbers for the purpose of obtaining fraudulent tax refunds from the IRS.

In addition to prison time, Blackmon was ordered to pay $197,839 in restitution to the IRS and to serve three years of supervised release following his release from federal custody.

Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Tax Division Kathryn Keneally and U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Alabama George L. Beck Jr., commended the efforts of IRS – Criminal Investigation special agents in investigating the case, Tax Division Trial Attorneys Justin Gelfand and Jason Poole in prosecuting the case, and the Alabama Department of Pardons and Paroles and the Gwinnett County, Ala., Sheriff’s Department in Georgia in assisting federal authorities with the investigation.

The Department of Justice today announced that a federal grand jury sitting in Las Vegas has indicted a former North Las Vegas corrections officer on federal civil rights and obstruction of justice charges. Stuart Barlow Johnson, 47, was indicted on one count of violating the victim’s civil rights by using excessive force on the victim and one count of obstruction of justice for falsifying an incident report in an attempt to cover up the incident.

The indictment alleges that on Nov. 29, 2008, while acting as a corrections officer at the North Las Vegas Detention Center, Johnson assaulted an unnamed victim, identified as “D.H.,” resulting in bodily injury to D.H. The obstruction count alleges that on the same day, Johnson knowingly falsified a document with the intent to impede, obstruct and influence the investigation and proper administration of a matter within the jurisdiction of the FBI.

If convicted, the defendant faces a statutory maximum penalty of 10 years in prison on the civil rights count and a statutory maximum penalty of 20 years in prison on the obstruction count.

An indictment is merely an accusation, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.

This case is being investigated by the Las Vegas division of the FBI. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicholas Dickinson of the District of Nevada and Trial Attorneys Ryan Murguía and Patricia Sumner of the Criminal Section of the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice.

Jay Odom, 56, of Destin, Fla., was sentenced today by Senior U.S. District Judge Lacey A. Collier to six months in federal prison for his conviction on one count of causing a presidential campaign committee to make a false statement to the Federal Election Commission (FEC). Additionally, Judge Collier ordered Odom to pay a fine of $46,000 and a Special Monetary Assessment of $100 for the felony conviction. The sentencing was announced this afternoon by Acting Assistant Attorney General Mythili Raman of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and Robert O. Davis, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Florida.

According to court documents, in approximately December 2007, Odom directly and indirectly solicited employees of his business entities and their family members to each make the maximum allowable contributions to the authorized campaign committee of a presidential candidate. The employees were encouraged to make these donations with the understanding that Odom would advance funds to or reimburse these individuals for their contributions. During his guilty plea on February 12, 2013, Odom admitted to both knowing that this activity was illegal and intending to conceal the true source and amount of the campaign contributions.

In 2007, Odom directly or indirectly used personal funds to reimburse individual contributions to the authorized campaign committee of the presidential candidate for a total of $23,000. As a result of this scheme, Odom intentionally caused the presidential candidate’s authorized campaign committee to file a report with the FEC that falsely stated that 10 individual donors had made federal campaign contributions when in fact each contribution was made by Odom.

This case was investigated by the FBI and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Randall J. Hensel and Trial Attorney Brian K. Kidd of the Criminal Division’s Public Integrity Section.

A California woman pleaded guilty to illegally feeding killer whales in the wild this Tuesday in federal court in San Jose, Calif., the Department of Justice Environment and Natural Resources Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California announced. 

Nancy Black of Monterey, Calif. pleaded guilty to one count of violating the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), specifically the MMPA’s feeding prohibition.  The MMPA regulations make it a crime to feed marine mammals in the wild.   The prohibition applies to commercial and recreational boaters, and applies to all species of marine mammals.

Killer whales (orcas) prey on gray whales in the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary.  On the occasions when orcas manage to kill a gray whale, the pod of orcas does not always eat all of the gray whale at once.  Often, portions of the carcass, including strips and chunks of blubber (some over six feet in length and weighing over a hundred pounds), remain floating or semi-submerged after a kill.  Orcas and sea birds feed on these chunks of blubber while they are still available in the area.

According to the factual basis of the plea agreement, on or about April 25, 2004, Black was on her boat in the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, when she and her assistants encountered a place where orcas had killed a gray whale calf.  She was observing the orcas as they fed on pieces of gray whale blubber that were floating in the water.  In an effort to facilitate their viewing, she or her crew grabbed the blubber, cut a hole through the corner of the blubber chunk, and ran a rope through the piece of the blubber. Shortly thereafter, they returned the blubber to the water and monitored the feeding behavior of the orcas as they ate the blubber off of the rope.  Black and her crew repeated the process with the rope and other pieces of the blubber. In court papers, Black admitted that she did not have a permit that would have allowed her to engage in this conduct.  She also admitted that on or about April 11, 2005, she was involved in a similar incident involving the collection of floating blubber and offering it to orcas utilizing the same rope method.

In a separate incident on or about Oct. 24, 2005, Nancy Black met with a sanctuary officer and a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) investigative agent at their offices in Monterey.  The sanctuary officer was investigating a reported harassment of an endangered humpback whale earlier that month in the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary.  The interaction with the humpback whale was filmed by one of Black’s crewmembers. Before Oct. 24, the sanctuary officer had previously asked Black to provide the videotape of the humpback whale encounter. 

Black voluntarily agreed to provide the videotape, but prior to doing so she edited the video footage to remove several minutes that included footage of the humpback whale between two vessels that belonged to Black’s whale watching business, among other footage, and sounds.  Black did not tell the officer that she had edited the tape.  In filed court papers, Black admitted that by not disclosing the editing of the video, she could have impeded or influenced NOAA's investigation into the humpback whale incident.

Sentencing in the case is set for Aug. 6, 2013.

The case was investigated by agents of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the FBI with support from enforcement personnel from the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary.  The case was prosecuted by Christopher L. Hale of the Justice Department’s Environmental Crimes Section, Environment and Natural Resources Division, and Jeffrey Schenk of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in San Jose, California.

Related Materials:

Plea Agreement

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – El Juez de Distrito de los Estados Unidos William B. Shubb sentenció el día de hoy a Uriel Ochoa-Espindola, de 44 años, residente de Fresno, a 17 años y medio de prisión por participar en una conspiración de tràfico de marihuana, anunció el Fiscal de los Estados Unidos Benjamin B. Wagner.

De acuerdo con los documentos del tribunal, Espindola era el líder de una operación masiva de producción de marihuana y de una banda interestatal de distribución de droga. Él y sus socios cultivaron decenas de miles de plantas de marihuana en tres condados diferentes en California y enviaron su producto por todo el país con la ayuda de camioneros comerciales. La operación de Espindola tenía su base cerca de Delhi, Calif., pero él controlaba cultivos de marihuana en los Condados de El Dorado, Tehama y Placer. Espindola organizó y dirigió personalmente cientos de libras de envíos de marihuana a Dakota del Sur, Colorado, Massachusetts, Washington, y Carolina del Norte. Espindola tenía 10 hombres bajo su mando. Él tomaba las decisiones clave, asignaba trabajos y organizaba negocios.

Al sentenciar a Espindola, el Juez Shubb dijo que Espindola manejaba una “operación muy seria,” e indicó que el papel de Espindola como líder tuvo un impacto importante en su decisión de sentencia.

De acuerdo con los documentos del tribunal, los investigadores incautaron tres pistolas y casi 11 000 plantas de marihuana en el lugar de cultivo en el Condado de El Dorado. Incautaron casi 17 500 plantas de marihuana en un cultivo en el Condado de Placer, y casi 2 000 plantas de marihuana en el Condado de Tehama.

La organización era bastante grande ya que tenían “gerentes intermedios”, tales como Valentine Ramírez-Cardínez, quien fue sentenciado a 15 años y ocho meses en prisión por dirigir los lugares de cultivo. Estos gerentes intermedios ayudaron a proteger y aislar a Espindola de un posible contacto con las autoridades. Después que 300 libras de su marihuana fueran incautadas por investigadores en Chicago, Espindola se escondió de los agentes encubiertos poniendo a Ramírez-Cardínez como encargado.

De acuerdo con documentos del tribunal, Espindola era “uno de los mayores traficantes de marihuana en el Norte de California.” Él, sus lugartenientes, y sus empleados usaron armas de fuego para promover esa operación. Ademàs de las armas encontradas en el lugar de cultivo del Condado El Dorado y una escopeta descubierta en la casa de Espindola, Ramírez-Cardínez dijo a  uno de los oficiales encubiertos que él llevó un rifle de calibre .22 al lugar de cultivo del Condado Placer. Los investigadores encontraron finalmente otras 5 armas de fuego en la casa de Ramírez-Cardínez cuando fue arrestado. Anteriormente, Ramírez-Cardínez entregó a uno de los agentes encubiertos un rifle AK-47. El agente al parecer pagaría por el arma màs tarde.

Durante una audiencia probatoria relacionada con la sentencia, un agente especial del Departamento de Justicia de California testificó que los investigadores también encontraron tres pistolas adicionales, tres rifles AK-47, dos rifles M-16/M-4, cuatro escopetas, y un rifle en un domicilio en Rowland Lane en Corning, Calif. Ésta era una residencia en la que uno de los lugartenientes de Espindola cargaba un camión en conexión con uno de los envíos a través del país. Contrario a los alegatos de la defensa, el Juez Shubb recalcó que “Ésta fue su operación,” e hizo a Espindola responsable de las armas que sus socios y empleados usaron para fomentar la operación.

Este caso fue producto de una intensa investigación por parte de la Agencia Antidrogas de los EE.UU., la Oficina del Alguacil del Condado de El Dorado, la Oficina del Alguacil del Condado de Placer, La Oficina Antinarcóticos del Departamento de Justicia de California y el Equipo de Investigación de Marihuana de la Montaña y el Valle. El Fiscal Adjunto de los Estados Unidos Michael M. Beckwith procesó el caso.

Attorney General Eric Holder announced today that Dzhokhar A. Tsarnaev, 19, a U.S. citizen and resident of Cambridge, Mass., has been charged with using a weapon of mass destruction against persons and property at the Boston Marathon on April 15, 2013, resulting in the death of three people and injuries to more than 200 people.

In a criminal complaint unsealed today in U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, Tsarnaev is specifically charged with one count of using and conspiring to use a weapon of mass destruction (namely, an improvised explosive device or IED) against persons and property within the United States resulting in death, and one count of malicious destruction of property by means of an explosive device resulting in death. The statutory charges authorize a penalty, upon conviction, of death or imprisonment for life or any term of years. Tsarnaev had his initial court appearance today from his hospital room.

“Although our investigation is ongoing, today’s charges bring a successful end to a tragic week for the city of Boston, and for our country,” said Attorney General Eric Holder.  “Our thoughts and prayers remain with each of the bombing victims and brave law enforcement professionals who lost their lives or suffered serious injuries as a result of this week’s senseless violence.  Thanks to the valor of state and local police, the dedication of federal law enforcement and intelligence officials, and the vigilance of members of the public, we’ve once again shown that those who target innocent Americans and attempt to terrorize our cities will not escape from justice.  We will hold those who are responsible for these heinous acts accountable to the fullest extent of the law.”

“The events of the past week underscore in stark terms the need for continued vigilance against terrorist threats both at home and abroad,” said John Carlin, Acting Assistant Attorney General for National Security. “Friday’s arrest and today’s charges demonstrate what can be achieved by a collaborative, round-the clock response involving law enforcement officers, intelligence professionals, prosecutors and the general public.”

“Today’s charges are the culmination of extraordinary law enforcement coordination and the tireless efforts of so many, including ordinary citizens who became heroes as they responded to the call for help in the hours and days following the Marathon tragedy,” said Carmen Ortiz, U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts. “The impact of these crimes has been far-reaching, affecting a worldwide community that is looking for peace and justice. We hope that this prosecution will bring some small measure of comfort both to the public at large and to the victims and their families that justice will be served. While we will not be able to comment on any possible communications between the suspect and law enforcement at this time, as a general rule, the government will always seek to elicit all the actionable intelligence and information we can from terrorist suspects taken into our custody.”

“The events of this week have moved at a breakneck pace. Yet the one consistent element of this investigation has been the collective efforts of our law enforcement and intelligence partners, working side-by-side, day and night, to identify and find those responsible for this attack, while keeping the public safe,” said Rick DesLauriers, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Boston Division. “We are grateful to the American people for their assistance; we would not be successful without their trust and support. We will continue to investigate this matter with the greatest diligence and expediency, and we will do all that we can to protect those we serve.”

“Friday night’s capture of the suspect brought immediate relief to a community from a public safety viewpoint. However, much work remains and many questions require answers. Today’s charges represent another step on the long road toward justice for the victims of these crimes. On behalf of the citizens of this great Commonwealth, the Massachusetts State Police will continue to work diligently with our federal and local partners to bring this defendant to justice for his alleged acts and ensure the public’s safety,” said Colonel Timothy P. Alben, Superintendent of the Massachusetts State Police.

“Finding the alleged perpetrators of this savage act of terrorism four days after the attack on the City of Boston was a herculean effort and shows the true cooperation and dedication of the law enforcement community,” said Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis. “We were relentless in our pursuit of the suspects. The arrest of Tsarnaev and today’s charges should send a clear message to those who look to do us harm, the entire law enforcement community will go after you, find you and bring you to justice.”

This investigation was conducted by the FBI’s Boston Division, the Boston Police Department, the Massachusetts State Police, and member agencies of the Boston Joint Terrorism Task Force, which is comprised of more than 30 federal, state and local enforcement agencies, including the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement – Homeland Security Investigations, U.S. Marshals Service, U.S. Secret Service, the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority and others. In addition, the Watertown Police Department, the Cambridge Police Department, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Police Department, the Boston Fire Department, the National Guard and police, fire and emergency responders from across Massachusetts and New England played critical roles in the investigation and response.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys William Weinreb and Aloke Chakravarty from the Anti-Terrorism and National Security Unit of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts, with assistance from the Counterterrorism Section of the Justice Department’s National Security Division.

The public is reminded that charges contained in an indictment or criminal complaint are merely allegations, and that defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

Related Materials:

Tsarnaev Complaint

Ralph Lauren Corporation (RLC), a New York based apparel company, has agreed to pay an $882,000 penalty to resolve allegations that it violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) by bribing government officials in Argentina to obtain improper customs clearance of merchandise, announced Mythili Raman, the Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division, and Loretta E. Lynch, the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York.

According to the agreement, the manager of RLC’s subsidiary in Argentina bribed customs officials in Argentina over the span of five years to improperly obtain paperwork necessary for goods to clear customs; permit clearance of items without the necessary paperwork and/or the clearance of prohibited items; and on occasion, to avoid inspection entirely.  RLC’s employee disguised the payments by funneling them through a customs clearance agency, which created fake invoices to justify the improper payments.  During these five years, RLC did not have an anti-corruption program and did not provide any anti-corruption training or oversight with respect to its subsidiary in Argentina.

In addition to the monetary penalty, RLC agreed to cooperate with the Department of Justice, to report periodically to the department concerning RLC’s compliance efforts, and to continue to implement an enhanced compliance program and internal controls designed to prevent and detect FCPA violations.  If RLC abides by the terms of the agreement, the Department will not prosecute RLC in connection with the conduct.

The agreement acknowledges RLC’s extensive, thorough, and timely cooperation, including self-disclosure of the misconduct, voluntarily making employees available for interviews, making voluntary document disclosures, conducting a worldwide risk assessment, and making multiple presentations to the Department on the status and findings of the internal investigation and the risk assessment.  In addition, RLC has engaged in early and extensive remediation, including conducting extensive FCPA training for employees worldwide, enhancing the company’s existing FCPA policy, implementing an enhanced gift policy and other enhanced compliance, control and anti-corruption policies and procedures, enhancing its due diligence protocol for third-party agents, terminating culpable employees and a third-party agent, instituting a whistleblower hotline, and hiring a designated corporate compliance attorney.

In a related matter, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission today announced a non-prosecution agreement with RLC , in which RLC agreed to pay $$734,846 in disgorgement and prejudgment interest.  

The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Daniel S. Kahn of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and Sarah Coyne, Chief of the Business and Securities Fraud Section of the Eastern District of New York.  The case was investigated by the FBI’s New York Field Office.  The department acknowledges and expresses its appreciation for the assistance provided by the SEC’s Division of Enforcement.

Additional information about the Justice Department’s FCPA enforcement efforts can be found at www.justice.gov/criminal/fraud/fcpa.

FRESNO, Calif. — Cinco casos contra cinco hombres involucrados en operaciones separadas de cultivo de marihuana en los Condados de Fresno, Tulare y Kern se resolvieron hoy en el tribunal federal, anunció el Fiscal de los EE.UU Benjamin B. Wagner.

Fuerzas Especiales Antidroga contra el Crimen Organizado. Caso

(No. 1:11CR93 LJO)

El Juez de Distrito de los EE.UU, Lawrence J. O’Neill. sentenció a Diocelina Bustos Abarca, 40, de Bakersfield, a cinco años y nueve meses de prisión por varios delitos ambientales y de cultivo de marihuana. Le ordenó pagar $25, 941 en restitución al Servicio Forestal de los EE.UU. por el daño causado por las operaciones de cultivo de marihuana.

Abarca llamó la atención de las autoridades durante una investigación hecha a Miguel Gómez-Gómez, 27, de Dinuba, quien estaba implicado en una operación masiva de cultivo de marihuana en terrenos públicos en los Condados de Fresno y Madera. Gómez-Gómez y cinco de sus socios fueron posteriormente acusados y condenados en un tribunal federal en Fresno, recibiendo sentencias de hasta 11 años en prisión. Cuando termine su condena en prisión, Abarca serà deportada a México.

Abarca se declaró culpable al comienzo de este año, admitiendo su participación en una conspiración a largo plazo para cultivar, distribuir y poseer con la intención de distribuir marihuana. Ella reconoció su participación en la operación de cultivo de marihuana de Gómez-Gómez, que produjo al menos 49,206 plantas de marihuana, así como otra operación en el Condado de Tulare, que produjo al menos 8, 847 plantas de marihuana. Ambas operaciones utilizaron terrenos públicos en el Bosque Nacional Sequoia y causó daños importantes a la tierra y a los recursos naturales.

Este caso fue el producto de una investigación hecha por la Administración de Control de Drogas de los EE.UU. (DEA), el Servicio de Inmigración y Control de Aduanas (ICE), la Oficina de  Investigaciones del Departamento de Seguridad Nacional (HSI), bajo el programa de Fuerzas Especiales Antidroga contra el Crimen Organizado (OCDETF). El programa OCDETF es la pieza central de la estrategia contra las drogas del Fiscal General de los Estados Unidos para reducir la disponibilidad de drogas, interrumpiendo y desmantelando organizaciones importantes de tràfico de drogas y organizaciones de blanqueo de dinero. El Servicio Forestal de los EE.UU., el Equipo Contra el Tràfico de Drogas en el Área de Gran Intensidad en la Parte Sur de los Tres Condados, la Oficina del Alguacil del Condado de Santa Ana, la Oficina del Alguacil del Condado de Kern, y el Departamento de Policía de Bakersfield también colaboraron en la investigación. Otras seis personas fueron acusadas y condenadas en un tribunal federal por varios delitos de drogas e inmigración como resultado de esta investigación de la OCDETF.

Cultivo en un Almacén de Bakerfield (No. 1:10CR379 AWI)

En otro caso en el Condado de Kern, Mark McGrath, 51, de Florida, fue sentenciado a dos años y dos meses de prisión, seguidos de cinco años de libertad vigilada, por conspirar para cultivar, distribuir y poseer con la intención de distribuir 1,161 plantas de marihuana encontradas en un almacén en un àrea industrial de Bakersfield. También se le ordenó registrarse como delincuente de drogas y entregar equipo de cultivo avaluados en miles de dólares.

Según los documentos del tribunal, McGrath había sido reclutado desde Florida para ayudar a organizar una operación de cultivo de marihuana con fines de lucro. Las plantas de marihuana se valoraron en màs de $ 4 millones. Ademàs de las plantas, los agentes de drogas incautaron aproximadamente 54.8 libras de marihuana procesada por un valor de aproximadamente $219,200.

Este caso fue el producto de una investigación llevada a cabo por la DEA, el Departamento de Policía de Bakersfield, y la Oficina del Alguacil del Condado de Kern.

Cultivo en un Rancho del Condado de Kern (No. 1:12CR299 LJO)

Salvador Gallegos Jr., 22, de Bakersfield, fue sentenciado a 18 meses en prisión por conspirar para cultivar, distribuir y poseer con la intención de distribuir, 920 plantas de marihuana cultivadas sin permiso del propietario del terreno de un rancho privado en un àrea rural del Condado de Kern. En el lugar de cultivo, los agentes antidrogas también incautaron un par de libras de marihuana procesada y un rifle de asalto cargado con 24 balas. De acuerdo con su declaración de culpable al principio de este año, Gallegos fue reclutado para ayudar con el trabajo en el cultivo y fue traído al rancho el día antes por hombres no identificados.

Este caso fue el producto de una investigación llevada a cabo por la DEA, la HSI, el Servicio Forestal de los EE.UU., y la Oficina del Alguacil del Condado de Kern bajo la Operación Mercury, una operación de ejecución y erradicación en seis condados iniciada el año pasado en el Valle Central para contrarrestar la proliferación de operaciones de cultivo de marihuana a gran escala en terreno agrícola. Hasta la fecha, la Operación Mercury ha tenido como resultado el procesamiento penal de 83 acusados federales y la incautación de 482, 479 plantas de marihuana, 4,714 libras de marihuana procesada, 82 armas, y $113,783 en efectivo.

Cultivo Agrícola de Alpaugh (No. 1:12CR234 LJO)

En otro caso de la Operación Mercury, Antonio Becerra Sànchez, también conocido como Antonio Íñiguez Becerra, 49, de Morgan Hill, se declaró culpable de conspirar para cultivar, distribuir y poseer con la intención de distribuir marihuana. Según los registros del tribunal, se encontró a Becerra cultivando marihuana en una parcela de 20 acres de terreno agrícola en la pequeña comunidad agrícola de Alpaugh en el Condado de Tulare. Agentes del orden público incautaron màs de 4,000 plantas de marihuana en una propiedad de Saúl Morales de 47 años, ocupada por él mismo, su esposa Juliana García Torres de 53 años y su hijo Gerardo Alfonso Morales de 20 años, quienes también son acusados pero han presentado una declaración de no culpables de varios delitos de tràfico de marihuana. Las acusaciones hechas a Morales, su esposa e hijo son solamente alegatos y los acusados son considerados inocentes hasta que y a menos que se pruebe su culpabilidad fuera de toda duda razonable.

La sentencia de Becerra està programada para el 8 de julio de 2013. Le espera una pena mínima obligatoria de 5 años en prisión y un màximo de 40 años en prisión y una multa de $ 5 millones. La sentencia real, sin embargo, se determinarà a discreción del tribunal después de considerar cualquier factor aplicable legislativo de sentencia y las Normas Federales de Sentencia. Después de terminar su sentencia en prisión, Becerra estarà sujeto a la deportación a México.

Este caso es producto de una investigación llevada a cabo por la DEA, la HSI, la Agencia de Control de Alcohol, Tabaco y Armas de Fuego (ATF), y la Oficina del Alguacil del Condado de Tulare.

Cultivo Agrícola en el Condado de Fresno (No. 1:11CR357 AWI)

Shavane Bouasangouane, 44, de Fresno, se declaró culpable hoy de mantener una operación de cultivo de marihuana en un terreno agrícola en Armstrong Avenue, Fresno, donde residía.

Según documentos del tribunal, Bouasangouane estaba involucrado en el cultivo y procesamiento de màs de 800 libras de marihuana que pertenecían a él y a su hermano, Reney Bouasangouane, 48, quien es también acusado en el caso y ha presentado un alegato de no culpable.  Se supone que Reney Bouasangouane es inocente hasta que y a menos que se demuestre su culpabilidad fuera de toda duda razonable.

De acuerdo con el alegato de Shavane Bouasangouane, la marihuana era supuestamente para su propio uso médico. Sin embargo, no se encontraron en su residencia ni papeles para hacer cigarrillos, ni accesorios de fumador ni otros artículos usados para ingerir marihuana. La propiedad pertenece a Somluck y Damrong Pattanumotana, un médico de Fresno. Su hijo, Goon Pattanumotana, profesor de economía en Willow International en Fresno, es el dueño de otra propiedad en Sanger, donde agentes de policía han encontrado múltiples operaciones de cultivo de marihuana en gran escala en el pasado. Las propiedades de Sanger y Armstrong son el tema de acciones civiles de ejecución pendientes iniciadas por la Oficina del Fiscal General de los EE.UU. en Fresno y estàn siendo gestionadas por los Fiscales Adjuntos de los EE.UU. Kevin Khasigian y Alyson Berg.

La sentencia de Bouasangouane està programada para el 1 de julio de 2013, y contempla un tiempo màximo de prisión de 20 años y una multa de hasta $500,000. La sentencia real, sin embargo, se determinarà a discreción del tribunal después de considerar cualquier factor aplicable legislativo de sentencia y las Normas Federales de Sentencia.

Este caso es producto de una investigación llevada a cabo por la DEA, y la Oficina del Alguacil del Condado de Fresno.

El Fiscal Adjunto de los EE.UU. Karen A. Escobar està procesando todos los casos penales.

A former owner of a Los Angeles-area medical equipment supply company pleaded guilty today to conspiring with others to defraud Medicare, announced Acting Assistant Attorney General Mythili Raman of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; U.S. Attorney André Birotte Jr. of the Central District of California; Glenn R. Ferry, Special Agent in Charge for the Los Angeles Region of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG); and Bill L. Lewis, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office.

Tigran Aklyan, 37, of Van Nuys, Calif., pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Michael W. Fitzgerald in the Central District of California to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud.

According to court documents, Aklyan was the owner and president of Las Tunas Medical Equipment Inc., a durable medical equipment (DME) supply company located in San Gabriel, Calif.  Aklyan admitted that from approximately October 2007 through May 2009, he conspired with others to commit health care fraud through the operation of Las Tunas by providing medically unnecessary power wheelchairs and other DME to Medicare beneficiaries and submitting false and fraudulent claims to Medicare.  Aklyan admitted that he paid the owners and operators of fraudulent medical clinics to provide him with prescriptions and supporting medical documentation for the power wheelchairs and DME that he billed to Medicare.  Aklyan admitted knowing that the prescriptions and medical documents that the clinics produced were fraudulent, yet he certified to Medicare with the submission of each claim that the DME was medically necessary.  Aklyan also admitted that he knew it was illegal for him to pay for prescriptions, but he did so anyway.

From approximately Dec. 17, 2007, through Feb. 20, 2009, Aklyan, through Las Tunas, submitted approximately $910,377 in fraudulent claims to Medicare for power wheelchairs and related services, and Medicare paid Las Tunas approximately $653,461 on those claims. 

At sentencing, scheduled for Aug. 5, 2013, Aklyan faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

This case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorneys David M. Maria and Blanca Quintero of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section. 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 Central District of California.

Since its inception in March 2007, the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, now operating in nine cities across the country, has charged more than 1,480 defendants who have collectively billed the Medicare program for more than $4.8 billion. In addition, HHS’s Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, working in conjunction with 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.

Lina Rodriguez, 34, was sentenced today in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida to serve 72 months in prison, followed by 24 months of supervised release, for operating and facilitating the operation of an Internet-pharmacy business that illegally shipped over $1.5 million of pharmaceuticals since July 2007 to U.S. and overseas purchasers.

According to the Dec. 6, 2012, indictment, Rodriguez owned an Internet-pharmacy business used to advertise, sell and distribute a wide variety of controlled substances and prescription drugs in the United States and abroad. Since May 2009, her co-defendant, Michael P. Jackson, of Carmi, Ill., supplied Rodriguez with the prescription drug known as Adderall, which contains amphetamine, a Schedule II controlled substance.

The drugs distributed by Rodriguez’s business included Adderall, Ritalin (containing the controlled substance methylphenidate), Esbelcaps (containing a combination of the controlled substances fenproporex and diazepam ), and other controlled and non-controlled substances.

“This prosecution aims to curb the flow of dangerous drugs into the hands of United States citizens,” said Stuart F. Delery, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division of the U.S. Department of Justice. “The controlled substance drugs allegedly sold by the defendants were not dispensed by U.S. licensed pharmacies, and were not prescribed by any physician.  Along with FDA, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and our other law enforcement partners, we will continue to protect our citizens from unsafe and potentially harmful drugs.”

Rodriguez pled guilty to the lead count of the indictment on Feb. 11, 2012, which charged her and Jackson with conspiring to possess with the intent to distribute Adderall. According to her plea agreement, Rodriguez agreed to forfeit two vehicles and not to oppose a judgment against her in the amount of $36,112, as gross proceeds of the offense to which she pleaded guilty. Jackson awaits sentencing on June 3, 2013.

The case was investigated by the Miami Field Office of the U.S. Food & Drug Administration’s Office of Criminal Investigations; the Miami Division of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service; and the Sacramento Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin J. Larsen of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida, and Perham Gorji, Trial Attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice’s Consumer Protection Branch.

WASHINGTON -- The Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will issue today a new nationwide policy for unrepresented immigration detainees with serious mental disorders or conditions that may render them mentally incompetent to represent themselves in immigration proceedings.

The policy entails implementation of new procedural protections, including: conducting screening for serious mental disorders or conditions when individuals held for removal proceedings enter a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Health Service Corps (IHSC)-staffed immigration detention facility; working with non-IHSC-staffed immigration detention facilities to identify detainees with serious mental disorders or conditions in those facilities; the availability of competency hearings and independent psychiatric or psychological examinations; procedures that will make available qualified representatives to detainees who are deemed mentally incompetent to represent themselves in immigration proceedings; and bond hearings for detainees who were identified as having a serious mental disorder or condition that may render them mentally incompetent to represent themselves and have been held in immigration detention for at least six months.

If verifiable documentation, medical records or other forms of evidence provide indication of mental incompetency, Immigration Judges will convene a competency hearing to determine whether the detainee is competent to represent himself or herself in immigration proceedings. When an Immigration Judge is unable to make a determination of mental competency based upon evidence already presented, the Immigration Judge will be authorized to order an independent examination and psychiatric or psychological report. The competency examinations will be administered through a program run by the DOJ Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) and performed by an independent medical professional.

EOIR will make available a qualified representative to unrepresented detainees who are deemed mentally incompetent to represent themselves in immigration proceedings. Additionally, detainees who were identified as having a serious mental disorder or condition that may render them mentally incompetent to represent themselves and who have been held in immigration detention for at least six months will also be afforded a bond hearing.

DOJ and DHS believe these new procedures will provide enhanced protections to unrepresented immigration detainees with serious mental disorders or conditions that may render them mentally incompetent to represent themselves in immigration proceedings, and will facilitate the conduct of those proceedings. The Government expects these new procedures to be fully operational on a national basis by the end of 2013.

The Department of Justice, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the United States Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Wisconsin announced a Clean Air Act (CAA) settlement with Wisconsin Power and Light Company (WPL) that will significantly reduce air pollution from three coal-fired power plants located near Portage, Sheboygan, and Cassville, Wis. 

WPL operates the plants that are covered by the settlement, and the other defendants, Wisconsin Public Service Corporation (WPSC), Madison Gas and Electric Company, and Wisconsin Electric Power Company, are co- and former owners of the units.  WPL and its co-defendants agreed to invest more than $1 billion in pollution control technology, spend a total of $8.5 million on environmental mitigation projects, and pay a civil penalty of $2.45 million to resolve alleged violations of the CAA.

“This settlement will improve air quality in Wisconsin and downwind areas by significantly reducing releases of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide and other harmful pollutants,” said Ignacia S. Moreno, Assistant Attorney General for the Environment and Natural Resources Division of the Department of Justice. “This agreement also demonstrates the Justice Department’s commitment to enforcing the New Source Review provisions of the Clean Air Act, which help ensure clean air for those communities affected by large sources of air pollution.”

“EPA is committed to protecting communities by reducing air pollution from the largest sources of emissions,” said Cynthia Giles, assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance. “The pollution reductions and the significant investment in local environmental projects required under this agreement will ensure that the people of Wisconsin and neighboring states have cleaner, healthier air.”

 “One of the many things that makes Wisconsin special is our clean air,” said John W. Vaudreuil, United States Attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin. “With this settlement, the facilities’ owners are held accountable and required to mitigate the harm caused by their unlawful pollution of Wisconsin’s air. Cleaner air protects the health of our citizens, our forests, crops, and water, and all of us who treasure Wisconsin’s clean environment. The United States Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Wisconsin is committed to taking a leadership role in protecting the environment in Wisconsin.” 

Under the settlement, the defendants must install new pollution control technology on the three largest units, continuously operate the new and existing pollution controls, and comply with stringent pollutant emission rates and annual tonnage limitations. The settlement also requires WPL and WPSC to permanently retire, refuel or repower four additional coal-fired units at the Edgewater and Nelson Dewey plants. The actions taken to comply with this settlement will result in annual reductions of sulfur dioxide (SO2), oxides of nitrogen (NOx) and particulate matter (PM) of approximately 54,000 tons from 2011 levels. This settlement covers all seven coal-fired boilers at the Columbia, Edgewater, and Nelson Dewey power plants.

The settlement also requires the defendants to spend $8.5 million on projects that will benefit the environment and human health in communities located near the facilities, including $260,500 to the U.S. Forest Service and $260,500 to the National Park Service, to be used on projects to address the damage done from the emissions. The remaining $7.479 million will be spent on a combination projects, including up to $2.1 million on land acquisition and restoration; up to $5 million on a long term major solar photovoltaic (PV) power purchase agreement or a solar PV panels installation project; and up to $2 million on renewable energy resource enhancements for existing wind farms and hydroelectric facilities.  

Reducing air pollution from the largest sources of emissions, including coal-fired power plants, is one of EPA’s National Enforcement Initiatives for 2011-2013. SO2 and NOx, two key pollutants emitted from power plants, have numerous adverse effects on human health and are significant contributors to acid rain, smog and haze. These pollutants are converted in the air to fine particles of particulate matter that can cause severe respiratory and cardiovascular impacts, and premature death. Reducing these harmful air pollutants will benefit the communities located near the facilities, particularly communities disproportionately impacted by environmental risks and vulnerable populations, including children. Because air pollution from power plants can travel significant distances downwind, this settlement will also reduce air pollution outside the immediate region.

This is the 26th judicial settlement secured by the Justice Department and EPA as part of a national enforcement initiative to control harmful emissions from power plants under the CAA’s New Source Review requirements. The total combined sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides emission reductions secured from these settlements will exceed 2 million tons each year once all the required pollution controls have been installed and implemented.

Sierra Club is co-plaintiff to the settlement. 

The settlement was lodged with the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin, and is subject to a 30-day public comment period and final court approval. A copy of the consent decree lodged today is available on the Department of Justice website at www.justice.gov/enrd/Consent_Decrees.html

More information about the settlement:  www.epa.gov/enforcement/air/cases/wisconsinpower.html

More information about EPA’s enforcement initiative: www.epa.gov/compliance/data/planning/initiatives/2011airpollution.html

BALTIMORE --Immigration Judge Lisa Dornell from the Executive Office for Immigration Review, Baltimore Immigration Court, delivered the keynote speech and administered the oath of allegiance to approximately 75 candidates during a naturalization ceremony at the George H. Fallon Federal Building in Baltimore, Md., on April 19, 2012. The Baltimore District Office of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Department of Homeland Security, hosted the ceremony.

Biographical Information

Attorney General Janet Reno appointed Judge Dornell in April 1995. Judge Dornell received a bachelor of arts degree in 1983 from the University of Vermont and a juris doctorate in 1986 from the University of Texas at Austin School of Law. From 1990 to 1995, Judge Dornell served as senior litigation counsel, Office of Immigration Litigation, Civil Division, Department of Justice. From 1986 to 1990, she served as a trial attorney for the former Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), New York district office, and as an assistant general counsel, INS Headquarters, Washington, D.C. Judge Dornell lectures on immigration topics and court procedure at several local law schools. She is a member of the District of Columbia and State of Texas Bars.

- EOIR -

The Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) is an agency within the Department of Justice. Under delegated authority from the Attorney General, immigration judges and the Board of Immigration Appeals interpret and adjudicate immigration cases according to United States immigration laws. EOIR’s immigration judges conduct administrative court proceedings in immigration courts located throughout the nation. They determine whether foreign-born individuals—whom the Department of Homeland Security charges with violating immigration law—should be ordered removed from the United States or should be granted relief from removal and be permitted to remain in this country. The Board of Immigration Appeals primarily reviews appeals of decisions by immigration judges. EOIR’s Office of the Chief Administrative Hearing Officer adjudicates immigration-related employment cases. EOIR is committed to ensuring fairness in all of the cases it adjudicates.

Anthony Staino, 55, of Swedesboro, N.J., pleaded guilty yesterday to participating in a racketeering conspiracy as a capo in the Philadelphia La Cosa Nostra (LCN) Family and committing loan sharking and illegal gambling.

Acting Assistant Attorney General Mythili Raman of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Zane David Memeger of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and Edward J. Hanko, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Philadelphia Division, made the announcement after the plea was accepted by U.S. District Judge Eduardo C. Robreno of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

Staino pleaded guilty to conspiring to conduct and participate in the affairs of the Philadelphia LCN Family through a pattern of racketeering activity.  He faces a maximum penalty of 70 years in prison when he is sentenced on Jul. 17, 2013.

Through court documents and statements yesterday in court, Staino admitted that, as a made member and capo of the Philadelphia LCN Family, he gave a usurious loan to an undercover FBI agent and used threats of violence to collect payments on the loan.  Staino also admitted that he ran an illegal electronic gambling device business for the mob, providing video poker machines and other gambling devices for bars, restaurants, convenience stores, coffee shops and other locations in Philadelphia and its suburbs, and then collected the illegal gambling proceeds.

The case is being investigated by the FBI, the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation, the Pennsylvania State Police, the New Jersey State Police, the Philadelphia Police Department, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Inspector General Office of Labor Racketeering and Fraud Investigations and the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration.  Additional assistance was provided by the New Jersey Department of Corrections.

The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney John S. Han of the Criminal Division’s Organized Crime and Gang Section and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Frank A. Labor III and Suzanne B. Ercole of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.  Valuable prosecutorial assistance was provided by the Pennsylvania Office of the Attorney General.

WASHINGTON – The Department of Justice announced today that it has reached a settlement with Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV (ABI) and Grupo Modelo S.A.B. de C.V. that requires the companies to divest Modelo’s entire U.S. business – including licenses of Modelo brand beers, its most advanced brewery, Piedras Negras, its interest in Crown Imports LLC and other assets – to Constellation Brands Inc., in order to go forward with their merger. The department said the proposed settlement will maintain competition in the beer industry nationwide, benefitting consumers.

 
Today’s proposed settlement was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. If approved by the court, the settlement will resolve the department’s competitive concerns.

 
On Jan. 31, 2013, the department filed an antitrust lawsuit against ABI and Modelo alleging that ABI’s $20.1 billion acquisition of the remaining interest in Modelo that ABI did not already own, as originally proposed, would substantially lessen competition in the market for beer in the United States as a whole and in at least 26 metropolitan areas across the United States. The department alleged that the transaction would result in consumers paying more for beer and would limit innovation in the beer market.

“Before the merger, there were two competitors – Modelo and ABI – and ABI owned a substantial stake in Modelo. The companies’ proposed merger would have reduced those two competitors to one – ABI.  The proposed settlement announced today will create an independent, fully integrated and economically viable competitor to ABI. This is a win for the $80 billion U.S. beer market and consumers,” said Bill Baer, Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division. “If this settlement makes just a one percent difference in prices, U.S. consumers will save almost $1 billion a year.”

 
The settlement requires ABI and Modelo to divest Modelo’s entire U.S. business to Constellation or to an alternative purchaser if for some reason the transaction with Constellation cannot be completed. Specifically, the settlement requires ABI and Modelo to divest: the Piedras Negras brewery, Modelo’s newest, most technologically advanced brewery; perpetual and exclusive licenses of the Modelo brand beers for distribution and sale in the United States; Modelo’s current interest in Crown – the joint venture established by Modelo and Constellation to import, market and sell certain Modelo beers into the United States; and other assets, rights and interests necessary to ensure that Constellation is able to compete in the U.S. beer market using the Modelo brand beers, independent of a relationship to ABI and Modelo.

The licensed brands include all seven brands that Modelo currently offers (through its distributor, Crown) in the United States – Corona Extra, Corona Light, Modelo Especial, Negra Modelo, Modelo Light, Pacifico and Victoria – as well as three brands not yet offered in the United States, but currently sold by Modelo in Mexico – Pacifico Light, Barrilito and León. The licenses include rights that will give Constellation the ability to adapt to changing market conditions in the United States.

Constellation has committed to expand the capacity of Piedras Negras in order to meet current and future demand for the Modelo brands in the United States, and that commitment is a condition of the proposed settlement. The settlement also sets milestones for the expansion of the Piedras Negras brewery. In order to enable Constellation to compete in the United States during the time it takes to expand the Piedras Negras brewery’s capacity to brew and bottle beer, the settlement requires ABI to enter into interim supply and transition services agreements with Constellation. These agreements are time-limited to ensure that Constellation will become a fully independent competitor to ABI as soon as practicable.

ABI and Modelo originally proposed selling Modelo’s stake in Crown to Constellation and entering into a 10-year supply agreement to provide Modelo beer to Constellation to import into the United States. The department rejected that purported fix because it would have eliminated the Modelo brands as an independent competitive force in the United States beer market. Unlike the companies’ original proposal, which left Constellation with no brewing assets and beholden to ABI for the supply of beer, the proposed settlement ensures that Constellation, or an alternative purchaser, will have independent brewing assets and the ownership of the Modelo beer brands for sale in the United States in perpetuity. As a result, Constellation will fully replace Modelo as a competitor in the United States.

ABI is a corporation organized and existing under the laws of Belgium, with headquarters in Leuven, Belgium. ABI brews and markets more beer sold in the United States than any other firm, with a 39 percent market share nationally. ABI owns and operates 125 breweries worldwide, including 12 in the United States. It owns more than 200 different beer brands, including Bud Light – the best-selling brand in the United States – and other popular brands such as Budweiser, Busch, Michelob, Natural Light, Stella Artois, Goose Island and Beck’s.

Modelo is a corporation organized and existing under the laws of Mexico, with headquarters in Mexico City. Modelo is the third-largest brewer of beer sold in the United States, with a seven percent market share nationally. Modelo owns Corona Extra–the top-selling beer imported into the United States. Its other popular brands sold in the United States include Corona Light, Modelo Especial, Negra Modelo, Victoria and Pacifico. Crown imports, markets and sells Modelo’s brands into the United States. ABI currently holds a 35.3 percent direct interest in Modelo and a 23.3 percent direct interest in Modelo’s operating subsidiary Diblo.

Constellation, headquartered in Victor, N.Y, is a beer, wine and spirits company with a portfolio of more than 100 products, including Robert Mondavi, Clos du Bois, Ruffino and SVEDKA Vodka. It produces wine and distilled spirits, with more than 40 facilities worldwide.

 
The proposed settlement, along with the department's competitive impact statement, will be published in the Federal Register, consistent with the requirements of the Antitrust Procedures and Penalties Act. Any person may submit written comments concerning the proposed settlement within 60 days of its publication to James Tierney, Chief, Networks and Technology Enforcement Section, Antitrust Division, U.S. Department of Justice, 450 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 7100, Washington, D.C. 20530. The comments will be published in the Federal Register. At the conclusion of the 60-day comment period, the court may enter the final judgment upon a finding that it serves the public interest.

The Justice Department today announced an agreement with the city of Jacksonville, Fla., to improve access for people with disabilities to civic life in Jacksonville. The agreement was reached under Project Civic Access (PCA), the Justice Department’s initiative to ensure that cities, towns and counties throughout the country comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

“Access to your city is a basic civil right, and the doors to government programs, services and activities must be open for people with disabilities,” said Eve L. Hill, Senior Counselor to the Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division. “I commend the city of Jacksonville for its commitment that all people have full access to what the city has to offer.”

PCA ensures that persons with disabilities have an equal opportunity to participate in civic life. As part of the PCA initiative, Justice Department staff, including investigators and architects, survey government facilities, services and programs in communities across the country. The survey identifies modifications needed for compliance with the ADA. The agreements set out steps each community must take to improve access. PCA agreements require physical modifications to facilities to make them accessible to people with disabilities. Elements that need modifications may include parking, routes into buildings, entrances, assembly areas, restrooms, service counters and drinking fountains. Other provisions address effective communication, grievance procedures, polling places, emergency management, sidewalks, domestic violence programs and web-based services.

Jacksonville is one of the largest cities in Florida and, by area, one of the largest in the United States. It operates one of the largest city park systems in the United States. During the compliance review, the Department reviewed 64 of the city’s facilities. The agreement requires the city to correct deficiencies identified at the 64 facilities and requires Jacksonville to review and correct identified deficiencies at hundreds of additional facilities. The agreement will remain in effect for five years. The department will monitor the city’s compliance with the agreement.

People interested in finding out more about the ADA, today’s agreement with the city of Jacksonville, the PCA initiative or the ADA Best Practices Tool Kit for state and local governments can access the ADA webpage at www.ada.gov o r call the toll-free ADA Information Line at (800) 514-0301 (TDD 800-514-0383).

Related Materials:

Jacksonville PCA Settlement Agreement

The U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced today that CEMEX, Inc., the owner and operator of a Portland cement manufacturing facility in Lyons, Colo., has agreed to operate advanced pollution controls on its kiln and pay a $1 million civil penalty to resolve alleged violations of the Clean Air Act (CAA). 

“This agreement will mean cleaner air for Colorado residents downwind of the CEMEX facility and will contribute to improved air quality in the Rocky Mountain National Park, which is one of our nation’s most cherished public spaces,” said Ignacia S. Moreno, Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division. “The settlement is part of the Justice Department’s continuing efforts, along with the EPA, to bring significant sources of air pollution within the cement manufacturing sector into compliance with the Clean Air Act.”

“Today’s settlement will reduce harmful emissions of nitrogen oxides, which can have serious impacts on respiratory health for communities along Colorado’s Front Range,” said Cynthia Giles, Assistant Administrator for EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance.  “Cutting these emissions will also help improve environmental quality and visibility in places like Rocky Mountain National Park.”

The Department of Justice , on behalf of EPA, filed a complaint against CEMEX alleging that between 1997—2000, the company unlawfully made modifications at its Lyons plant that resulted in significant net increases of nitrogen oxide (NOx) and particulate matter (PM) emissions. The complaint further alleges that these increased emissions violated the CAA’s Prevention of Significant Deterioration and Non-Attainment New Source Review requirements, which state that companies must obtain the necessary permits prior to making modifications at a facility and install and operate required pollution control equipment if modifications will result in increases of certain pollutants.

As part of the settlement, CEMEX will install “Selective Non-Catalytic Reduction” (SNCR) technology at their Lyons facility, which is an advanced pollution control technology designed to reduce NOx emissions. This will reduce their NOx emissions by approximately 870 to 1,200 tons of NOx per year.  The initial capital cost for installing SNCR is approximately $600,000 and the cost of injecting ammonia into the stack emissions stream, a necessary part of the process, is anticipated to be about $1.5 million per year.

The settlement is part of EPA’s national enforcement initiative to control harmful air pollution from the largest sources of emissions, including Portland cement manufacturing facilities.

NOx emissions may cause severe respiratory problems and contribute to childhood asthma.  These emissions also contribute to acid rain, smog, and haze which impair visibility in national parks. CEMEX’s facility is located within 20 miles of Rocky Mountain National Park, and its emissions may contribute to visibility impairment and to the nitrogen pollution problem that is affecting the park’s vegetation, water quality, and trout populations. Air pollution from Portland cement manufacturing facilities can also travel significant distances downwind, crossing state lines and creating region-wide health problems.

The proposed consent decree will be lodged with the Federal District Court for the District of Colorado, and will be subject to a 30-day public comment period.  A copy of the consent decree lodged today is available on the Department of Justice website at http://www.usdoj.gov/enrd/open.html.

More information about the settlement:  www.epa.gov/enforcement/air/cases/cemex-lyons.html

More information about EPA’s national enforcement initiative: http://www.epa.gov/compliance/data/planning/initiatives/2011airpollution.html

Christopher Cain, 19, and Dorian Moragne, 20, both of Atlanta, pleaded guilty today in federal court to beating a man because of his sexual orientation.

According to information presented in court, Cain, Moragne and a juvenile, all associated with the Jack City street gang, targeted a 20-year-old gay man on Feb. 4, 2012, as the man left a grocery store in Atlanta’s Pittsburgh neighborhood. Cain punched the victim in the head and pushed him to the ground. Cain, Moragne and the juvenile surrounded the victim and repeatedly punched and kicked him while the group yelled anti-gay epithets, including “No f****** in Jack City.” Moragne then picked up a tire and struck the victim with it. The group also stole the victim’s cell phone. A fourth person, also with the defendants, recorded the assault using a cell phone. The video footage was posted to the internet.

“Hate-fueled violence will not be condoned,” said Roy L. Austin Jr., Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division. “The Justice Department will use all the tools in our law enforcement arsenal to investigate and prosecute hate crimes.”

“Using violence against another person because of his or her sexual orientation has no place in our civilized society. The Department of Justice is committed to aggressively enforcing the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act to prosecute acts motivated by hate,” said U.S. Attorney Sally Quillian Yates.

Cain and Moragne admitted to violating the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, which expanded federal jurisdiction to include certain assaults motivated by the victim’s sexual orientation. The federal hate crimes law criminalizes certain acts of violence motivated by a victim’s actual or perceived race, color, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, disability, gender or gender identity. This case is the first in Georgia to charge a violation of the sexual orientation provision of this federal hate crimes law.

Last year, Cain, Moragne and the juvenile, who was considered an adult under Georgia law, were prosecuted in Fulton County, Ga., Superior Court for offenses that did not include a hate crime.  In state court, Cain and Moragne were sentenced to a term of 10 years in prison, suspended upon the service of five years.  As part of their plea agreement, federal prosecutors recommended that their federal and state sentences run concurrently.

This case is being investigated by special agents of the FBI and investigators with the Atlanta Police Department. The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Nicole Lee Ndumele of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney Brent Alan Gray.

Three owners and operators of a Tennessee salvage and demolition company, A&E Salvage, Inc., pleaded guilty today in federal court in Greeneville, Tenn., for conspiring to violate the Clean Air Act.

Newell (a.k.a., “Nick”) Smith, Armida Di Santi, and Milto Di Santi pleaded guilty before U.S. District Court Judge Greer for the Eastern District of Tennessee to one criminal felony count for conspiring to violate the Clean Air Act’s “work practice standards” salient to the proper wetting, stripping, bagging, and disposal of asbestos. According to the charges, Smith and the Di Santis, along with other co-conspirators, engaged in a multi-year scheme in which substantial amounts of regulated asbestos containing materials were improperly removed from components of the former Liberty Fibers Plant or were illegally left in place during demolition.

Smith and the Di Santis face up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss to the victims.  

Asbestos has been determined to cause lung cancer, asbestosis and mesothelioma, an invariably fatal disease.  The Environmental Protection Agency has determined that there is no safe level of exposure to asbestos. 

This case was investigated by Special Agents of the Environmental Protection Agency. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew T. Morris of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Tennessee and Trial Attorney Todd W. Gleason of the Environmental Crimes Section of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division. 

Hugh Marion Willett, the owner of two Texas-based durable medical equipment companies, was sentenced today to 41 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, and ordered to pay $182,450 in restitution, announced Acting Assistant Attorney General Mythili Raman of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division.  
 
Willett, 69, of Fort Worth, Texas, was found guilty in January by U.S. District Judge Jane J. Boyle in the Northern District of Texas on all seven counts of a June 2012 second superseding indictment: one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and six counts of health care fraud stemming from a durable medical equipment (DME) fraud scheme.  His wife, Jean Willett, previously pleaded guilty to the same charges and was sentenced in September 2012 to 50 months in prison.  
            
The evidence at trial showed that between 2006 and 2010, the Willets co-owned and operated JS&H Orthopedic Supply LLC and Texas Orthotic and Prosthetic Systems Inc., which claimed to provide orthotics and other DME to beneficiaries of Medicare and private insurance benefit programs including Aetna, Blue Cross Blue Shield and CIGNA.  
 
Evidence presented in court proved that both of these companies intentionally submitted claims to Medicare and other insurers for products that were materially different from and more expensive than what was actually provided, and that Hugh Marion Willett was a knowing and willful participant in the fraud.     
 
The case was investigated by the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General and brought as part of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, supervised by the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section. The case was prosecuted by Fraud Section Trial Attorney Ben O’Neil.  
 
Since their inception in March 2007, strike force operations in nine locations have charged more than 1,480 defendants who collectively have falsely billed the Medicare program for more than $4.8 billion.  In addition, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, working in conjunction with the Office of Inspector General for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, are taking steps to increase accountability and decrease the presence of fraudulent providers.

ALICIA A.G. LIMTIACO, United States Attorney for the Districts of Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands, announced today that defendant JESSE CASTRO BABAUTA, age 45, was sentenced by Chief Judge Frances Tydingco-Gatewood in the United States District Court, to seven (7) months imprisonment for the offense of Failure to Register as a Sex Offender. After defendant serves his term of imprisonment, he will be placed on supervised release for ten (10) years and required to perform community service, pay a $1,000 fine, comply with a Sex Offender Treatment Assessment, and submit to a search of his person, residence and belongings, to include any computers and data in his possession.

In 1995, JESSE CASTRO BABAUTA was convicted of three counts of First Degree Criminal Sexual Conduct (As First Degree Felonies) in the Superior Court of Guam. As a result of these convictions, he is required under federal and local law to register with the Guam Sex Offender Registry at the Superior Court of Guam every 90 days for his entire life. Defendant BABAUTA failed to register or update his information with the Guam Sex Offender Registry between the dates of August 2011 through October 2012. As a result of failing to register, he was considered non-compliant and his name and photograph were published on the Guam Sex Offender Registry at www.guamcourts.org/sor/. He was non-compliant until federal Marshals with the United States Marshals Service (USMS) arrested him for the instant offense.

U.S. Attorney Limtiaco states, “The purpose of the Guam Sex Offender Registry is to provide important notice to island residents that sex offenders are living, working and attending schools in our community. The Sex Offender Registry is a nationwide network that exists to increase public safety and community awareness. Defendants who have committed sexually violent offenses, criminal sex conduct offenses, or criminal offenses involving minor victims must all register and maintain their registrations with the Guam Sex Offender Registry. Defendants who refuse to register or update their information will face federal punishment. The United States Attorney’s Office is committed to the aggressive prosecution of non-complaint sex offenders.”

U.S. Attorney Limtiaco noted that this prosecution is part of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Project Safe Childhood (PSC) Initiative, a nationwide commitment to aggressively prosecute crimes against children, to include defendants who produce, receive and distribute child pornography, as well as defendants who fail to register with the Sex Offender Registry.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Rosetta San Nicolas prosecuted the case for the United States. U.S. Attorney Limtiaco commends the investigative efforts of Sr. Inspector John Untalan of the United States Marshals Service as well as Sr. Probation Officer Ruben Payumo with the Superior Court of Guam.

Jason Glenn Thomas, 34, a former sergeant with the city of Tuscaloosa, Ala., Police Department, pleaded guilty today to a criminal civil rights charge for using his authority as a law enforcement officer to sexually assault a woman.

According to court documents filed in connection with his guilty plea, Thomas admitted that while on duty shortly after midnight on March 27, 2011, he stopped and detained a female pedestrian without placing her under arrest. Thomas then transported the woman in his department issued patrol vehicle to a remote area and sexually assaulted her.

“This former officer did the unimaginable when he used his police powers to sexually assault this victim,” said Roy L. Austin, Jr., Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division. “The Justice Department will continue to vigorously prosecute those who abuse their position and authority to harm those individuals whom they have sworn to protect.”

“Most police officers work diligently every day to protect the citizens,” said U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Alabama Joyce White Vance. “A community must be able to trust its police officers.  My office is committed to prosecuting any officers who abuse the authority of the badge to commit a crime.  This abuse of the public’s trust will not be permitted.”

“Mr. Thomas dishonored his badge and his fellow officers when he violated the civil rights of a female pedestrian while on duty, in uniform and in a marked patrol car,” said FBI Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Birmingham, Ala., Field Office Richard D. Schwein Jr. “Citizens have a right and should expect ethical and proper treatment from all law enforcement officers and we, as civil servants, must never forget that we have sworn an oath to serve and protect them. The public can be assured the FBI will continue to aggressively pursue those rogue officers who violate that trust.”

Thomas faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a fine of $250,000. Sentencing is scheduled for July 18, 2013, before U.S. District Judge C. Lynwood Smith.

This case was investigated by the Tuscaloosa resident agency of the FBI’s Birmingham Field Office, and was prosecuted by Trial Attorney D.W. Tunnage of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney George Martin for the Northern District of Alabama.

A federal grand jury returned an indictment today charging Andrew Blane Fields, 62, of Lutz, Fla., with conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute controlled substances, namely Oxycodone, Dilaudid and Morphine; three counts of sex trafficking by force, fraud and coercion; and two counts of possession with intent to distribute controlled substances. If convicted on all counts, Fields faces a maximum of life in federal prison.

According to allegations in the indictment and criminal complaint, at least as early as 2008 through the end of 2012, Fields engaged in the sex trafficking of three different victims for commercial gain, who are identified in the indictment by their initials. Fields coerced and controlled the victims by, among other methods, supplying them on a daily basis with a large number of highly addictive prescription drugs. During the execution of a federal search warrant, law enforcement recovered thousands of prescription pills from Fields’ residence. Fields was previously charged by criminal complaint on March 20, 2013.

An indictment is merely a formal charge that a defendant has committed a violation of the federal criminal laws, and every defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.

This case was investigated by the Department of Homeland Security – Homeland Security Investigations with the assistance of the Clearwater, Fla., Police Department and members of the Clearwater Area Human Trafficking Task Force. It will be prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Josephine W. Thomas and Trial Attorney William E. Nolan with the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division’s Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit.

The Justice Department announced today that it reached a settlement with Apple Tree Children’s Center of Norwalk, Iowa, to remedy alleged violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The agreement resolves allegations that Apple Tree Children’s Center failed to ensure that children with disabilities, including children with Down syndrome, have a full and equal opportunity to participate in and benefit from its private pre-school programs.

Under the settlement agreement, Apple Tree Children’s Center will pay $2,500 to the child’s parents and will make reasonable modifications in policies, practices and procedures to ensure that its programs and services are accessible to children with disabilities. Apple Tree will also provide training on its obligations under Title III of the ADA to all staff who participate in the admissions process, enrollment decisions and consideration of requests for reasonable modifications of any of its policies, practices or procedures. In addition, Apple Tree will designate a staff member as its ADA compliance officer to ensure its compliance with Title III of the ADA and to review proposed decisions to exclude children with disabilities from enrollment or proposed denials of any requested reasonable modifications.

“Children with disabilities, including those with Down syndrome, have the right to full and equal participation in pre-school educational programs. The department is committed to upholding civil rights for all people with disabilities,” said Eve Hill, Senior Counselor to the Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division.

The ADA requires that public accommodations, including pre-school programs, provide children with disabilities, including those with Down syndrome, full and equal enjoyment of the public accommodation’s goods, services and facilities.

The Department of Justice provides a webpage specifically dedicated to information about the ADA at www.ada.gov.  Those interested in finding out more about these settlements or the obligations of public accommodations under the ADA may call the Justice Department’s toll-free ADA information line at 800-514-0301 or 800-514-0383 (TTY), or access its ADA website at www.ada.gov.  ADA complaints may be filed by email to ada.complaint@usdoj.gov.

The Justice Department announced today that Marcus Manly Magee III, Ina Magee, and their company, M.M. and S. Inc., have agreed to pay $27,000 to settle a lawsuit involving violations of the Fair Housing Act. The lawsuit alleged that the defendants established and implemented an occupancy policy at ­­23 rental properties in Magee, Miss., that differentiated between the maximum number of adults and children who could reside in each home.

Under the consent order, which was approved today by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi, the defendants must pay $20,000 to a family that was harmed by defendants’ discriminatory practices and $7,000 to the United States as a civil penalty. In addition, the order prohibits the defendants from discriminating against families with children in the future, mandates a non-discriminatory occupancy policy of two persons per bedroom, and requires the defendants to receive training on the Fair Housing Act.

“The Fair Housing Act ensures that families cannot be denied housing based on policies that discriminate against children,” said Eric Halperin, Special Counsel for Fair Lending in the Civil Rights Division.  “The Justice Department will continue its vigorous enforcement of fair housing laws that protect the rights of families with children.”

“This settlement ensures that prospective families seeking housing will be treated fairly under the law,” said Gregory K. Davis, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Mississippi. “We will continue to work with the Civil Rights Division to protect the rights of Mississippi citizens through enforcement of the Fair Housing Act.”

The lawsuit, filed in November 2011, arose as a result of a complaint filed with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). After HUD investigated the complaint, it issued a charge of discrimination and the matter was referred to the Justice Department. The lawsuit alleged that the defendants violated the Fair Housing Act by refusing to rent a three-bedroom home to a woman with four children because she had “too many children” under the defendants’ occupancy policy. The suit also alleged that by setting a lower maximum number of children than adults who could reside in each home, the defendants engaged in a pattern or practice of discrimination or denied rights protected by the Fair Housing Act to a group of persons.

“Housing providers have an obligation to ensure that their occupancy standards do not violate a family’s housing rights,” said John Trasviña, HUD Assistant Secretary for Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity. “HUD and the Department of Justice are committed to taking action against anyone who unlawfully denies housing to families because of the number of children in their family.”

The federal Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination in housing on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, familial status, national origin, and disability.  More information about the Civil Rights Division and the laws it enforces is available at www.usdoj.gov/crt.  Individuals who believe that they have been victims of housing discrimination can call the Housing Discrimination Tip Line at 1-800-896-7743, e-mail the Justice Department at fairhousing@usdoj.gov, or contact HUD at 1-800-669-9777.

Related Materials:

Magee Consent Order

The Justice Department announced today the filing of a complaint alleging that the County Employees’ and Officers’ Annuity and Benefit Fund of Cook County and Cook County willfully violated the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 (USERRA) by failing to allow U.S. Army Reserve Member Latoya Hayward to lawfully contribute to her pension for the time she was serving in the armed forces.

According to the complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, in 2008 Hayward began working for John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital, which is owned and operated by Cook County. During her employment with Stroger Hospital, Hayward was mobilized for a two year tour of duty with the Army Reserves starting on July 27, 2009. During Hayward’s period of active service, she served as a nurse case manager at Walter Reed Hospital as part of the Warrior Transition Brigade. As alleged in the complaint, upon Hayward’s return from duty, the County Employees’ and Officers’ Annuity and Benefit Fund of Cook County notified her not only that she was ineligible to make payments into her pension for the 90-day grace period following her active military service, but also that her employee contributions for the two-year period of her active military service would be subject to a 3 percent interest fee. Among the protections provided by USERRA are pension-related provisions that treat a servicemember who is called to active duty as if she has had no break in service for purpose of the administration of pension benefits. According to Hayward’s complaint, both of the County Employees’ and Officers’ Annuity and Benefit Fund of Cook County’s requirements for her participation in her employer’s pension plan violated USERRA’s pension protection provisions.

“Congress enacted USERRA to protect our men and women in uniform from experiencing this kind of injustice,” said Jocelyn Samuels, Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division. “The Justice Department is committed to vigorously enforcing federal laws that protect the employment rights of our service members.”

“Members of the Army Reserves sacrifice time away from their jobs to serve their country,” said Gary S. Shapiro, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois. “USERRA ensures that they are not discriminated against after they have returned and that their employment rights are protected.”

The case stems from a referral by the U.S. Department of Labor following an investigation by the Department of Labor’s Veterans’ Employment and Training Service. This case is being handled by the Civil Rights Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois, who work collaboratively with the Department of Labor to protect the jobs and benefits of National Guard and Reserve service members upon their return to civilian life.

Additional information about USERRA can be found on the Justice Department website: www.servicemembers.gov and www.usdoj.gov/crt/emp , as well as on the Labor Department’s website at www.dol.gov/vets/programs/userra/main.htm .

A federal jury in Detroit today convicted the office manager of a home health agency for her participation in a $5.8 million Medicare fraud scheme, announced Acting Assistant Attorney General Mythili Raman of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan Barbara L. McQuade; Robert D. Foley III, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI 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.

Nabila Mahbub, 27, the office manager of All American Home Care Inc., was found guilty in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan of one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud.

Mahbub was charged in a superseding indictment returned March 27, 2012.  Nineteen other individuals who worked at or were associated with All American were previously convicted for their roles in the fraudulent scheme; one was acquitted at trial, but was convicted at trial for a separate, but related, scheme. 

According to evidence presented at trial, the defendant and her co-conspirators caused the submission of false and fraudulent claims to Medicare through All American, a home health care company located in Oak Park, Mich., that purported to provide skilled nursing and physical therapy services to Medicare beneficiaries in the greater Detroit area.

The evidence at trial showed that the defendant and her co-conspirators used patient recruiters, who paid Medicare beneficiaries to sign blank documents for physical therapy services that were never provided and/or medically unnecessary. The owners of All American paid physicians to sign referrals and other therapy documents necessary to bill Medicare. Physical therapists and physical therapist assistants then created fake medical records using blank, pre-signed forms obtained by the patient recruiters to make it appear as if physical therapy services were actually rendered, when, in fact, they were not.

According to evidence presented at trial, Mahbub doctored and directed the doctoring of fake patient files to facilitate the commencement and billing of home health services purportedly provided by physical therapists and physical therapist assistants working for All American. Mahbub also directed the physical therapists and physical therapist assistants who created fake therapy visit notes using blank, pre-signed forms, to make it appear that physical therapy services billed to Medicare were actually provided.

All American was paid over $5.8 million from Medicare between September 2008 and November 2009.

At sentencing, scheduled for July 25, 2013, Mahbub faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.

This case is being prosecuted by Deputy Chief Gejaa T. Gobena and Trial Attorney Matthew C. Thuesen of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section.  The investigation was led by the FBI and HHS-OIG, and was brought by the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, a joint effort of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Michigan and 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 more than 1,480 defendants who have collectively billed the Medicare program for more than $4.8 billion. In addition, HHS’s Centers for Medicare and 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.

Richard Castle, 46, a resident of the United Kingdom, has been extradited to the United States where he faces charges of coercion of a minor, travelling with intent to engage in illicit sexual contact with a minor, and transferring obscene material to minors. The charges are related to a trip he allegedly made to Ohio from his home in order to have sexual relations with a juvenile in June 2011.

Mythili Raman, Acting Assistant Attorney General of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Carter M. Stewart, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, and William A. Hayes, Acting Special Agent in Charge of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in Ohio and Michigan announced the charges today after Castle appeared before a U.S. Magistrate Judge in Dayton, Ohio, who ordered him held without bond pending trial.

Members of the Metropolitan Police Service’s Extradition Team and International Assistance Unit, housed within New Scotland Yard, arrested Castle at his home in Northampton, England on Jan. 12, 2012 and seized at least one computer.

The three-count indictment alleges that Castle, posing as a male named Richard Joshua Parker, used the internet between March 2009 and June 2011 to coerce a juvenile to engage in illicit sexual activity. He allegedly flew to Dayton in June 2011 to engage in illicit sexual relations with the juvenile and stayed approximately three weeks. The indictment also accuses Castle of transferring obscene materials to a juvenile.

Coercion and enticement of a minor is punishable by at least ten years in prison and up to life. Travel with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct is punishable by up to 30 years and transfer of obscene material to minors is punishable by up to 10 years.

Raman and Stewart acknowledged the cooperative investigation by the Englewood Police Department, Vandalia Police Department and HSI special agents, as well as the invaluable support provided by the Miami Valley Regional Computer Forensics Laboratory, and the Ohio Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, the U.S. Marshals Service, the HSI Attache London Office, and the assistance of the Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs in Castle’s extradition.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Sheila Lafferty with the Southern District of Ohio and Trial Attorney Mi Yung Claire Park with the Department of Justice’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS) are representing the United States in the case.

An indictment is merely an accusation, and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

The Attorney General released the following statement today on the ongoing investigation into the explosions in Boston: 

“I want to express my deepest sympathies to the victims of yesterday’s heinous attack in Boston, to those who suffered injuries, and to those who lost friends and loved ones. All of you will be in my thoughts and prayers.

“As our nation struggles to make sense of this attack, I want to assure the citizens of Boston – and all Americans – that the U.S. Department of Justice, the FBI, and all of our federal, state, and local partners are working tirelessly to determine who was responsible for these unspeakable acts, and to make certain they are held accountable to the fullest extent of the law and by any means available to us. To this end, I have directed that the full resources of the Department be deployed to ensure that this matter is fully investigated. We will continue working closely with the Boston Police Department and the Massachusetts State Police – who have performed superbly – to respond to this tragedy, to maintain a heightened state of security, and to prevent any future attacks from occurring.

“As President Obama stated earlier today, we are treating this event as an act of terror. This morning, I met with the President and my fellow members of his national security team to discuss our continuing response. Although it is not yet clear who executed this attack, whether it was an individual or group, or whether it was carried out with support or involvement from a terrorist organization – either foreign or domestic – we will not rest until the perpetrators are brought to justice. The FBI is spearheading a multi-agency investigation through the Boston Joint Terrorism Task Force. They are devoting extensive personnel and assets to this effort – and have already begun conducting exhaustive interviews, analyzing evidence recovered from the scene, and examining video footage for possible leads. In addition, the ATF is providing bomb technicians, explosives assets, and other substantial investigative support. The DEA and U.S. Marshals Service are providing further assistance. And the Office of Justice Programs will coordinate victim support that the City of Boston and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts may request under the Anti-terrorism Emergency Assistance Program.

“As our active and comprehensive investigation unfolds, these federal assets are coordinating with prosecutors from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts, the Justice Department’s National Security Division, and federal agencies across the government – including members of the Intelligence Community. This matter is still in the early stages, and it’s important that we let the investigation run its full course. I urge members of the public to remain calm, cooperate with law enforcement, and be vigilant. The FBI has set up a tip line – at 1-800-CALL-FBI – for anyone who has information, images, or details relating to yesterday’s explosions along the Boston Marathon route. We are particularly interested in reviewing video footage captured by bystanders with cell phones or personal cameras near either of the blasts. In an investigation of this nature, no detail is too small.

“Finally, I want to recognize and thank all of the brave law enforcement officials, firefighters, National Guardsmen, medical staff, bystanders, and other first responders in Boston yesterday afternoon who heard the explosions, or received reports of casualties, or saw the shattered glass and rising smoke, and rushed to provide assistance to those in need.

“Each of these remarkable women and men placed the safety of others above their own. Their heroic actions undoubtedly saved lives. And their stories of courage and selflessness remind us that – even in our darkest moments – the American people have always displayed an extraordinary capacity for resilience. We will always be strongest when we stand united. And although today our hearts are broken, my colleagues and I are resolved to bring those responsible for this cowardly act to justice. We will be relentless in our pursuit of the individual or group that carried out this attack, while staying true to our most sacred values. And – as our investigation continues, I am confident that our nation will recover, and that we will emerge from this terrible tragedy not only safer, but stronger, than ever before.”

King County, Wash. and the city of Seattle have agreed to invest in major upgrades to local sewage and combined stormwater collection, piping and treatment under settlements with the Department of Justice and the U.S Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The state of Washington was a co-plaintiff and partner in these settlements.

The agreements are the result of extensive federal and state government cooperation and pave the way for employing more “green infrastructure” projects like green roofs, permeable pavements and urban runoff gardens, which help reduce demands on local sewer and stormwater systems.

“Today’s settlement will substantially reduce overflows of sewage-contaminated stormwater into the Puget Sound and other area waterways and significantly benefit the environment and health of residents of King County and Seattle,” said Ignacia S. Moreno, Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division. “The agreement provides a long-term planning approach to managing the area’s stormwater that integrates green infrastructure and requires improvements to system-wide sewer operations and maintenance.”

 “EPA is working with cities and counties to find smart, effective solutions to reduce raw sewage and contaminated stormwater,” said Cynthia Giles, assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance. “Today’s settlements allow Seattle and King County to use innovative solutions, like green infrastructure, to help dramatically improve local water quality.”
 
“We’re pleased with the commitments King County and Seattle make in these legal agreements to reduce and control these overflows off Seattle’s shores,” said Maia Bellon, Washington state Director of Ecology.  “The Consent Decrees allow flexibility in selecting and coordinating clean water projects, while setting firm dates to finish the job.”
 
 Both agreements allow the city and county to use an integrated planning approach, which encourages communities to set their own clean water project priorities and invest in fixing the most pressing problems first. The settlements also require King County and Seattle to develop and implement a joint plan to improve system-wide operations and maintenance, since Seattle conveys the combined sewage it collects to King County’s system for treatment prior to discharge.

KING COUNTY

Under the terms of the county settlement, King County will implement a long-term plan for controlling sewer overflows. By implementing these measures, King County will reduce its raw sewage discharges by approximately 95 to 99 percent, better protecting Puget Sound, Lake Washington and the Duwamish River from sewage-laced overflows. The improvements and upgrades are expected to cost approximately $860 million. In addition, King County will pay a civil penalty of $400,000.

The agreement allows the county to substitute green infrastructure projects, like green roofs, permeable pavements and urban gardens, which help reduce the demands on local sewer and stormwater systems, at four of its sewer overflow control projects. 

Between 2006 and 2010, King County discharged approximately 900 million gallons of raw sewage to waters of the United States on an annual basis through discharges from its combined sewer system. During this time period, the county also violated the effluent limitations of its discharge permit, including fecal coliform at more than one of its wastewater treatment plants, and allowed wastewater to bypass secondary treatment at one of its wastewater treatment plants in violation of its discharge permit and the Clean Water Act.

CITY OF SEATTLE

Under the settlement with the city of Seattle, the city will develop and implement a long-term plan for better controlling sewer overflows and improve system-wide operations and maintenance. The city will also implement plans to control fats, oils and greases, and reduce debris being discharged by the system. In addition, the settlement provides Seattle with the opportunity to also use an integrated planning approach and to substitute green infrastructure at several of its sewer overflow control projects. By implementing these measures, the city will reduce its raw sewage discharges by approximately 99 percent at an estimated cost of $600 million.  Seattle will also pay a civil penalty of $350,000.

Between 2007 and 2010, Seattle discharged approximately 200 million gallons of raw sewage into area waterways on an annual basis. During this time period, the city also improperly operated and maintained its sanitary sewer system, resulting in unauthorized discharges of raw sewage to public and private properties, including basement backups.
  
Keeping raw sewage and contaminated stormwater out of the waters of the United States is one of the EPA’s top priorities. Reductions in sewer and stormwater overflows are accomplished by obtaining cities’ commitments to implement timely, affordable solutions to these problems, which may also include the use of Integrated Municipal Stormwater and Wastewater Plans. This approach can also lead to more sustainable and comprehensive solutions, such as green infrastructure, that improve water quality and enhance community vitality.

The settlement, lodged today in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington, is subject to a 30-day public comment period and approval by the federal court.  The consent decree can be viewed on the Justice Department website: http://www.justice.gov/enrd/Consent_Decrees.html

More information about the settlement:  www.epa.gov/enforcement/water/cases/washington.html

More information about EPA’s national enforcement initiative: http://www.epa.gov/compliance/data/planning/initiatives/2011sewagestormwater.html

More information about Integrated Municipal Stormwater and Wastewater Plans: http://cfpub.epa.gov/npdes/integratedplans.cfm

Parker Drilling Company, a publicly listed drilling-services company, headquartered in Houston, has agreed to pay an $11.76 million penalty to resolve charges related to the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) for authorizing payment to an intermediary, knowing that the payment would be used to corruptly influence the decisions of a Nigerian government panel reviewing Parker Drilling’s adherence to Nigerian customs and tax laws.  Acting Assistant Attorney General Mythili Raman of the Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Neil H. MacBride for the Eastern District of Virginia announced the charges.

The investigation of Parker Drilling stemmed from the Justice Department’s Panalpina-related investigations, which previously yielded criminal resolutions with Panalpina and five oil and gas service companies and subsidiaries and resulted in more than $156 million in criminal penalties. 

Today, the department filed a deferred prosecution agreement and a criminal information against Parker Drilling in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.  The one-count information charges Parker Drilling with violating the FCPA’s anti-bribery provisions.

According to court documents, in  2001 and 2002, Panalpina World Transport (Nigeria) Limited, working on Parker Drilling’s behalf, avoided certain costs associated with complying with Nigeria’s customs laws by fraudulently claiming that Parker Drilling’s rigs had been exported and then re-imported into Nigeria.  In late 2002, Nigeria formed a government commission, commonly called the Temporary Import (TI) Panel, to examine whether Nigeria’s Customs Service had collected certain duties and tariffs that Nigeria was due. In December 2002, the TI Panel commenced proceedings against Parker Drilling.  The TI Panel later determined that Parker Drilling had violated Nigeria’s customs laws and assessed a $3.8 million fine against Parker Drilling.

According to court documents, rather than pay the assessed fine, Parker Drilling contracted indirectly with an intermediary agent to resolve its customs issues.  From January to May 2004, Parker Drilling transferred $1.25 million to the agent, who reported spending a portion of the money on various things including entertaining government officials.  Emails in which the agent requested additional money from Parker Drilling referenced the agent’s interactions with Nigeria’s Ministry of Finance, State Security Service, and a delegation from the president’s office.  Two senior executives within Parker Drilling at the time reviewed and approved the agent’s invoices, knowing that the invoices arbitrarily attributed portions of the money that Parker Drilling transferred to the agent to various fees and expenses.  The agent succeeded in reducing Parker Drilling’s TI Panel fines from $3.8 million to just $750,000. 

Under the terms of the agreement, the Justice Department agreed to defer prosecution of Parker Drilling for three years.  Parker Drilling agreed, among other things, to implement an enhanced compliance program and internal controls capable of preventing and detecting FCPA violations, to report periodically to the department concerning Parker Drilling’s compliance efforts, and to cooperate with the department in ongoing investigations.  If Parker Drilling abides by the terms of the deferred prosecution agreement, the department will dismiss the criminal information when the term of the agreement expires. 

In entering into the deferred prosecution agreement with Parker Drilling, the Justice Department took into account a number of considerations.  Parker Drilling conducted an extensive, multi-year investigation into the charged conduct; engaged in widespread remediation, including ending its business relationships with officers, employees, or agents primarily responsible for the corrupt payments, enhancing scrutiny of high-risk third-party agents and transactions, increasing training and testing requirements, and instituting heightened review of proposals and other transactional documents for all the company’s contracts; otherwise significantly enhanced its compliance program and internal controls; and agreed to continue to cooperate with the department in any ongoing investigation of the conduct.

Parker Drilling also reached a settlement of a related civil complaint filed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charging Parker Drilling with violating the FCPA’s anti-bribery, books and records, and internal controls provisions.  As part of that settlement, Parker Drilling agreed to pay $3.05 million in disgorgement and $1.04 million in prejudgment interest relating to those violations.

The criminal case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Stephen J. Spiegelhalter of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Jasmine Yoon of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia, and is being investigated by the FBI. The department’s Office of International Affairs assisted in the investigation.  The department also acknowledges and is grateful for the assistance of the Crown Prosecution Service, the United Kingdom’s Metropolitan Police Service, and SEC.

Additional information about the Justice Department’s FCPA enforcement efforts can be found at www.justice.gov/criminal/fraud/fcpa.

A Northern California real estate investor has agreed to plead guilty for his role in conspiracies to rig bids and commit mail fraud at public real estate foreclosure auctions in Northern California, the Department of Justice announced.

Felony charges were filed today in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California in San Francisco against Mohammed Rezaian, of Novato, Calif. Rezaian is the 30th individual to plead guilty or agree to plead guilty as a result of the department’s ongoing antitrust investigations into bid rigging and fraud at public real estate foreclosure auctions in Northern California.

According to court documents, Rezaian conspired with others not to bid against one another, but instead to designate a winning bidder to obtain selected properties at public real estate foreclosure auctions in San Francisco and San Mateo counties, Calif . Rezaian was also charged with conspiring to use the mail to carry out schemes to fraudulently acquire title to selected properties sold at public auctions, to make and receive payoffs, and to divert to co-conspirators money that would have otherwise gone to mortgage holders and others. According to court documents, a forfeiture allegation was also included in the charges against Rezaian.

The department said Rezaian conspired with others to rig bids and commit mail fraud at public real estate foreclosure auctions in San Francisco and San Mateo counties beginning as early as July 2008 and continuing until about January 2011.

“As a result of this investigation, the Antitrust Division has thus far filed charges against 30 real estate investors in Northern California for their illegal activity at foreclosure auctions,” said Bill Baer, Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division. “The division will vigorously pursue the perpetrators of these fraudulent and anticompetitive schemes.”

The department said that the primary purpose of the conspiracies was to suppress and restrain competition and to conceal payoffs in order to obtain selected real estate offered at San Francisco and San Mateo County public foreclosure auctions at non-competitive prices. When real estate properties are sold at these auctions, the proceeds are used to pay off the mortgage and other debt attached to the property, with remaining proceeds, if any, paid to the homeowner.

“Not only is bid rigging at public foreclosure auctions illegal, it also severely undermines the integrity of a fair and competitive marketplace,” said David J. Johnson, FBI Special Agent in Charge of the San Francisco Field Office. “The FBI will continue to investigate and pursue those who commit fraudulent anticompetitive practices at foreclosure auctions and work with those who have fallen victim to such selfish crimes.”

A violation of the Sherman Act carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $1 million fine for individuals. The maximum fine for the Sherman Act charges may be increased to twice the gain derived from the crime or twice the loss suffered by the victims if either amount is greater than $1 million. A count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud carries a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine. The government can also seek to forfeit the proceeds earned from participating in the conspiracy to commit mail fraud.

The charges today are the latest filed by the department in its ongoing investigation into bid rigging and fraud at public real estate foreclosure auctions in San Francisco, San Mateo, Contra Costa and Alameda counties, Calif. These investigations are being conducted by the Antitrust Division’s San Francisco office and the FBI’s San Francisco office. Anyone with information concerning bid rigging or fraud related to public real estate foreclosure auctions should contact the Antitrust Division’s San Francisco office at 415-436-6660 , visit www.justice.gov/atr/contact/newcase.htm, or call the FBI tip line at 415-553-74 00.

Today’s charges were brought in connection with the President’s Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force. The task force was established to wage an aggressive, coordinated and proactive effort to investigate and prosecute financial crimes. With more than 20 federal agencies, 94 U.S. attorneys’ offices and state and local partners, it’s the broadest coalition of law enforcement, investigatory and regulatory agencies ever assembled to combat fraud. Since its formation, the task force has made great strides in facilitating increased investigation and prosecution of financial crimes; enhancing coordination and cooperation among federal, state and local authorities; addressing discrimination in the lending and financial markets and conducting outreach to the public, victims, financial institutions and other organizations. Over the past three fiscal years, the Justice Department has filed nearly 10,000 financial fraud cases against nearly 15,000 defendants including more than 2,900 mortgage fraud defendants. For more information on the task force, please visit www.StopFraud.gov.

**The fraud charge(s) referenced in this press release were

subsequently dismissed on the government’s motion.**

ALICIA A.G. LIMTIACO, United States Attorney for the Districts of Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands, announced today that defendant JOSEPH MITCHELL CASIL was sentenced by Chief Judge Frances Tydingco-Gatewood in the United States District Court, to twelve (12) months imprisonment for the offense of Concealment of a Material Fact. After defendant serves his term of imprisonment, he will be placed on supervised release for three years and required to perform community service.

Casil was aware that federal Marshals with the United States Marshals Service (USMS) were searching for a felony fugitive. Casil lied to the United States Marshals about the fugitive’s location. Casil’s lies to the Marshals caused the Marshals to unnecessarily extend their surveillance, but also delayed the arrest of the fugitive.

U.S. Attorney Limtiaco states, “This defendant interfered in the timely capture of a felony fugitive who was fleeing arrest for a methamphetamine distribution offense. An offense of this type places not only the United States Marshals at risk, but also members of the community who have a fleeing felon in their midst. Individuals who affirmatively mislead United States Marshals in the performance of their duties will face stiff penalties in the United States District Court.”

U.S. Attorney Limtiaco noted that this prosecution is part of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN) Initiative, a nationwide commitment to aggressively prosecute defendants who engage in drug distribution, gang involvement and violent crime.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Rosetta San Nicolas prosecuted the case for the United States. U.S. Attorney Limtiaco commends the investigative efforts of the United States Marshals Service.

A former San Francisco investment banker and his college friend both pleaded guilty today for their roles in an insider trading scheme involving two impending corporate mergers, announced Acting Assistant Attorney General Mythili Raman of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of California Melinda Haag.

Jauyo Lee, aka “Jason Lee,” 29, of New York, and Victor Chen, 29, of Sunnyvale, Calif., both pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Richard Seeborg in the Northern District of California to one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud and one count of securities fraud.  Lee and Chen were charged in a criminal information on March 21, 2013.

“Insider trading undermines ordinary investors’ faith in our financial markets, and the Justice Department has zero tolerance for it,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Raman. “Today's guilty pleas show that you cannot trade on inside information, pocket the profit and expect to escape responsibility.  Having now admitted their conduct, Mr. Lee and Mr. Chen must face the consequences.”

“Securities professionals cannot exploit their positions of trust to enrich themselves and their friends,” said U.S. Attorney Haag.  “Those tempted to corrupt our markets in this manner should know:  the government will get to the bottom of suspicious trading and prosecute securities fraud vigorously.”

            According to the plea agreements, Lee, who worked as an investment banker in the San Francisco office of Leerink Swann LLC, disclosed inside information to Chen, a friend from college, about two impending mergers involving Leerink clients.  Between Aug. 26, 2009, and Sept. 5, 2009, Lee disclosed inside information to Chen about the merger of Leerink’s client, Syneron Medical Ltd., and Candela Corporation, a medical device company publicly traded on the NASDAQ stock market.  Chen used the inside information to buy shares of Candela.  After the merger was announced, Candela’s stock price increased more than 40 percent and Chen sold his shares for a gain of approximately $62,589. 

Between June 1 and 13, 2010, Lee also provided Chen with inside information about the impending merger of Somanetics Corporation and a subsidiary of Covidien plc.  Leerink was the lead financial advisor to Somanetics, which also was publicly traded on the NASDAQ.  Chen used the inside information to buy shares and options of Somanetics.  Following the merger announcement, the price of Somanetics stock increased more than 30 percent and Chen ultimately realized a profit of approximately $547,510. 

 Lee and Chen are scheduled for sentencing on July 23, 2013, before Judge Seeborg.  The maximum penalty for conspiracy to commit securities fraud is five years in prison, and the maximum penalty for securities fraud is 20 years in prison.

This case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Brian R. Young of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert S. Leach of the Northern District of California.  The prosecution is the result of a one-year investigation by the FBI with substantial assistance from the Chicago Regional Office of the Securities and Exchange Commission, which initiated a civil enforcement action against Lee and Chen and referred the matter to the Department of Justice.

This prosecution is part of efforts underway by President Obama’s Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force (FFETF) which was created in November 2009 to wage an aggressive, coordinated and proactive effort to investigate and prosecute financial crimes. With more than 20 federal agencies, 94 U.S. attorneys’ offices and state and local partners, it’s the broadest coalition of law enforcement, investigatory and regulatory agencies ever assembled to combat fraud. Since its formation, the task force has made great strides in facilitating increased investigation and prosecution of financial crimes; enhancing coordination and cooperation among federal, state and local authorities; addressing discrimination in the lending and financial markets and conducting outreach to the public, victims, financial institutions and other organizations. Over the past three fiscal years, the Justice Department has filed more than 10,000 financial fraud cases against nearly 15,000 defendants including more than 2,900 mortgage fraud defendants. For more information on the task force, visit www.stopfraud.gov.

Charges have been unsealed against one current and one former executive of the U.S. subsidiary of a French power and transportation company for their alleged participation in a scheme to pay bribes to foreign government officials, Acting Assistant Attorney General Mythili Raman of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut David Fein and Assistant Director in Charge Valerie Parlave of the FBI’s Washington Field Office announced today.

Frederic Pierucci, 45, a current company executive who previously held the position of vice president of global sales for the Connecticut-based U.S. subsidiary, was charged in an indictment unsealed yesterday in the District of Connecticut with conspiring to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and to launder money, as well as substantive charges of violating the FCPA and money laundering.  Pierucci, a French national, was arrested Sunday night at John F. Kennedy International Airport.

David Rothschild, 67, of Massachusetts, a former vice president of sales for the Connecticut-based U.S. subsidiary, pleaded guilty on Nov. 2, 2012, to a criminal information charging one count of conspiracy to violate the FCPA.  The charges against Rothschild and his guilty plea were unsealed today.

“Frederic Pierucci and David Rothschild allegedly used outside consultants to bribe foreign officials in Indonesia in exchange for lucrative power contracts,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Raman.  “Stamping out foreign bribery is a Justice Department priority, and we are determined to continue our vigorous enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.”

“As alleged, this investigation has revealed a corrupt scheme to secure valuable contracts by bribing government officials in Indonesia,” said U.S. Attorney Fein.  “Corrupt payments to government officials erode public confidence in the global marketplace, and these charges demonstrate our commitment to hold people responsible for violating the FCPA.”

“Anyone who still believes that foreign bribery is an acceptable business practice should take a hard look at the charges against these executives.  There is no place for bribery in any business model or corporate culture,” said Assistant Director in Charge Parlave.  “Along with the Department of Justice, international law enforcement partners, and other U.S. federal agencies, the FBI is committed to investigating corrupt backroom deals that threaten our global commerce.” 

According to the charges, Pierucci and Rothschild, together with others, paid bribes to officials in Indonesia, including a member of Indonesian Parliament and high-ranking members of Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN), the state-owned and state-controlled electricity company in Indonesia, in exchange for those officials’ assistance in securing a contract for the company to provide power-related services for the citizens of Indonesia, known as the Tarahan project.  The charges allege that, in order to conceal the bribes, the defendants retained two consultants purportedly to provide legitimate consulting services on behalf of the power company and its subsidiaries in connection with the Tarahan project.  In reality, however, the primary purpose for hiring the consultants was allegedly to use the consultants to pay bribes to Indonesian officials. 

The first consultant retained by the defendants allegedly received hundreds of thousands of dollars into his Maryland bank account to be used to bribe the member of Parliament, according to the charges.  The consultant then allegedly transferred the bribe money to a bank account in Indonesia for the benefit of the official.  According to court documents, emails between Pierucci, Rothschild and their co-conspirators discuss in detail the use of the first consultant to funnel bribes to the member of Parliament and the influence that the member of Parliament could exert over the Tarahan project.  However, when Pierucci and others determined that the first consultant was not effectively bribing key officials at PLN, they allegedly retained the second consultant to accomplish that purpose.  The charges allege that the power company deviated from its usual practice of paying consultants on a pro-rata basis in order to make a much larger up-front payment to the second consultant so that the consultant could “get the right influence.”  An employee at the power company’s subsidiary in Indonesia sent an e-mail to Pierucci and others asking them to finalize the consultancy agreement with the front-loaded payments but stated that in the meantime the employee would give his word to a high-level official at PLN, according to the charges. 
  
The conspiracy to commit violations of the FCPA count carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a fine of the greater of $250,000 or twice the value gained or lost.  The substantive FCPA counts each carry a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a fine of the greater of $100,000 or twice the value gained or lost.  The conspiracy to commit money laundering count carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a fine of the greater of $500,000 or twice the value of the property involved in the transaction.  The substantive money laundering counts each carry a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a fine of the greater of $500,000 or twice the value of the property involved in the transaction.

 An indictment is merely an accusation, and defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

 The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Daniel S. Kahn of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney David E. Novick of the District of Connecticut.  The case is being investigated by FBI agents who are part of the Washington Field Office’s dedicated FCPA squad, with assistance from the Meriden, Conn., Resident Agency of the FBI.  Significant assistance was provided by the Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs, and the department has also worked closely with its law enforcement counterparts in Indonesia at the Komisi Pemberantasan Korupsi (Corruption Eradication Commission) and deeply appreciates KPK’s assistance in this matter.

Additional information about the Justice Department’s FCPA enforcement efforts can be found at www.justice.gov/criminal/fraud/fcpa.

Deputy Warden James Hinton and seven former members of the Correctional Emergency Response Team (CERT) at Macon State Prison in Oglethorpe, Ga., were charged with federal civil rights, conspiracy or obstruction offenses arising out of incidents in which inmates were allegedly assaulted by officers in order to punish the inmates for prior misconduct. The indictment alleges that former CERT members Christopher Hall, Ronald Lach Jr., Delton Rushin, Kerry Bolden, Derrick Wimbush, Kadarius Thomas and Tyler Griffin, conspired to assault inmates, and that the seven former CERT members conspired with Deputy Warden Hinton and others to cover up their misconduct by writing false reports and providing misleading information to investigators.

The defendants face statutory maximum sentences of 10 years for the civil rights conspiracy charge; 10 years for the civil rights violation; and 20 years for each count of obstruction.

Three former CERT members: Emmett McKenzie, Darren Douglass-Griffin and Willie Redden, previously entered guilty pleas in related cases before U.S. District Judge Marc T. Treadwell.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation initially conducted an investigation at Macon State Prison. The investigation by the Macon Resident Agency of the FBI is ongoing. The case is being prosecuted by Special Litigation Counsel Forrest Christian and Trial Attorney Tona Boyd of the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice, with the assistance of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Georgia.

An indictment is merely an allegation, and the defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty.

Today, a federal court in Denver approved a comprehensive consent decree between the Department of Justice, the Congress of Hispanic Educators (CHE), and the Denver Public Schools (DPS) that requires DPS to provide language services to the more than 28,000 English Language Learner (ELL) students enrolled in the district’s 170 schools. The consent decree, which replaces a 1999 court order, is the product of compliance monitoring by the department and the CHE, and DPS’s recognition that the 1999 order no longer reflected the district’s own best practices for serving ELL students.

The consent decree requires the district to implement comprehensive measures to ensure that ELLs have equal opportunities to succeed academically in district educational programs, starting with the proper identification of ELL students when they enter DPS. Among other things, the consent decree requires DPS to: provide language acquisition services to ELL students in district schools, including charter schools, until they are proficient in English and to monitor ELL students after they exit services to ensure they are participating meaningfully and equally in mainstream classes; to make translation and interpretation services available for thousands of Limited English Proficient parents who speak more than 130 different languages – thus ensuring that all parents have access to essential information about their children’s education; to provide Pre-K language services at each school where DPS offers early childhood education; and to make appropriate language services available for ELL students who face unique challenges, including refugee students and students with disabilities.

“Today, the Denver Public Schools took a big step forward toward promoting the success of every student from the moment the child enters the district. Faithful implementation of this decree will ensure that ELL students, like all district students, have access to qualified teachers, grade-appropriate curriculum, and dedicated resources to meet their particular learning needs,” said Jocelyn Samuels, Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division.  “We commend DPS for joining with the Congress of Hispanic Educators and the United States to protect the rights of thousands of ELL students in Denver.”   

The enforcement of the Equal Educational Opportunities Act and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 are top priorities of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. Additional information about the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department is available on its website at www.justice.gov/crt .

Related Materials:

DPS Consent Decree

Amgen Inc., a California-based biotechnology company, has agreed to pay the United States $24.9 million to settle allegations that it violated the False Claims Act, the Justice Department announced today. Amgen develops, manufactures, and sells pharmaceutical products, including products sold under the trade name Aranesp.

The settlement resolves allegations that Amgen paid kickbacks to long-term care pharmacy providers Omnicare Inc., PharMerica Corporation and Kindred Healthcare Inc. in return for implementing “therapeutic interchange” programs that were designed to switch Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries from a competitor drug to Aranesp. The government alleged that the kickbacks took the form of performance-based rebates that were tied to market-share or volume thresholds. The government further alleged that, as part of the therapeutic interchange program, Amgen distributed materials to consultant pharmacists and nursing home staff encouraging the use of Aranesp for patients who did not have anemia associated with chronic renal failure.

“We will continue to pursue pharmaceutical companies that pay kickbacks to long-term care pharmacy providers to influence drug prescribing decisions,” said Stuart F. Delery, Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “Patients in skilled nursing facilities deserve care that is free of improper financial influences.”

“By this agreement we are making important strides in holding drug manufacturers accountable for fraudulent and abusive practices not only in South Carolina but nationwide,” said William Nettles, U.S. Attorney for the District of South Carolina. “I am proud of the tireless work of this office to investigate this case across the country.”

This civil settlement resolves a lawsuit filed under the qui tam, or whistleblower, provision of the False Claims Act, which allows private citizens with knowledge of false claims to bring civil actions on behalf of the United States and share in any recovery. The False Claims Act suit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina, and is captioned United States ex rel. Kurnik v. Amgen Inc., et al.

Acting Assistant Attorney General Delery noted that the settlement with Amgen, Inc. was the result of a coordinated effort among the Civil Division, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of South Carolina, and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General.

This resolution is part of the government’s emphasis on combating health care fraud and another step for the Health Care Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Action Team (HEAT) initiative, which was announced by Attorney General Eric Holder and Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services in May 2009. 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 that effort is the False Claims Act, which the Justice Department has used to recover more than $10.3 billion since January 2009 in cases involving fraud against federal health care programs. The Justice Department’s total recoveries in False Claims Act cases since January 2009 are over $14.2 billion.

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

Related Materials:

Amgen Settlement Agreement

Frederic Cilins, 50, a French citizen, has been arrested and accused of attempting to obstruct an ongoing investigation into whether a mining company paid bribes to win lucrative mining rights in the Republic of Guinea.

Mythili Raman, Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; Preet Bharara, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York; and George Venizelos, the Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s New York Field Office, made the announcement.

“Mr. Cilins is charged with scheming to destroy documents and induce a witness to give false testimony to a grand jury investigating potential violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Raman.  “The Justice Department is committed to rooting out foreign bribery, and we will not tolerate criminal attempts to thwart our efforts.”

“A grand jury can never learn the truth, and justice cannot prevail, where documents are intentionally destroyed and testimony is tainted by lies,” said U.S. Attorney Bharara.  “As alleged, Frederic Cilins attempted to obstruct a significant investigation by corrupting evidence and testimony in precisely those ways.  With today’s arrest, he now begins his own path to justice for his alleged conduct.”

“As alleged, Cilins attempted to buy evidence he sought to destroy,” said FBI Assistant Director in Charge Venizelos.  “The destruction of evidence was in furtherance of Cilins’s alleged effort to obstruct an investigation into a bribery scheme. In effect, he was allegedly willing to commit bribery in an effort to cover up a bribery.”

Cilins was arrested in Jacksonville, Fla., on April 14, 2013, and a criminal complaint was filed in the Southern District of New York today charging Cilins with tampering with a witness, victim or informant; obstructing a criminal investigation; and destroying, altering or falsifying records in a federal investigation.  The obstruction charge carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison, and the tampering and record-destruction charges each carry a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. Cilins made an initial appearance in the Middle District of Florida and was detained pending a detention hearing scheduled for April 18, 2013.

According to the complaint, Cilins allegedly attempted to obstruct an ongoing federal grand jury investigation concerning potential violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and laws proscribing money laundering.  The complaint states the federal grand jury is investigating whether a particular mining company and its affiliates – on whose behalf Cilins has been working – transferred into the United States funds in furtherance of a scheme to obtain and retain valuable mining concessions in the Republic of Guinea’s Simandou region.  During monitored and recorded phone calls and face-to-face meetings, Cilins allegedly agreed to pay substantial sums of money to induce a witness to the bribery scheme to turn over documents to Cilins for destruction, which Cilins knew had been requested by the FBI and needed to be produced before a federal grand jury.  The complaint also alleges that Cilins sought to induce the witness to sign an affidavit containing numerous false statements regarding matters under investigation by the grand jury. 

The complaint alleges that the documents Cilins sought to destroy included original copies of contracts between the mining company and its affiliates and the former wife of a now-deceased Guinean government official, who at the relevant time held an office in Guinea that allowed him to influence the award of mining concessions.  The contracts allegedly related to a scheme by which the mining company and its affiliates offered the wife of the Guinean official millions of dollars, which were to be distributed to the official’s wife as well as ministers or senior officials of Guinea’s government whose authority might be needed to secure the mining rights. 

According to the complaint, the official’s wife incorporated a company in 2008 that agreed to take all necessary steps to secure the valuable mining rights for the mining company’s subsidiary.  That same contract stipulated that $2 million was to be transferred to the official’s wife’s company and an additional sum was to be “distributed among persons of good will who may have contributed to facilitating the granting of” the valuable mining rights.  According to the complaint, in 2008, the mining company and its affiliates also “commit[ted] to giving 5% of the shares of stock” in particular mining areas in Guinea to the official’s wife. 

A complaint is merely an accusation, and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

 The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Stephen J. Spiegelhalter of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Elisha J. Kobre of the Southern District of New York.  The case is being investigated by the FBI.  The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs and Office of Enforcement Operations have also assisted in the investigation.

Additional information about the Justice Department’s FCPA enforcement efforts can be found at www.justice.gov/criminal/fraud/fcpa.

The United States has asked a federal court in Charleston, S.C., to permanently bar Stacy Middleton of Charleston, and George Jenkins of Blythewood, S.C., from preparing federal income tax returns for others, the Justice Department announced today. According to the government complaint, Middleton and Jenkins have prepared federal income tax returns in Charleston and Columbia, S.C., through a business named MBM Tax and Accounting Services LLC. The complaint alleges that they have prepared returns that unlawfully understate income tax liabilities and overstate refunds through a variety of schemes.

The government complaint alleges that Middleton and Jenkins prepared returns that unlawfully created fictitious deductions and credits as well as overstating and duplicating existing deductions and credits. The complaint also alleges that Middleton created fraudulent Forms 1099 on behalf of customers, creating fake income to enable Middleton to claim the Earned Income Tax Credit on behalf of those customers. According to the complaint, the Internal Revenue Service has examined 842 returns prepared by Middleton and Jenkins, and over 93 percent of those examinations resulted in an adjustment to their client’s tax liability. Altogether, the government complaint alleges that Middleton’s and Jenkins’s activities may have resulted in as much as $55 million of loss to the United States.

Over the past decade, the Justice Department’s Tax Division has obtained hundreds of injunctions to stop tax fraud promoters and dishonest tax return preparers. Information about these cases is available on the Justice Department’s website.

United States v. StacyMiddleton , etc.
Complaint for Permanent Injunction (PDF)

The Justice Department filed suit today asking the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida to permanently bar Osvaldo J. Diaz from preparing federal tax returns for others. The civil injunction suit alleges that Diaz prepares returns through Professional Accounting Services Inc. in Coral Gables, Fla.

According to the complaint, Diaz prepares tax returns that fabricate deductions and credits in an attempt to understate his customers’ tax liabilities or inflate his customers’ refunds. The government alleges that Diaz fabricates business and personal expenses and inflates real estate losses for his customers. The Internal Revenue Service has examined 250 returns prepared by Diaz and found that 93 percent resulted in deficiencies. As alleged in the complaint, the IRS projects that the tax loss from the returns prepared by Diaz could be tens of millions of dollars.

Over the past decade, the Justice Department’s Tax Division has obtained hundreds of injunctions to stop tax fraud promoters and dishonest tax return preparers. Information about these cases is available on the Justice Department’s website .

Related Materials:

United States v. Ann M. Williams , etc.
Complaint for Permanent Injunction (PDF)

SOUTH CAROLINA TAX RETURN PREPARERS

            WASHINGTON – The United States has asked a federal court in Charleston, S.C., to permanently bar Stacy Middleton of Charleston, and George Jenkins of Blythewood, S.C., from preparing federal income tax returns for others, the Justice Department announced today. According to the government complaint, Middleton and Jenkins have prepared federal income tax returns in Charleston and Columbia, S.C., through a business named MBM Tax and Accounting Services LLC. The complaint alleges that they have prepared returns that unlawfully understate income tax liabilities and overstate refunds through a variety of schemes.

            The government complaint alleges that Middleton and Jenkins prepared returns that unlawfully created fictitious deductions and credits as well as overstating and duplicating existing deductions and credits. The complaint also alleges that Middleton created fraudulent Forms 1099 on behalf of customers, creating fake income to enable Middleton to claim the Earned Income Tax Credit on behalf of those customers. According to the complaint, the Internal Revenue Service has examined 842 returns prepared by Middleton and Jenkins, and over 93 percent of those examinations resulted in an adjustment to their client’s tax liability. Altogether, the government complaint alleges that Middleton’s and Jenkins’s activities may have resulted in as much as $55 million of loss to the United States.

            Over the past decade, the Justice Department’s Tax Division has obtained hundreds of injunctions to stop tax fraud promoters and dishonest tax return preparers.  Information about these cases is available on the Justice Department’s website.

Portable Document Format (PDF) files may be viewed with a free copy of Adobe Acrobat Reader

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A federal inmate pleaded guilty today for the violent murder of a fellow inmate in Pennsylvania’s Allenwood Correctional Complex, announced Acting Assistant Attorney General Mythili Raman of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Pennsylvania Peter J. Smith.

Ritz D. Williams Jr., 32, of Gila River Indian Reservation, Sacaton, Ariz., pleaded guilty before Chief U.S. District Judge Yvette Kane to one count of first degree murder and possession of a weapon.

Williams and his co-conspirator Shawn Cooya were indicted by a federal grand jury in February 2008 and a superseding indictment was returned in July 2009.

According to court documents, Williams and Cooya aided each other in the premeditated murder of inmate Alvin Allery.  On Sept. 28, 2005, Williams and Cooya stabbed Allery 10 times with a homemade knife and repeatedly kicked him in the head and torso, which resulted in Allery’s death.

 On Jan. 8, 2013, Cooya pleaded guilty to one count of first degree murder.  On March 18, 2013, he was sentenced to serve life in prison without the possibility of parole.

As a result of Williams’s plea, he faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison.  His sentencing has been scheduled for May 15, 2013, in the Middle District of Pennsylvania.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Wayne P. Samuelson and Michelle Olshefski of the Middle District of Pennsylvania and Trial Attorneys Julie B. Mosley and Mike Warbel of the Criminal Division’s Capital Case Unit (CCU) and former CCU Trial Attorney C.J. Williams.  The case was investigated by the Bureau of Prisons and the FBI.

Assistant Attorney General Bill Baer in charge of the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division issued the following statement today on changes to the division’s carve-out practice regarding corporate plea agreements:

“Over the years, the Antitrust Division’s efforts to investigate and prosecute price fixing and other cartel conduct have produced outstanding results in holding both corporations and individuals accountable for their wrongdoing.  We are committed to continuing these efforts and to build on the division’s past successes.

“Going forward, we are making certain changes to the Antitrust Division’s approach to corporate plea agreements. In the past, the division’s corporate plea agreements have, in appropriate circumstances, included a provision offering non-prosecution protection to those employees of the corporation who cooperate with the investigation and whose conduct does not warrant prosecution.  The division excluded, or carved out, employees who were believed to be culpable. In certain circumstances, it also carved out employees who refused to cooperate with the division’s investigation, employees against whom the division was still developing evidence and employees with potentially relevant information who could not be located.  The names of all carved-out employees were included in the corporate plea agreements, which were publicly filed in the district courts where the charges were brought.

“As part of a thorough review of the division’s approach to corporate dispositions, we have decided to implement two changes.  The division will continue to carve out employees who we have reason to believe were involved in criminal wrongdoing and who are potential targets of our investigation.  However, we will no longer carve out employees for reasons unrelated to culpability. 

“The division will not include the names of carved-out employees in the plea agreement itself.  Those names will instead be listed in an appendix, and we will ask the court for leave to file the appendix under seal.  Absent some significant justification, it is ordinarily not appropriate to publicly identify uncharged third-party wrongdoers. 

“The Antitrust Division will continue to exclude from the non-prosecution protections of corporate plea agreements any employees whose conduct may warrant prosecution.  The division will continue to make these decisions on an employee-by-employee basis consistent with the evidence and the Principles of Federal Prosecution.  We will continue to demand the full cooperation of anyone who seeks to benefit from the non-prosecution protection of a corporate plea agreement, and will revoke that protection for anyone who does not fully and truthfully cooperate with division investigations.”

In an information made public today, the United States charged Francis Marimo, of Raleigh, N.C., with two counts of odometer tampering.

The information, filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina on April 10, 2013, alleges that from 2008 through 2012, Marimo fraudulently caused odometers in used motor vehicles to be altered to reflect false, low mileages. According to the Information, Marimo purchased used vehicles primarily through online advertisements, replaced the existing odometers with odometers showing lower mileages, and then sold the vehicles to consumers while representing the low mileages as accurate. One of the vehicles described in the Information was “rolled back” more than 100,000 miles.

“Consumers rely on mileage readings to determine the value and safety of used vehicles,” said Stuart F. Delery, Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division. “Victims of odometer fraud lose thousands of dollars on what can turn out to be unreliable and potentially dangerous vehicles. We will continue to prosecute these schemes wherever we find them.”

The North Carolina Division of Motor Vehicles and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Office of Odometer Fraud Investigation investigated this case. The case is being prosecuted by the Justice Department’s Consumer Protection Branch.

The charges in the information are only allegations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

The Department of Justice and the Council of State Governments (CSG) highlight 17 states that have cut corrections costs while reducing recidivism and improving public safety. With funding from the Justice Department’s Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), staff from the CSG Justice Center – in partnership with the Pew Center on the States – worked with lawmakers, policymakers, and a wide range of justice system professionals and stakeholders from each state to identify crime and corrections trends and formulate strategies that would save money and improve safety. 

Over the past 20 years, state spending on corrections has skyrocketed—from $12 billion in 1988 to more than $52 billion in 2011. Declining state revenues and other fiscal factors are straining many states’ criminal justice systems, often putting concerns about the bottom line in competition with public safety.

“Our nation pays a high price whenever our prisons and criminal justice systems fall short of delivering results that deter and punish crime, keep the American people safe, and ensure that those who pay their debts to society have the chance to become productive, law-abiding citizens,” said Attorney General Eric Holder. “These states have been able to achieve fundamental and positive reform because leaders from both sides of the aisle have come together to tackle these difficult issues. It is my hope that their success will be emulated by others across the country."

A new report, Lessons from the States: Reducing Recidivism and Curbing Corrections Costs Through Justice Reinvestment, summarizes the experiences of states participating in the Justice Reinvestment Initiative, an across-the-board analysis of statewide crime and corrections data designed to help officials redirect public funds from costly prison building projects to cost-effective programs aimed at ensuring greater public safety.  Based on these analyses, the states have enacted legislation and implemented justice reinvestment policies which incentivize use of risk based decision making, increase services and support for victims, target grants to law enforcement and establish state wide standards and training for probation agencies.

 According to the report, states are able to reach these goals when they:

1. Conduct a comprehensive analysis of crime, arrest, conviction, jail, prison, probation and parole data; 2. Engage diverse constituencies of elected and appointed leaders as well as criminal justice stakeholders; 3. Focus resources on individuals most likely to reoffend; 4. Reinvest taxpayer dollars in proven programs and strategies; 5. Strengthen community supervision by responding to violations swiftly, proportionately, and with approaches that are evidence-based; 6. And reward the performance of local agencies whose actions result in cost savings.

“We support states that are committed to taking a data-driven approach to lowering re-offense rates of people released from prison and jail,” said Denise E. O’Donnell, BJA Director. “This report serves as a reference for states that are looking to tackle this issue. It shows that evidence-based strategies can improve public safety and reduce recidivism, even in an era of reduced resources.”

“Through our Justice Reinvestment effort, we’re helping state leaders use data and research to wisely use scarce resources. This approach has shown that states don’t have to choose between safe communities and fiscal solvency.  Both are possible,” said Office of Justice Programs (OJP) Acting Assistant Attorney General Mary Lou Leary.

The 17 states involved in the Justice Reinvestment Initiative are Arkansas, Delaware, Georgia, Hawaii, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, and West Virginia.
 
Being smarter and tougher on crime through innovative prevention, intervention, enforcement and reentry programs is a Justice Department priority. That’s why President Obama’s budget request for fiscal year 2014, released Wednesday, includes $85 million for the Justice Reinvestment Initiative.

To read the report, Lessons from the States: Reducing Recidivism and Curbing Corrections Costs Through Justice Reinvestment, or for more information on the Justice Reinvestment Initiative, please visit: www.justicereinvestment.org   

OJP provides federal leadership in developing the nation's capacity to prevent and control crime, administer justice and assist victims. OJP has six components: the Bureau of Justice Assistance; the Bureau of Justice Statistics; the National Institute of Justice; the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention; the Office for Victims of Crime; and the Office of Sex Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, Apprehending, Registering, and Tracking. More information about OJP can be found at http://www.ojp.gov.

Guity Kashfi of Los Angeles, was charged today in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California with conspiracy to defraud the United States, the Justice Department and Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) announced. A signed plea agreement was filed along with the charging document.

According to court documents, Kashfi, a U.S. citizen, maintained undeclared bank accounts at an international bank headquartered in Tel Aviv, Israel. The accounts were held in the names of nominees in order to keep them secret from the United States government. Kashfi used the accounts to obtain “back-to-back” loans from a branch of the bank in Los Angeles. Although the loans were secured or collateralized with certificates of deposit held in Kashfi’s undeclared offshore accounts, that fact was concealed to keep Kashfi’s offshore accounts secret.

According to the plea agreement, in 2008, Kashfi was told by a banker in Los Angeles that the bank was going to use the funds in her account in Israel to pay off her back-to-back loans in Los Angeles. Rather than pay off the loans, Kashfi transferred approximately $2 million to an account located in Luxembourg at a branch of a second Israeli bank. Kashfi did this to avoid repatriating funds from her first Israeli account back to the United States to pay back her loans in Los Angeles. Kashfi eventually used the funds in Luxembourg to obtain a new back-to-back loan from a branch of the second Israeli bank located in Los Angeles. In 2009, Kashfi went to Luxembourg to close her account. While there, two foreign bankers advised Kashfi that her money was safe in Luxembourg because the bank was a private bank and no one could get information relating to bank accounts located in Luxembourg. In 2011, Kashfi closed all her accounts in Luxembourg by signing paperwork in Los Angeles. She then transferred the funds to banks in the United States.

According to the plea agreement, Kashfi never told her accountant about her undeclared accounts, and failed to report any income from the accounts on her individual income tax returns that were filed with the IRS. For tax years 2005 through 2011, Kashfi failed to report interest income of approximately $221,306. The highest balance in Kashfi’s undeclared accounts was approximately $2,501,469.

Kashfi is the second defendant charged in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California with failing to report income from undeclared accounts in Israel.

On March 29, 2013, Zvi Sperling of Beverly Hills, Calif., appearing before United States District Judge John F. Walter, pleaded guilty to conspiring to defraud the United States in connection with back-to-back loans obtained in Los Angeles that were secured by funds in undeclared bank accounts in Israel. For tax years 2005 through 2008, Sperling failed to report income of approximately $381,563. The highest balance in Sperling’s undeclared accounts was approximately $4 million.

“Today’s guilty plea is a stark reminder that those who attempt to hide their income and assets from the United States are running out of places to hide,” said Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Tax Division Kathryn Keneally. “The Internal Revenue Service will find the hiding places and the Department of Justice will criminally prosecute the tax cheats. And in the end, they will still owe and be required to pay the taxes due.”

“We will continue to work aggressively to uncover and prosecute those who hide unreported income in secret offshore bank accounts as well as the employees of financial institutions and the financial institutions themselves who facilitate such crimes,” said U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California André Birotte Jr.

“Most individuals file truthful tax returns voluntarily and pay their share of taxes,” said Richard Weber, Chief, IRS-CI. “As these two defendants have learned, hiding income and assets offshore is not tax planning, it’s tax fraud. The IRS is vigorously pursuing unreported income in hidden offshore accounts, as well as the banks and bankers who assist them.”

United States citizens and residents who have an interest in, or signature or other authority over, a financial account in a foreign country with assets in excess of $10,000 are required to disclose the existence of such account on Schedule B, Part III, of their individual income tax returns. Additionally, U.S. citizens and residents must file a Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Reports (FBAR) with the U.S. Treasury disclosing any financial account in a foreign country with assets in excess of $10,000 in which they have a financial interest, or over which they have signature or other authority.

Both Kashfi and Sperling have agreed to pay a civil penalty in the amount of 50 percent of the high balance of their undeclared accounts to resolve their civil liability with the IRS for failing to file FBARs.

Both Kashfi and Sperling face a potential maximum prison term of five years and a maximum fine of $250,000.

Assistant Attorney General Keneally and U.S. Attorney Birotte thanked special agents of IRS-CI, who investigated the case, and Tax Division Senior Litigation Counsel John E. Sullivan and Assistant Chief Elizabeth C. Hadden, who prosecuted these cases, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Sandra A. Brown of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California, who assisted with the prosecutions.

Additional information about the Tax Division and its enforcement efforts may be found at www.justice.gov/tax .

A jury convicted Stephen M. Kerr and Michael Quiel yesterday on federal tax charges stemming from their failure to disclose secret offshore bank accounts in Switzerland, the Justice Department and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced. Kerr and Quiel, prominent Phoenix businessmen, were each convicted of two counts of filing false individual income tax returns for 2007 and 2008 . Kerr was also convicted of two counts of failing to file a Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR). San Diego attorney Christopher M. Rusch had previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud the government and failing to file an FBAR on Feb. 6, 2013. 

According to the evidence presented at trial, Kerr and Quiel, with the assistance of Rusch and others, including Swiss nationals, established nominee foreign entities and corresponding bank accounts at UBS AG and Pictet & Cie to conceal Kerr and Quiel’s ownership and control of stock and income that were deposited into these accounts. Rusch testified at trial, admitting that he and others caused the sale of the shares of stock through the undeclared accounts . Kerr also hired Rusch to facilitate the domestic sale of 11.4 million shares of stock held in the name of a foreign entity controlled by Kerr and to transfer the proceeds from the sale of the stock to an undeclared foreign account at UBS AG to conceal that the money was income to Kerr that should have been reported on his tax returns. 

The evidence established that in order to create a further layer of separation between Kerr and Quiel and the income they concealed in the undeclared foreign accounts, they directed Rusch to transfer some of the money in the undeclared accounts back to the United States through Rusch’s Interest on Lawyer’s Trust Account (IOLTA) before dispersing the money for Kerr and Quiel’s benefit. Rusch transferred approximately $2,000,000 through his IOLTA account so that Kerr could purchase a golf course in Erie, Colo. Additionally, after transferring approximately $955,000 from Quiel’s undeclared foreign accounts to his IOLTA account, at Quiel’s direction, Rusch wrote checks payable to an Arizona bank account owned and controlled by Quiel. 

According to trial evidence, Kerr and Quiel filed false tax returns with the IRS that failed to report the proceeds of stock sales, interest and dividend income earned through the secret accounts, and further failed to report that they had a financial interest in bank accounts located in Switzerland. Kerr also failed to file FBARs in 2007 and 2008 that reported his offshore accounts to the IRS. Accountants for Kerr and Quiel testified that neither Kerr nor Quiel disclosed the existence of their offshore accounts in Switzerland during the preparation of their tax returns.

“Many investigations are underway and focusing upon an ever wider circle of banks worldwide, their clients and others who would help the clients try to hide income and assets offshore,” said Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Tax Division Kathryn Keneally. “The lesson of today’s guilty verdicts is that no hiding place will prove safe enough.”

“This prosecution serves notice that the Department of Justice will not tolerate fraudulent activity designed to undermine the integrity of our income tax system,” said U.S. Attorney for the District of Arizona John S. Leonardo.

“Clients, as well as promoters, of international tax fraud are under the watchful scrutiny of the IRS.” said Richard Weber, Chief, IRS-Criminal Investigation. “Mr. Kerr and Mr. Quiel disregarded their legal responsibility to file true and accurate tax returns reporting all their income and interest.  They now face substantial monetary penalties and the risk of incarceration.”

U.S. citizens who have an interest in, or signature or other authority over, a financial account in a foreign country with assets in excess of $10,000 are required to disclose the existence of such accounts on Schedule B, Part III, of their individual income tax returns. Additionally, U.S. citizens must file an FBAR with the U.S. Treasury disclosing any financial account in a foreign country with assets in excess of $10,000 in which they have a financial interest, or over which they have signature or other authority.  

Sentencing for Kerr and Quiel is scheduled for June 25, 2013. Sentencing for Rusch is scheduled for July 17, 2013. 

Department of Justice Tax Division Assistant Attorney General Kathryn Keneally thanked special agents of IRS-Criminal Investigation, who provided valuable assistance in conducting the investigation, and Trial Attorneys Timothy Stockwell and Monica Edelstein who prosecuted the case. 

Additional information about the Justice Department’s Tax Division and its enforcement efforts may be found at www.justice.gov/tax/ .

Derek Matthews, 46, of Harwood, Md., pleaded guilty today to accepting bribes from a government contracting company in exchange for using his position to help the company find and win contracts. 

Neil H. MacBride, U. S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, Mythili Raman, Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, and Charles K. Edwards, U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Deputy Inspector General, made the announcement after the plea was accepted by U.S. District Judge Leonie M. Brinkema. 

Matthews was charged by criminal information on April 11, 2013, with one count of conspiracy to commit bribery.  Matthews faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison when he is sentenced on July 19, 2013.    

Matthews served as Deputy Assistant Director for Operations for the DHS’s Federal Protective Services (FPS) and was later promoted to FPS Regional Director for the National Capital Region.  In the fall of 2011, Matthews agreed with Keith Hedman, an executive at an Arlington, Va., security service consulting company referred to as Company B in court records, that in exchange for a monthly payment from Company B and a percentage of any new business obtained, Matthews would use his position to help Company B find and win U.S. government contracts, including with FPS.  Matthews engaged in a series of official acts, including lobbying of government officials and sharing of information with Hedman, in an effort to obtain business for Hedman and Company B. In turn, Hedman and Company B paid Matthews three monthly payments totaling $12,500.

Hedman pleaded guilty on March 18, 2013, to conspiracy to commit bribery in connection with Matthews’ scheme, along with conspiracy to commit major government fraud as part of a separate scheme to fraudulently obtain more than $31 million in government contract payments that should have gone to disadvantaged small businesses.

This case was investigated by the Washington Field Office for the DHS Office of the Inspector General (OIG), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration OIG, the Small Business Administration OIG, the Defense Criminal Investigative Service, and the General Services Administration OIG. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Chad Golder and Ryan Faulconer  are prosecuting the case on behalf of the United States.

Ashraf Hassan-Gouda, a former resident of Mays Landing, N.J., pleaded guilty to one count of assisting in the preparation of a false federal individual income tax return, the Justice Department and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced today. Hassan-Gouda was charged by a federal indictment returned on March 27, 2007.

According to court documents, during 2003, Hassan-Gouda was the owner of Tax World, a tax preparation business located in Atlantic City, N.J. Hassan-Gouda prepared the false tax return for a client at his business.

The matter had been scheduled for trial beginning May 6, 2013 before U.S. District Court Chief Judge Jerome B. Simandle in Camden, N.J. Sentencing is scheduled for June 17, 2013. Hassan-Gouda faces a maximum potential sentence of three years imprisonment and a fine of up to $250,000.

Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Tax Division Kathryn Keneally thanked special agents of IRS - Criminal Investigation, for investigating the case, and Tax Division Trial Attorneys Yael Epstein, Thomas Voracek and Shawn Noud, who prosecuted the case.