District Not Recorded
The source did not name an office we could identify. These records remain unassigned rather than guessed.
Attorney General Barr's Holiday Message to the Department of JusticeRead the Press Release
As 2019 comes to a close, I wish to thank each and every one of you for your invaluable work at the Department of Justice. Public service is a special calling that requires sacrifice, and that sacrifice is deeply appreciated by me and the Department leadership.
It is the duty of our agency to keep the American people safe. On that front, we have many reasons to be proud of our work together. Over the past twelve months, we forged real progress that has bolstered the rule of law and improved innumerable lives throughout the country. We have reduced violent crime, delivered justice to members of vulnerable communities, made headway in the opioid crisis, and launched nationwide law enforcement initiatives. I appreciate the invaluable contributions that you, the men and women of the Department, have made to these efforts.
I would also like to express special gratitude to the men and women who put on a badge every day to protect us. There is no tougher job in this country than being a police officer or law enforcement agent. Many will work long hours through the holidays and away from their families so that we can live in peace and safety.
Sadly, this holiday season, there are families that will be without loved ones who gave the last full measure of devotion to protect us from those who would do us harm. I had the honor of meeting a number of those families this year, and I found their resolve inspiring and a shining example of the American spirit. Please join me in thanking them for their service and sacrifice.
I wish all of you health and happiness as we embark upon this new year. The coming year marks the Department’s 150th anniversary and we will celebrate this milestone with events and in other special ways to underscore our agency’s seminal role in American history, enforcing the law and preserving the way of life that has allowed for unprecedented freedom and human flourishing.
May we together arrive in the new year rejuvenated, eager to celebrate 150 years of justice, and ready to continue serving the country and the American people. Happy Hanukkah, Merry Christmas, and the happiest of holidays to you and your loved ones.
With gratitude and appreciation,
Bill Barr
Justice Department Files Lawsuit against Toledo Landlord who Subjected Women to Sexual HarassmentRead the Press Release
Today the Department of Justice filed a lawsuit in federal court alleging that a landlord violated the Fair Housing Act by sexually harassing several female tenants of rental properties in Toledo, Ohio. This is the 12th lawsuit alleging a pattern or practice of sexual harassment in housing that the Department has filed since it launched its Sexual Harassment in Housing Initiative in late 2017.
“Sexual harassment of women tenants by landlords and their agents violates the Fair Housing Act and, worse, destroys the ability of women and their families to live in peace and security. This illegal and despicable conduct inflicts emotional, psychic, and often physical pain and suffering on victims, including children,” said Assistant Attorney General Eric Dreiband. “Anyone who preys on women and their families should be on notice: the United States Department of Justice will continue aggressively to prosecute abusers and seek justice for the victims of cruel and inhumane sexual harassment.”
“Housing instability is a contributing factor to poverty, under education, and violent crime,” said U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio Justin Herdman. “This case and cases like these are designed to use every tool that we have on the federal level to ensure that tenants remain in housing free from fear that they will be harassed, assaulted, or subjected to conditions that are unlawful.”
The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio, alleges that from at least 2007 through the present, Anthony Hubbard sexually harassed female tenants of rental properties that he either owned or co-owned with three other defendants — Jeffery Hubbard, Anthony’s brother; Ann Hubbard, his mother; and Pay Up LLC. Anthony Hubbard acted as an agent for his three co-defendants while engaging in many of the various acts of harassment alleged in the complaint. The United States’ complaint alleges that Anthony Hubbard engaged in severe and pervasive sexual harassment that included making unwelcome sexual advances and comments and sending sexual text messages, videos, and photos to female tenants; offering to grant benefits — such as reducing security deposits, rent amounts, and waiving late fees — in exchange for sex or sexual acts; refusing to provide maintenance services or taking other adverse housing actions such as eviction against female tenants who objected to or refused his sexual advances; entering the homes of female tenants without their consent, and expressing a preference for renting to single female tenants.
In October 2017, the Justice Department launched an initiative to combat sexual harassment in housing. In April 2018, the Department announced the nationwide rollout of the initiative, including three major components: an outreach toolkit to leverage the Department’s nationwide network of U.S. Attorney’s Offices, a public awareness campaign, including the release of a national Public Service Announcement, and a new joint Task Force with HUD to combat sexual harassment in housing.
The lawsuit seeks monetary damages to compensate the victims, civil penalties, and a court order barring future discrimination.
Individuals who believe that they have information that is relevant to this case should contact the Department of Justice at 1-833-938-1375 or by email at [email protected]. Persons who have information about sexual harassment in other housing can contact the Justice Department’s Sexual Harassment in Housing Initiative by calling 1-844-380-6178, or through email at [email protected].
More information about the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division and the laws it enforces is available at http://www.justice.gov/crt.
Justice Department Settles Immigration-Related Discrimination Claim Against Staffing CompanyRead the Press Release
The Department of Justice announced today that it reached a settlement agreement with Adecco USA Inc. (Adecco), one of the largest staffing companies in the United States. The settlement resolves a claim that Adecco’s Gardena, California office violated the anti-discrimination provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) by discriminating against a lawful permanent resident and other work-authorized non-U.S. citizens when verifying their work authorization. The settlement also resolves allegations that when using employment eligibility verification (EEV) software, the company requested unnecessary work authorization documents from non-U.S. citizens because of their citizenship status.
“Employers must ensure that their onboarding software is compliant with relevant laws, and cannot make unnecessary demands for work authorization documents because of someone’s citizenship status,” said Assistant Attorney General Eric Dreiband of the Civil Rights Division. “We commend Adecco and are pleased that shortly after learning of the Department’s investigation, the company re-hired an affected worker before he missed work, and took additional steps to avoid unlawful discrimination.”
The Department’s investigation began when a lawful permanent resident complained about discrimination that occurred at Adecco’s Gardena, California location. Upon being hired, the worker showed the company his valid foreign passport with a stamp denoting his permanent resident status. Although this documentation is sufficient under federal law to establish identity and permission to work in the United States, the Adecco employee responsible for hiring the worker was unfamiliar with it, rejected the documentation, and asked the worker to present his permanent resident card instead. The worker did not have a permanent resident card so he went home upset that he would not be able to get the job even though he had permission to work in the United States. After the Department opened its investigation, Adecco took immediate corrective action and, among other things, hired the permanent resident without delay for the position he originally sought.
The Department’s investigation also revealed that an employee in Adecco’s Gardena office routinely requested that non-U.S. citizen new hires produce specific documentation issued by the Department of Homeland Security to prove their work authorization, even when they had already provided sufficient proof of their identity and work authorization. The Department also concluded that Adecco unnecessarily reverified the work authorization of certain non-U.S. citizen employees because of their immigration status. The Department’s investigation determined that the commercial EEV software Adecco used prompted Adecco employees to initiate unnecessary employment eligibility reverification based exclusively on workers’ citizenship status.
Federal law allows all work-authorized individuals, regardless of citizenship or immigration status, to choose which valid, legally acceptable documents to present to demonstrate their ability to work in the United States. Moreover, under the anti-discrimination provision of the INA, employers cannot request more or different documents than necessary to prove work authorization because of employees’ citizenship, immigration status, or national origin.
Under the settlement, Adecco will pay $67,778 in civil penalties to the United States, ensure that its Form I-9 software complies with all relevant rules and regulations, and submit to departmental monitoring and reporting requirements. Additionally, Adecco will ensure that relevant employees attend a training the Civil Rights Division approves and take a knowledge assessment tool to demonstrate their understanding of relevant rules.
The Division’s Immigrant and Employee Rights Section (IER) is responsible for enforcing the anti-discrimination provision of the INA. Among other things, the statute prohibits citizenship, immigration status and national origin discrimination in hiring, firing, or recruitment or referral for a fee; unfair documentary practices; retaliation and intimidation.
More information on how employers can avoid discrimination in the Form I-9 and E-Verify processes is available here. For information about protections against employment discrimination under immigration laws, call IER’s worker hotline at 1-800-255-7688 (1-800-237-2515, TTY for hearing impaired); call IER’s employer hotline at 1-800-255-8155 (1-800-237-2515, TTY for hearing impaired); sign up for a free webinar; email [email protected]; or visit IER’s English and Spanish websites. Subscribe to GovDelivery to receive updates from IER.
Applicants or employees who believe they were subjected to discrimination based on their citizenship, immigration status, or national origin in hiring, firing, or recruitment or referral for a fee; discrimination in the employment eligibility verification process (Form I-9 and E-Verify) based on their citizenship, immigration status, or national origin; or retaliation can file a charge or contact IER’s worker hotline for assistance.
Justice Department Examines Priority Needs of Forensic Laboratories and Medical Examiner and Coroner OfficesRead the Press Release
The Office of Justice Programs’ National Institute of Justice (NIJ) today published the findings of a two-year assessment that examined the personnel, workload and equipment needs of public crime laboratories and medical examiner and coroner offices.
“A strong network of crime labs, medical examiners and coroners is central to a well-functioning justice system,” said Office of Justice Programs Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Katharine T. Sullivan. “This report serves as a blueprint for federal, state, local and tribal officials as they work to build their forensic capabilities, staff their agencies and apply evidence-based practices to their most pressing public safety challenges.”
The Department of Justice’s Needs Assessment of Forensic Laboratories and Medical Examiner and Coroner Offices provides guidance and possible solutions through promising and evidence-based practices to address needs identified from stakeholders and experts from the field. It also addresses special topics such the opioid crisis, digital and multimedia evidence, sexual assault casework, forensics for tribal communities, and mass disaster and critical incident preparedness.
The report emphasizes the importance of systems-based approaches involving coordination and collaboration between forensic laboratories, law enforcement, legal professionals and other stakeholders. The report also identifies ways to address the challenges faced by forensics laboratories, such as sufficient and consistent funding; strategies and approaches to addressing staffing and personnel shortages; and activities to support the advancement of quality assurance programs.
To assess topics, NIJ held listening sessions with forensic science professionals and subject matter experts from forensic disciplines across the criminal justice system to inform and provide recommendations to the report. The feedback from the listening sessions, stakeholder comments and literature reviews were compiled into the assessment.
This assessment is a product of the Department’s ongoing mission to facilitate coordination and collaboration on forensic science within the Department, across the federal government, and with state, local and tribal entities.
To view the report, see https://www.justice.gov/olp/forensic-science#needs
More information on NIJ’s programs is located here: www.nij.ojp.gov.
The Office of Justice Programs, directed by Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Katharine T. Sullivan, provides federal leadership, grants, training and technical assistance, and other resources to improve the nation’s capacity to prevent and reduce crime, assist victims and enhance the rule of law by strengthening the criminal and juvenile justice systems. More information about OJP and its components can be found at www.ojp.gov.
Justice Department Announces Addendum to Swiss Bank Program Category 2 Non-Prosecution Agreement with Coutts & Co Ltd.Read the Press Release
The Department of Justice announced today that it has signed an Addendum to a non-prosecution agreement with Coutts & Co Ltd. (Coutts), a private Swiss bank headquartered in Zurich. The original non-prosecution agreement was signed on Dec. 23, 2015. At that time, Coutts reported that it held and managed 1,337 U.S. related accounts, with assets under management exceeding $2 billion, and paid a penalty of $78,484,000. In reaching today’s agreement, Coutts acknowledges that it should have disclosed additional U.S.-related accounts to the Department at the time of the signing of the non-prosecution agreement.
“This agreement reflects our commitment to ensuring that foreign banks that participated in the Swiss Bank Program fully comply with their obligations to disclose accounts in which U.S. taxpayers have direct or indirect interests,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Richard E. Zuckerman of the Justice Department’s Tax Division. “When any person or entity makes false, incomplete, or misleading disclosures to the Department, the Department will hold those persons or entities accountable.”
The Swiss Bank Program, which was announced on Aug. 29, 2013, provided a path for Swiss banks to resolve potential criminal liabilities in the United States relating to offshore banking services provided to United States taxpayers. Swiss banks eligible to enter the program were required to advise the Department by Dec. 31, 2013, that they had reason to believe that they had committed tax-related criminal offenses in connection with undeclared U.S.-related accounts. As participants in the program, they were required to make a complete disclosure of their cross-border activities, provide detailed information on an account-by-account basis for accounts in which U.S. taxpayers had a direct or indirect interest, cooperate in treaty requests for account information, and provide detailed information about the transfer of funds into and out of U.S.-related accounts, including undeclared accounts, that identifies the sending and receiving banks involved in the transactions.
The Department executed non-prosecution agreements with 80 banks between March 2015 and January 2016. The Department imposed a total of more than $1.36 billion in Swiss Bank Program penalties. Pursuant to today’s agreement, Coutts will pay an additional sum of $27,900,000 and will provide supplemental information regarding its U.S.-related account population, which now includes 311 additional accounts.
Every bank that signed a non-prosecution agreement in the Swiss Bank Program had represented that it had disclosed all known U.S.-related accounts that were open at each bank between Aug. 1, 2008, and Dec. 31, 2014. Each bank also represented that it would, during the term of the non-prosecution agreement, continue to disclose all material information relating to its U.S.-related accounts. In reaching today’s agreement, Coutts acknowledges that there were additional U.S.-related accounts that it knew about, or should have known about, but that were not disclosed to the Department at the time of the signing of the non-prosecution agreement. Coutts has fully cooperated with the Department with respect to the additional U.S.-related accounts.
Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Zuckerman thanked Thomas J. Sawyer, Senior Counsel for International Tax Matters and Coordinator of the Swiss Bank Program, Senior Litigation Counsel Nanette L. Davis, and Attorney Kimberle E. Dodd of the Tax Division.
Additional information about the Tax Division and its enforcement efforts may be found on the division’s website.
Freeport Men Sentenced to Prison on Drug Trafficking ChargesRead the Press Release
ROCKFORD — Two Freeport men were sentenced today in federal court in Rockford on drug trafficking charges.
TERRANCE YOUNG, 46, was sentenced by U.S. District Chief Judge Rebecca R. Pallmeyer to seven and a half years in federal prison. Young pleaded guilty on Sept. 13, 2019, to possessing cocaine with intent to distribute. In a written plea agreement, Young admitted that on Aug. 30, 2018, law enforcement officers executed a search warrant at his home. During the search, officers located and seized approximately 5.5 grams of cocaine in a plastic bag inside of a kitchen cupboard, as well as other drug paraphernalia. Young acknowledged that the cocaine in the cupboard belonged to him and that he possessed it with the intent to distribute it to others. In the dining room adjacent to the kitchen, officers located $3,743 in cash. Young also acknowledged that the cash belonged to him and that it came from the proceeds of drug sales. Young further admitted that he sold cocaine on July 14, 2017, Aug. 15, 2017, Dec. 4, 2017, and Aug. 7, 2018.
In a separate but related case, KYRAN WILLIAMS, 25, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Philip G. Reinhard to nine years and three months in federal prison. Williams pleaded guilty on Sept. 17, 2019, to possessing crack cocaine with intent to distribute, possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, and illegally possessing a firearm as a felon. In a written plea agreement, Williams admitted that on Aug. 30, 2018, law enforcement officers executed a search warrant at Williams’s home in Freeport. Officers found and seized two guns, one with an extended magazine containing 31 rounds and the other with an obliterated serial number, as well as ammunition, a plastic baggie containing crack cocaine, and other drug paraphernalia. Williams also admitted he illegally possessed the firearms as a convicted felon and that he possessed the guns and ammunition found during the search to protect his drug stash and himself during his drug trafficking activity. Williams also admitted that he engaged in drug transactions and sold heroin on April 11, 2017, May 31, 2017, and April 11, 2018, and sold a substance containing both heroin and fentanyl on June 13, 2018.
The sentencings were announced by John R. Lausch, Jr., United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; Emmerson Buie, Jr., Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago office of the FBI; Brendan F. Kelly, Director of the Illinois State Police; and Matt Summers, Freeport Police Chief. The investigation was conducted by the Rockford Area Violent Gang Task Force, the Stateline Area Narcotics Team (“SLANT”), and the Freeport Police Department. The Rockford Area Violent Gang Task Force is led by the FBI and includes members of the FBI and the Rockford, Loves Park, and Freeport police departments. SLANT is a task force led by the Illinois State Police. The government was represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Margaret J. Schneider.
Executive Office for Immigration Review to Swear in 28 Immigration Judges, Bringing Judge Corps to Highest Level in HistoryRead the Press Release
The Executive Office for Immigration Review will invest 28 new immigration judges today, bringing the immigration judge corps to its highest level in history with more than 465 immigration judges on the bench. Principal Deputy Associate Attorney General Claire McCusker Murray will deliver opening remarks and Acting Chief Immigration Judge Christopher A. Santoro will preside over the investiture during a ceremony at the Department of Justice’s Great Hall in the District of Columbia.
After a thorough application process, Attorney General William Barr appointed Susan F. Aikman, Amelia C. Anderson, Dale E. Anderson, Philip A. Barr, Bianca H. Brown, Kevin L. Brown, Brian H. Burke, Jennifer Chung, Miguel A. Cordero-Gonzalez, James J. Crofts, Diane L. Dodd, Sheila E. Gallow, Andrea H. Hong, Lily C. Hsu, Bruce D. Imbacuan, Samia Naseem, David A. Norkin, Christopher V. Phan, Eugene H. Robinson, Marna M. Rusher, Jeremy J. Santoro, John J. Siemietkowski, Rantideva Singh, Philip P. Taylor, Gilda M. Terrazas, Ubaid ul-Haq, Lynn W. Wang, and Matthew H. Watters to their new positions.
Biographical information follows:
Susan F. Aikman, Immigration Judge, Batavia Immigration Court
Attorney General Barr appointed Susan F. Aikman to begin hearing cases in January 2020. Judge Aikman earned a Bachelor of Arts in 1994 from Ashland University and a Juris Doctor in 1999 from the University of Toledo, College of Law. From 2018 to 2019, she served as a deputy chief counsel, Office of Chief Counsel (OCC), Office of the Principal Legal Advisor (OPLA), Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in Dilley and Pearsall, Texas. From 2015 to 2018, she served as an assistant chief counsel, OCC, OPLA, ICE, DHS, in Pearsall, Texas. From 2005 to 2015, she served as asylum officer, refugee officer, and field office director with Refugee, Asylum, and International Operations (RAIO), U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), DHS, in the U.S. and international locations. From 1999 to 2005, she was an associate attorney with the Law Offices of David Goren LLC, in Silver Spring, Maryland. Judge Aikman is a member of the District of Columbia Bar
Amelia C. Anderson, Immigration Judge, Otay Mesa Immigration Court
Attorney General Barr appointed Amelia C. Anderson to begin hearing cases in January 2020. Judge Anderson earned a Bachelor of Arts in 2005 from the University of Notre Dame and a Juris Doctor in 2009 from DePaul University College of Law. From 2010 to 2019, she served as an assistant chief counsel, Office of Chief Counsel, Office of the Principal Legal Advisor, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Department of Homeland Security, in San Diego. From 2017 to 2018, she served as a special assistant U.S. attorney at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California, in San Diego. From 2009 to 2010, she served as an attorney advisor at the San Diego Immigration Court, Executive Office for Immigration Review, Department of Justice. Judge Anderson is a member of the Illinois State Bar.
Dale E. Anderson, Immigration Judge, Los Angeles Immigration Court
Attorney General Barr appointed Dale E. Anderson to begin hearing cases in January 2020. Judge Anderson earned a Bachelor of Science in 1987 from the U.S. Naval Academy, a Juris Doctor in 1994 from Pepperdine University School of Law, and a Master of Laws in 1997 from the University of San Diego School of Law. From 2016 to 2019, he served as a trial attorney for the Office of International Affairs, Criminal Division, Department of Justice (DOJ). From 2009 to 2016, and previously from 2002 to 2004, he served as a supervisory attorney advisor and attorney advisor for the Board of Immigration Appeals, Executive Office for Immigration Review, DOJ. From 2000 to 2002, he served as an assistant district counsel with the former Immigration and Naturalization Service, DOJ, in Imperial, California. From 2004 to 2009, and previously from 1994 to 2000, he served as a judge advocate for the U.S. Marine Corps at the following locations: Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego; Washington Navy Yard, District of Columbia; Headquarters Marine Corps, Arlington, Virginia; Kabul, Afghanistan; and Al Anbar, Iraq. From 1988 to 1991, he served as an intelligence officer for the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, in El Toro, California, and Tanajib, Saudi Arabia. Judge Anderson is a member of the State Bar of California.
Philip A. Barr, Immigration Judge, Atlanta, Ted Turner Drive Immigration Court
Attorney General Barr appointed Philip A. Barr to begin hearing cases in January 2020. Judge Barr earned a Bachelor of Arts in 1984 from University of Texas at Austin and a Juris Doctor in 2003 from Birmingham School of Law. From 2015 to 2019, he served as an assistant chief counsel, Office of Chief Counsel (OCC), Office of the Principal Legal Advisor (OPLA), Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Department of Homeland Security (DHS), in Atlanta. From 2010 to 2015, he served as an assistant chief counsel, OCC, OPLA, ICE, DHS, in Port Isabel and San Antonio, Texas. From 2004 to 2010, he was an immigration and criminal defense attorney in private practice in Birmingham, Alabama. Judge Barr is a member of the Alabama State Bar and State Bar of Texas.
Bianca H. Brown, Immigration Judge, Stewart Immigration Court
Attorney General Barr appointed Bianca H. Brown to begin hearing cases in January 2020. Judge Brown earned a Bachelor of Science and Master of Business Administration in 2005 from Florida A&M University, and a Juris Doctor in 2011 from Wake Forest University School of Law. From 2018 to 2019, she served as a deputy chief counsel, Office of Chief Counsel (OCC), Office of the Principal Legal Advisor (OPLA), Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Department of Homeland Security (DHS), in Lumpkin, Georgia. From 2011 to 2018, she served as an assistant chief counsel, OCC, OPLA, ICE, DHS, in Lumpkin, Georgia. Judge Brown is a member of the District of Columbia Bar and North Carolina State Bar.
Kevin L. Brown, Immigration Judge, Houston, S. Gessner Road Immigration Court
Attorney General Barr appointed Kevin L. Brown to begin hearing cases in January 2020. Judge Brown earned a Bachelor of Science in 1993 from Virginia Tech, a Master of Science in 1996 from Grambling State University, a Juris Doctor in 1999 from Wake Forest University School of Law, and a Master of Laws in 2007 from the Judge Advocate General’s Legal Center and School, U.S. Army. From 2016 to 2019, he served as an assistant chief counsel, Office of Chief Counsel, Office of the Principal Legal Advisor, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Department of Homeland Security, in San Antonio, Texas. From 1999 to 2016, he served as a judge advocate for the U.S. Army in the following locations: Fort Gordon, Georgia; Fort Bragg, North Carolina; Karshi-Khanabad, Uzbekistan; Charlottesville, Virginia; Fort Campbell, Kentucky; Tikrit, Iraq; Fort Irwin, California; Suffolk, Virginia; and Fort Sam, Houston, Texas. Judge Brown is a member of the State Bar of Georgia.
Brian H. Burke, Immigration Judge, Los Angeles, Van Nuys Blvd. Immigration Court
Attorney General Barr appointed Brian H. Burke to begin hearing cases in January 2020. Judge Burke earned a Bachelor of Arts in 1989 from the University of Pittsburgh and a Juris Doctor in 1992 from the University of Dayton School of Law. From 2017 to 2019, he was the chief judge for the Morongo Band of Mission Indians, in California. From 2013 to 2019, he was the chief judge for the Ak-Chin Indian Community, in Maricopa, Arizona. From 2010 to 2013, he was the tribal prosecutor for the Ak-Chin Indian Community, in Maricopa, Arizona. From 2009 to 2010, he was a deputy defense attorney for the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community, in Scottsdale, Arizona. From 2006 to 2009, he was the managing attorney for Community Legal Services, in Kingman, Arizona. From 2003 to 2006, he was a rights attorney for the Nevada Disability Advocacy and Law Center, in Las Vegas. From 2000 to 2003, he was assistant public defender for the Beaver County Public Defender’s Office, in Beaver, Pennsylvania. From 1999 to 2000, he was a staff attorney for Appalachian Legal Services, in Charleston, West Virginia. From 1992 to 1995, and 1997 to 1998, he served as assistant district attorney for the Beaver County District Attorney’s Office. Judge Burke is a member of the Arizona State Bar and the Pennsylvania State Bar.
Jennifer Chung, Immigration Judge, New York, Federal Plaza Immigration Court
Attorney General Barr appointed Jennifer Chung to begin hearing cases in January 2020. Judge Chung earned a Bachelor of Arts in 2004 from St. John’s University and a Juris Doctor in 2007 from Hofstra University School of Law. From 2008 to 2019, she worked as a managing attorney at Christophe Law Group P.C., in New York. Judge Chung is a member of the New York State Bar.
Miguel A. Cordero-Gonzalez, Immigration Judge, Houston, S. Gessner Road Immigration Court
Attorney General Barr appointed Miguel A. Cordero-Gonzalez to begin hearing cases in January 2020. Judge Cordero-Gonzalez earned a Bachelor of Science in 1990 from the University of Puerto Rico and a Juris Doctor in 1993 from the Pontifical Catholic University School of Law. From 2010 to 2019, he served as a state trial court judge, in Puerto Rico. From 1996 to 2019, he served as a judge advocate for the U.S Army Reserve, in Fort Buchanan, Puerto Rico and Camp Speicher, Iraq, culminating in a current rank of lieutenant colonel. From 2015 to 2016, he served as a senior defense counsel for the 154th Trial Defense Team, Southeast region in Fort Buchanan, Puerto Rico. From 1995 to 2009, he was in private practice. From 1994 to 1995, he served as an assistant to the secretary of the Puerto Rico Department of Consumer Affairs Office. Judge Cordero is a member of the State Bar of Puerto Rico.
James J. Crofts, Immigration Judge, Atlanta, Ted Turner Drive Immigration Court
Attorney General Barr appointed James J. Crofts to begin hearing cases in January 2020. Judge Crofts earned a Bachelor of Arts in 1991 from Boston University and a Juris Doctor in 1999 from St. John’s University School of Law. From 2016 to 2019, he served as an assistant chief counsel, Office of Chief Counsel, Office of the Principal Legal Advisor, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Department of Homeland Security, in Atlanta. From 2000 to 2016, he served as an assistant district attorney with the Office of the Bronx District Attorney, in Bronx, New York. Since 2012, he has also served as a judge advocate for the U.S. Army Reserve. Judge Crofts is a member of the State Bar of New York.
Diane L. Dodd, Immigration Judge, New York, Federal Plaza Immigration Court
Attorney General Barr appointed Diane L. Dodd to begin hearing cases in January 2020. Judge Dodd earned a Bachelor of Arts in 1982 from the University of Georgia and a Juris Doctor in 1990 from Lewis and Clark College, Northwestern School of Law. From 2016 to 2019, she served as a special assistant U.S. attorney for the District of Minnesota, Department of Justice, in Minneapolis. From 2010 to 2019, she served as an assistant chief counsel, Office of Chief Counsel, Office of the Principal Legal Advisor, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Department of Homeland Security. From 1999 to 2010, she served as an assistant district attorney in the District Attorney’s Office, in Brunswick, Georgia. Judge Dodd is a member of the Georgia State Bar.
Sheila E. Gallow, Immigration Judge, Atlanta, Ted Turner Drive Immigration Court
Attorney General Barr appointed Sheila E. Gallow to begin hearing cases in January 2020. Judge Gallow earned a Bachelor of Arts in 2003 from Auburn University and a Juris Doctor in 2006 from Samford University, Cumberland School of Law. From 2016 to 2019, she served as an assistant chief counsel, Office of Chief Counsel, Office of the Principal Legal Advisor, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Department of Homeland Security, in Atlanta. From 2011 to 2016, she served as the chief assistant district attorney in the Atlanta Judicial Circuit. From 2007 to 2011, she served as an assistant attorney general with the Office of Georgia Attorney General, in Atlanta. Since 2012, she has also served as a judge advocate with the U.S. Army Reserves, serving as an administrative law attorney, trial counsel, legal advisor for FEMA Region IV, and brigade judge advocate in the following locations: Fort Bragg, North Carolina; Fort Gordon, Georgia; and Fort Benning, Georgia. Judge Gallow is a member of the State Bar of Georgia.
Andrea H. Hong, Immigration Judge, Los Angeles Immigration Court
Attorney General Barr appointed Andrea H. Hong to begin hearing cases in January 2020. Judge Hong earned a Bachelor of Science in 1996 from Case Western Reserve University and a Juris Doctor in 1999 from the University of Akron, School of Law. From 2009 to 2019, she served as an assistant chief counsel, Office of Chief Counsel, Office of the Principal Legal Advisor, Immigration Customs Enforcement, Department of Homeland Security, in Los Angeles.
From 2006 to 2009, she served as a deputy district attorney with the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office, in Riverside, California. From 2001 to 2004, she served as an assistant prosecutor with the Summit County Prosecutor’s Office, in Akron, Ohio. From 1999 to 2001, she served as an assistant city prosecutor with the Akron City Prosecutor’s Office, in Akron, Ohio. Judge Hong is a member of the State Bar of California.
Lily C. Hsu, Immigration Judge, Los Angeles North Immigration Court
Attorney General Barr appointed Lily C. Hsu to begin hearing cases in January 2020. Judge Hsu earned a Bachelor of Science in 1996 from University of California, Berkeley, and a Juris Doctor in 2000 from California Western School of Law. From 2006 to 2019, she served as an assistant chief counsel, Office of Chief Counsel, Office of the Principal Legal Advisor, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Department of Homeland Security (DHS), in Los Angeles. From 2009 to 2011, she served as a special assistant U.S. attorney at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California, in Los Angeles. From 2004 to 2006, she served as an asylum officer with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, DHS, in Anaheim, California. From 2001 to 2004, she was an associate attorney at Reeves and Associates ALPC. Judge Hsu is a member of the State Bar of California.
Bruce D. Imbacuan, Immigration Judge, Cleveland Immigration Court
Attorney General Barr appointed Bruce D. Imbacuan to begin hearing cases in January 2020. Judge Imbacuan earned a Bachelor of Arts in 1994 from Suffolk University and a Juris Doctor in 1998 from Temple University School of Law. From 2007 to 2019, he served as an assistant chief counsel, Office of Chief Counsel, Office of the Principal Legal Advisor, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Department of Homeland Security, in Cleveland. From 2005 to 2007, he served as a housing court magistrate for the Cleveland Municipal Housing Court. From 2002 to 2005, he served as an assistant prosecuting prosecutor with the City of Cleveland’s Prosecutor’s Office. From 1998 to 2002, he was a staff attorney for the Legal Aid Society of Cleveland. Judge Imbacuan is a member of the Ohio State Bar.
Samia Naseem, Immigration Judge, Chicago Immigration Court
Attorney General Barr appointed Samia Naseem to begin hearing cases in January 2020. Judge Naseem earned a Bachelor of Arts in 2001 from Simmons College and a Juris Doctor in 2004 from The George Washington University Law School. From 2010 to 2019, she served as an assistant chief counsel, Office of Chief Counsel, Office of the Principal Legal Advisor, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Department of Homeland Security, in New York City and Chicago. From 2007 to 2010, Judge Naseem served as a trial attorney with the Office of Immigration Litigation, Department of Justice, in the District of Columbia. From 2005 to 2007, she served as an attorney at the Law Offices of Khalid Naseem, in Boylston, Massachusetts. From 2004 to 2005, Judge Naseem served as a law clerk for the Honorable Judith N. Macaluso, in the District of Columbia. Judge Naseem is a member of the New York State Bar.
David A. Norkin, Immigration Judge, New York, Varick Immigration Court
Attorney General Barr appointed David A. Norkin to begin hearing cases in January 2020. Judge Norkin earned a Bachelor of Arts in 1995 from Bates College and a Juris Doctor in 1999 from The George Washington University Law School. In 2019, he served as court administrator for the Fishkill, Ulster, and Varick immigration courts. From 1999 to 2016, he served as a judge advocate, defense counsel, prosecutor, special assistant U.S. attorney, and appellate military judge in the following locations: Naval Base San Diego, California; Naval Station Pearl Harbor, Hawaii; Fleet Activities Yokosuka, Japan; and Washington Navy Yard, District of Columbia. Judge Norkin is a member of the Hawaii State Bar, Maryland State Bar, and New York State Bar.
Christopher V. Phan, Immigration Judge, Sacramento Immigration Court
Attorney General Barr appointed Christopher V. Phan to begin hearing cases in January 2020. Judge Phan earned a Bachelor of Arts in 1996 from Indiana University-Purdue University, Indianapolis, and a Juris Doctor in 1999 from Southern Illinois University. From 2000 to 2019, he served as a judge advocate for the U.S. Navy in the following locations: Earle, New Jersey; Yokosuka, Japan; San Diego, California; Portsmouth, Virginia; The Pentagon, District of Columbia; Fort Worth, Texas; and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. From 2012 to 2016, he served as a city council member, in Garden Grove, California, and as deputy district attorney, in Orange County, California. He is currently a commander in the U.S. Navy Reserve. Judge Phan is a member of the California State Bar, State Bar of Illinois, and State Bar of Texas.
Eugene H. Robinson, Immigration Judge, Imperial Immigration Court
Attorney General Barr appointed Eugene H. Robinson Jr. to begin hearing cases in January 2020. Judge Robinson earned a Bachelor of Science in 1987 from University of South Carolina, a Juris Doctor in 1990 from Howard University School of Law, and a Master of Laws in 2002 from the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General’s Legal Center and School. From 2018 to 2019, he served as the deputy chief for hearings in the State Office of Administrative Hearings for the State of Texas. From 2012 to 2018, he served as a military judge in Okinawa, Japan and Camp Pendleton, California. From 2011 to 2012, he was the staff judge advocate for 3d Marine Logistics Group, Okinawa, Japan. From 2005 to 2011, he served as a military judge in the Western Judicial Circuit, Camp Pendleton, California, and as deputy chief trial judge for the U.S. Navy-Marine Corps Trial Judiciary at the Washington Navy Yard, District of Columbia. From 1991 to 2005, he served a judge advocate in the following locations: Marine Corps Air Station, Yuma, Arizona; 3d Marine Expeditionary Force, Okinawa, Japan; Marine Forces Reserve, New Orleans; Washington Navy Yard, District of Columbia; and Camp Pendleton, California. Judge Robinson is a member of the Pennsylvania State Bar, District of Columbia Bar, and State Bar of Texas.
Marna M. Rusher, Immigration Judge, Boston Immigration Court
Attorney General Barr appointed Marna M. Rusher to begin hearing cases in January 2020. Judge Rusher earned a Bachelor of Science in 1972 from the University of Bridgeport and a Juris Doctor in 2001 from the University of Syracuse, School of Law. From 2007 to 2019, she served as an assistant chief counsel, Office of Chief Counsel, Office of the Principal Legal Advisor, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Department of Homeland Security, in Boston. From 2005 to 2007, she was a civil litigation associate for Murphy & Riley P.C. From 2002 to 2005, she served as an assistant district attorney, in Middlesex County, Massachusetts. Judge Rusher is a member of the Massachusetts State Bar.
Jeremy J. Santoro, Immigration Judge, Cleveland Immigration Court
Attorney General Barr appointed Jeremy J. Santoro to begin hearing cases in January 2020. Judge Santoro earned a Bachelor of Science in 1996 from Bowling Green State University and a Juris Doctor in 2001 from the University of Toledo, College of Law. From 2010 to 2019, he served as an assistant chief counsel, Office of Chief Counsel (OCC), Office of the Principal Legal Advisor (OPLA), Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Department of Homeland Security (DHS), in Cleveland. From 2009 to 2010, he served as an assistant chief counsel, OCC, OPLA, ICE, DHS, in Detroit. From 2006 to 2015, he served as a judge advocate for the Ohio Army National Guard, in Columbus, Ohio. From 2002 to 2009, he served as an assistant prosecutor with the Lucas County Prosecutor’s Office, in Toledo, Ohio. From 2001 to 2002, he was an associate attorney with Faulkner, Garmhausen, Keister & Shenk L.P.A., in Sidney, Ohio. Judge Santoro is a member of the Ohio State Bar.
John J. Siemietkowski, Immigration Judge, New York, Federal Plaza Immigration Court
Attorney General Barr appointed John J. Siemietkowski to begin hearing cases in January 2020. Judge Siemietkowski earned a Bachelor of Arts in 1984 from Georgetown University, a Juris Doctor in 1987 from Catholic University, and a Masters of Law in 2000 from the Army Judge Advocate General’s School. From 2002 to November 2019, Judge Siemietkowski worked as a trial attorney at the Commercial Litigation Branch, Department of Justice, in the District of Columbia. From June to December 2018, he served as the U.S. deputy justice attaché to Afghanistan. In 2018, Judge Siemietkowski retired from the Army after a nearly 30-year career as an active duty and reserve JAG attorney. His military career spanned tours as a prosecutor, defense counsel, and trial judge. He taught at the Army JAG School, initially as a professor of Government Contracts & Fiscal Law, and later as a professor of Criminal Law and Trial Advocacy. In his last tour, from October 2016 to September 2017, he served in Kabul as the military coalition’s counter-corruption director. Judge Siemietkowski is a member of the Pennsylvania State Bar, State Bar of Texas, and Virginia State Bar.
Rantideva Singh, Immigration Judge, New York, Federal Plaza Immigration Court
Attorney General Barr appointed Rantideva Singh to begin hearing cases in January 2020. Judge Singh earned a Bachelor of Science in 2002 from John J. College of Criminal Justice and a Juris Doctor in 2005 from Boston University School of Law. From 2011 to 2019, he served as an administrative law judge with the New York State Office of Children and Family Services, in New York City. From 2009 to 2011, he served as a trial attorney with the New York City Administration for Children’s Services in Bronx Family Court. From 2007 to 2009, he served as a supervising attorney with the New York City Department of Homeless Services. From 1997 to 2002, he served as a police officer in the New York City Police Department. Judge Singh is a member of the Connecticut State Bar and New York State Bar.
Philip P. Taylor, Immigration Judge, Atlanta, Ted Turner Drive Immigration Court
Attorney General Barr appointed Philip P. Taylor to begin hearing cases in January 2020. Judge Taylor earned a Bachelor of Arts in 1986 from LeMoyne College, a Juris Doctor in 1989 from Emory University School of Law, a Master of Judicial Studies in 2007 from University of Nevada, Reno, and a Doctor of Philosophy in Judicial Studies in 2012 from University of Nevada, Reno. From 2000 to 2019, Judge Taylor served as chief municipal judge for the City of Kennesaw, Acworth, Powder Springs, and Woodstock, Georgia. From 1996 to 2016, Judge Taylor served as magistrate judge, in Cobb County, Georgia. From 1989 to 2012, he was in private practice at Webb, Carlock, Copeland, Semler & Star; Hopkins & Taylor L.L.P.; and The Taylor Firm P.C. Judge Taylor is member of the Georgia State Bar.
Gilda M. Terrazas, Immigration Judge, Sacramento Immigration Court
Attorney General Barr appointed Gilda M. Terrazas to begin hearing cases in January 2020. Judge Terrazas earned a Bachelor of Arts in 1976 and a Master of Arts in 1982, both from The University of Arizona, and a Juris Doctor in 1988 from The University of Arizona, James E. Rogers College of Law. From 2010 to 2019, she served as an assistant chief counsel, Office of Chief Counsel, Office of the Principal Legal Advisor, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Department of Homeland Security, in Phoenix and Tucson, Arizona. From 2008 to 2010, she served as a public defender in Cochise County, Arizona. From 1995 to 2008, she served as a municipal and tribal court judge, in Tucson, Arizona. From 1988 to 1995, she was in private practice in civil and criminal litigation. Judge Terrazas is a member of the State Bar of Arizona.
Ubaid ul-Haq, Immigration Judge, Ulster Immigration Court
Attorney General Barr appointed Ubaid ul-Haq to begin hearing cases in January 2020. Judge Haq earned a Bachelor of Arts in 2005 from the University of Virginia, a Juris Doctor in 2010 from Nova Southeastern University, and a Master of Laws in 2011 from American University Washington College of Law. In 2019, he served as a trial attorney with the Office of Immigration Litigation’s (OIL) Appellate Court Section, Civil Division, Department of Justice (DOJ), in the District of Columbia. From 2014 to 2019, he served as a trial attorney with OIL’s District Court Section, Civil Division, DOJ. Since 2016, he has also served as a judge advocate with the U.S. Army Reserve, in Alexandria, Virginia. In 2014, he served as an associate legal advisor, Executive Communications Unit, Office of Chief Counsel (OCC), Office of the Principal Legal Advisor (OPLA), Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Department of Homeland Security (DHS), in the District of Columbia. From 2011 to 2014, he served as an assistant chief counsel, OPLA-San Antonio, ICE, DHS, in Pearsall, Texas. Judge Haq is a member of the Florida State Bar.
Lynn W. Wang, Immigration Judge, Houston Immigration Court
Attorney General Barr appointed Lynn W. Wang to begin hearing cases in January 2020. Judge Wang earned a Bachelor of Science in 1995 from University of Houston and a Juris Doctor in 2000 from South Texas College of Law. From 2018 to 2019, she served as an assistant chief counsel, Office of Chief Counsel, Office of the Principal Legal Advisor, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Department of Homeland Security, in San Antonio. From 2015 to 2018, she served as an assistant U.S. attorney with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas, in McAllen, Texas. From 2007 to 2015, she served as an assistant U.S. attorney with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Mexico, in Albuquerque, New Mexico. From 2004 to 2006, she served as an assistant district attorney for the State of New Mexico. From 2001 to 2004, she was in private practice. Judge Wang is a member of the New Mexico State Bar and Texas State Bar.
Matthew H. Watters, Immigration Judge, York Immigration Court
Attorney General Barr appointed Matthew H. Watters to begin hearing cases in January 2020. Judge Watters earned a Bachelor of Arts in 1999 from Canisius College and a Juris Doctor in 2002 from Pennsylvania State University, Dickinson School of Law. He currently serves as a judge advocate in the U.S. Army Reserve and as a deputy commander in the U.S. Army Reserve Legal Command. From 2010 to 2019, he served as an assistant U.S. attorney and supervisory assistant U.S. attorney in the Western District of Texas, culminating as chief of the Del Rio Division. From 2003 to 2010, Judge Watters served as a judge advocate for the U.S. Army in the following locations: Fort Polk, Louisiana; Camp Stanley, Republic of Korea; Schofield Barracks and Fort Shafter, Hawaii; Parwan and Kandahar, Afghanistan; and Tikrit, Iraq. Judge Watters is a member of the Pennsylvania State Bar.
Three Men Extradited for Overseeing Call Centers that Threatened and Defrauded Spanish-Speaking U.S. ConsumersRead the Press Release
Three Peruvian men were extradited today to the United States, where they stand accused of operating a large fraud and extortion scheme, the Department of Justice and U.S. Postal Inspection Service announced.
Johnny Enso Hidalgo Marchan, 40, of Lima, Peru; Francesco Flabio Guerra Perez, 24, of Lima, Peru; and Rodolfo Hermoza Vega, 45, of Cajamarca, Peru, will face federal charges in Miami, Florida. The three men were arrested on July 28, 2016, by Peruvian authorities based on a U.S. indictment. All three have remained incarcerated in Peru since that time.
“The Department of Justice’s Consumer Protection Branch will pursue and prosecute transnational criminals who defraud U.S. consumers, wherever they are,” said Assistant Attorney General Jody Hunt for the Department of Justice’s Civil Division. “Those who target and threaten U.S. consumers by phone will not escape justice by placing their calls from abroad. I thank the Republic of Peru for extraditing these individuals to face charges here in the United States.”
“Individuals who defraud American consumers will be brought to justice, no matter where they are located,” said U.S. Attorney Ariana Fajardo Orshan for the Southern District of Florida. “Protecting the elderly and vulnerable members of our community from schemes, such as this one, is a top priority of this Office and the Department of Justice.”
“The U.S. Postal Inspection Service will not allow overseas criminal enterprises to illegally enrich themselves by using the mail to defraud consumers in the United States,” said Miami Division Inspector in Charge, Antonio J. Gomez. “With the continued cooperation of foreign governments these criminals will be aggressively pursued and brought to justice.”
Hidalgo, Guerra, and Hermoza allegedly managed and operated Peruvian call centers called Everglades, which were based in Lima and Cajamarca, Peru, and which worked in partnership with Angeluz Florida Corporation in Miami. According to the indictment, Hidalgo, Guerra, and Hermoza, and their employees in Peru used Internet-based telephone calls to lie to and threaten Spanish-speaking victims in the United States. The callers falsely accused the victims of having failed to accept delivery of certain products and claimed that the victims owed thousands of dollars in fines and that court proceedings would be brought against them. In reality, the victims — many of whom were elderly — had never ordered these products and nothing had been delivered.
The indictment alleges that the defendants and their call center employees claimed that the consumers could resolve the supposed debts and fines if they immediately paid a “settlement fee.” Consumers who contested these settlement fees were told that failure to pay could lead to harmed credit, arrest, deportation, or seizure of property.
A 37-count federal indictment was filed against the defendants in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida in June 2015 and was unsealed upon the defendants’ extradition to the United States. Hidalgo, Guerra, and Hermoza were charged with conspiracy, mail fraud, and wire fraud. Hidalgo and Guerra also face attempted extortion charges.
An indictment merely alleges that crimes have been committed. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
Two individuals previously were brought to justice in connection with this scheme. In 2014, charges were brought against Angeluz and Everglades owner-operators, Maria Luzula, of Miami and Juan Alejandro Rodriguez Cuya, of Lima, Peru. Luzula pleaded guilty to all counts against her midway through trial and was sentenced to serve 165 months in prison. Rodriguez Cuya was convicted following a two-week trial. U.S. District Court Judge Patricia A. Seitz sentenced Rodriguez Cuya to serve 210 months in prison.
The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Phil Toomajian of the Department of Justice’s Consumer Protection Branch. The U.S. Postal Inspection Service investigated the case. The Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs, the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Southern District of Florida, the Diplomatic Security Service, and the Peruvian National Police provided critical assistance.
Since President Trump signed the bipartisan Elder Abuse Prevention and Prosecution Act (EAPPA) into law, the Department of Justice has participated in hundreds of enforcement actions in criminal and civil cases that targeted or disproportionately affected seniors. In particular, this past March the Department announced the largest elder fraud enforcement action in American history, charging more than 260 defendants in a nationwide elder fraud sweep. The Department has likewise conducted hundreds of trainings and outreach sessions across the country since the passage of the Act.
More information about the Department’s efforts to help American seniors is available at its Elder Justice Initiative webpage. For more information about the Consumer Protection Branch and its enforcement efforts, visit its website at https://www.justice.gov/civil/consumer-protection-branch. Elder fraud complaints may be filed with the FTC at www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov or at 877-FTC-HELP. The Department of Justice provides a variety of resources relating to elder fraud victimization through its Office for Victims of Crime, which can be reached at https://www.ovc.gov.
Owner of Detroit-Area Health Care Clinics Sentenced to Prison for a Diversion Scheme Involving 500,000 Pills of Oxycodone and Other DrugsRead the Press Release
The owner of a Detroit-area pain clinic and physical therapy clinic was sentenced to 11 years in prison today for her role in a diversion scheme involving more than 500,000 pills of oxycodone and other drugs.
Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Special Agent in Charge Timothy J. Plancon of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)’s Detroit Division and Special Agent in Charge Lamont Pugh III of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General’s (HHS-OIG) Chicago Regional Office made the announcement.
Shirley Douglas, 70, of West Bloomfield, Michigan, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge David Lawson of the Eastern District of Michigan. In September, Douglas pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute controlled substances.
As part of her guilty plea, Douglas admitted that, as the owner and operator of a pain clinic and a physical therapy clinic located in Southfield, Michigan, she conspired with others to distribute medically unnecessary controlled substances, including oxycodone, oxymorphone, alprazolam, hydrocodone and promethazine hydrochloride, through the selling of appointments with physicians at their pain clinics.
The total drug amount attributable to Douglas is in excess of 500,000 pills of oxycodone.
Douglas’s co-defendant, Malik Fuqua, pleaded guilty on Nov. 13, 2019, and is scheduled to be sentenced on Feb. 26, 2020.
The DEA and HHS-OIG investigated the case. Assistant Chief Malisa Dubal and Trial Attorney Patrick Suter of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section are prosecuting the case. The case was previously prosecuted by Assistant Chief Drew Bradylyons and Trial Attorney Tom Tynan of the Criminal Fraud Section.
The Fraud Section leads the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, which is part of a joint initiative between the Department of Justice and HHS to focus their efforts to prevent and deter fraud and enforce current anti-fraud laws around the country. Since its inception in March 2007, the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, which maintains 15 strike forces operating in 24 districts, has charged nearly 4,000 defendants who have collectively billed the Medicare program for more than $14 billion. In addition, the HHS Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, working in conjunction with the HHS-OIG, are taking steps to increase accountability and decrease the presence of fraudulent providers.
Leader of Drug Trafficking Organization Convicted of International Drug Trafficking ConspiracyRead the Press Release
A woman from Culiacan, Mexico was convicted after a seven-day jury trial for her role in an international drug trafficking conspiracy to transport thousands of kilograms of cocaine and dozens of pounds of methamphetamine into the United States.
Luz Irene Fajardo Campos, aka “La Comadre,” “La Madrina,” and “La Doña,” was convicted of conspiracy to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine, and to manufacture and/or distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine in Mexico, Colombia, Honduras and elsewhere, knowing or intending that these substances would be unlawfully imported into the United States, in violation of Title 21, United States Code, Sections 959 and 963. Sentencing for the defendant is set for March 26, 2020. U.S. District Court Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson for the District of Columbia presided over the trial and will impose sentence.
According to the evidence introduced at trial, Fajardo Campos ran a drug trafficking organization with her adult children that was aligned with the Sinaloa cartel. She sourced cocaine directly from Colombia, employed pilots, and brokered the purchase of jets to fly the cocaine to Central America and Mexico. She partnered with other traffickers in the Sinaloa cartel and her children for further distribution of the cocaine into the United States. She also oversaw the importation of precursor chemicals into Mexico, which she processed into methamphetamine at a laboratory located in the desert outside Hermosillo, Mexico. She distributed this methamphetamine in Tucson, Arizona, and Jackson, Mississippi, among other locations.
“Luz Irene Fajardo Campos ran a sophisticated, multinational drug trafficking organization aligned with the Sinaloa cartel that pumped large quantities of cocaine and methamphetamine into communities across the United States,” said Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “Her conviction yesterday demonstrates that the Department of Justice will aggressively pursue drug traffickers who send their poison to the United States, wherever they may be.”
“Yesterday’s verdict clearly shows that no matter where drug traffickers operate, DEA agents will relentlessly pursue those whose actions wreak havoc on American communities,” said Phoenix Field Division Acting Special Agent in Charge Apolonio Ruiz Jr. “The Fajardo Campos conviction should send a message to drug traffickers throughout the world that DEA is committed to finding those who profit from Americans suffering from addiction.”
The case was investigated by DEA’s Tucson, Arizona Office and DEA’s Mexico City Country Office.
Trial Attorneys Cole Radovich, Anthony Aminoff and Kaitlin Sahni, and paralegal Marilu Vargas of the Criminal Division’s Narcotic and Dangerous Drug Section (NDDS) prosecuted this case, with significant assistance provided by the NDDS Judicial Attachés in Bogotá, Colombia, the Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs, and the Criminal Division’s Office of Enforcement Operations.
Justice Department Will Move to Significantly Modify and Extend Consent Decree with Live Nation/TicketmasterRead the Press Release
The Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division will file a petition asking the court to clarify and extend by five and a half years the Final Judgment entered by the Court in United States v. Ticketmaster Entertainment, Inc., et al., Case No. 1:10-cv-00139-RMC (July 30, 2010). This is the most significant enforcement action of an existing antitrust decree by the Department in 20 years.
The 2010 Final Judgment permitted Live Nation to merge with Ticketmaster but prohibited the company from retaliating against concert venues for using another ticketing company, threatening concert venues, or undertaking other specified actions against concert venues for ten years. Despite the prohibitions in the Final Judgment, Live Nation repeatedly and over the course of several years engaged in conduct that, in the Department’s view, violated the Final Judgment. To put a stop to this conduct and to remove any doubt about defendants’ obligations under the Final Judgment going forward, the Department and Live Nation have agreed to modify the Final Judgment to make clear that such conduct is prohibited. In addition, Live Nation has agreed to extend the term of the Final Judgment by five and a half years, which will allow concert venues and American consumers to get the benefit of the relief the Department bargained for in the original settlement. The proposed modifications to the Final Judgment will also help deter additional violations and allow for easier detection and enforcement if future violations occur.
“When Live Nation and Ticketmaster merged in 2010, the Department of Justice and the federal court imposed conditions on the company in order to preserve and promote ticketing competition.” said Assistant Attorney General Makan Delrahim of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division. “Today’s enforcement action including the addition of language on retaliation and conditioning will ensure that American consumers get the benefit of the bargain that the United States and Live Nation agreed to in 2010. Merging parties will be held to their promises and the Department will not tolerate transgressions that hurt the American consumer.”
The Department today filed a motion in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to reopen the docket in the underlying action, a necessary step towards filing the petition to clarify and extend the Final Judgment. The Department will file that petition once leave is granted by the court.
The clarifications to the Final Judgment the parties will seek include provisions that:
- Live Nation may not threaten to withhold concerts from a venue if the venue chooses a ticketer other than Ticketmaster;
- A threat by Live Nation to withhold any concerts because a venue chooses another ticketer is a violation of the Final Judgment;
- Withholding any concerts in response to a venue choosing a ticketer other than Ticketmaster is a violation by Live Nation of the Final Judgment;
- The Antitrust Division will appoint an independent monitor to investigate and report on Live Nation’s compliance with the Final Judgment;
- Live Nation will appoint an internal antitrust compliance officer and conduct regular internal training to ensure its employees fully comply with the Final Judgment;
- Live Nation will provide notice to current or potential venue customers of its ticketing services of the clarified and extended Final Judgment; and
- Live Nation is subject to an automatic penalty of $1,000,000 for each violation of the Final Judgment.
- Live Nation will pay costs and fees for the Department’s investigation and enforcement.
Along with the provisions described above, the proposed modifications to the Final Judgment, if approved by the court, include additional safeguards to ensure Live Nation does not punish venues that want to work with competing ticketers, and importantly, extends the term of the Final Judgment for five and half years.
Live Nation Entertainment Inc. is a Delaware corporation headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. It claims to be the largest live entertainment company in the world, active in three principal segments: concert promotion, ticketing services, and sponsorship & advertising. In 2018, Live Nation’s revenues were approximately $10.8 billion.
Ticketmaster is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Live Nation following their merger in 2010. It claims to be the world’s leading live entertainment ticketing sales and entertainment company. In 2018, Ticketmaster’s revenues were approximately $1.5 billion.
Former CEO of Israeli Company Sentenced to 22 Years in Prison for Orchestrating Major International Binary Options Fraud SchemeRead the Press Release
The former CEO of the Israel-based company Yukom Communications, a purported sales and marketing company, was sentenced to 22 years in prison today for orchestrating a scheme to defraud investors who had purchased more than $100 million in financial instruments known as “binary options.”
Lee Elbaz, 38, a citizen of Israel, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Theodore D. Chuang of the District of Maryland. On Aug. 7, 2019, after a three-week jury trial, Elbaz was found guilty of one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and three counts of wire fraud.
“This defendant targeted and defrauded thousands of victims, looting monies from retirees, veterans and other individuals, many of whom lost their entire savings,” said Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “Today’s sentence demonstrates that criminals who defraud U.S. investors will face serious consequences, no matter where in the world they commit their crimes.”
“Financial criminals like Elbaz and her co-conspirators are interested in one thing: taking money out of the pockets of unsuspecting investors for their own benefit. The FBI is dedicated to identifying and investigating fraud, no matter where the criminals are located, or how long it takes,” said Assistant Director in Charge Timothy R. Slater of the FBI’s Washington’s Field Office. “I’d like to thank our partners in this investigation, specifically the Israeli Police, and to encourage anyone who may have information about binary options fraud to come forward and report it to the FBI.”
According to the evidence presented at trial, Elbaz and her co-conspirators fraudulently sold and marketed binary options to investors located in the United States and throughout the world through two websites, known as BinaryBook and BigOption. The evidence showed that in her role as CEO of Yukom, Elbaz, along with her co-conspirators and subordinates, misled investors using BinaryBook and BigOption by falsely claiming to represent the interests of investors when, in fact, the owners of BinaryBook and BigOption profited when investors lost money; by misrepresenting the suitability of and expected return on investments through BinaryBook and BigOption; by providing investors with false names and qualifications and falsely claiming to be working from London; and by misrepresenting whether and how investors could withdraw funds from their accounts.
Representatives of BinaryBook and BigOption, working under Elbaz’s supervision, misrepresented the terms of so-called “bonuses,” “risk free trades” and “insured trades,” and deceptively used these supposed benefits in a manner that in fact harmed investors, the evidence showed.
Five co-conspirators who worked for Elbaz, including Liora Welles, Shira Uzan, Yair Hadar, Austin Smith, and Lissa Mel, have pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit wire fraud, and have been sentenced. Welles, Uzan, Hadar, and Smith all cooperated against Elbaz and testified at her trial in July 2019. In addition, an indictment charging an additional 15 of Elbaz’s alleged co-conspirators was unsealed in November 2019.
The FBI’s Washington Field Office investigated this case. Principal Assistant Chief Henry Van Dyck and Assistant Chiefs L. Rush Atkinson and Caitlin R. Cottingham of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section are prosecuting the case. Assistant Chief Tracee Plowell and Trial Attorney Ankush Khardori of the Fraud Section previously prosecuted the case. The Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs and the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission also provided assistance in this investigation.
Individuals who believe that they may be a victim in this case should visit the Fraud Section’s Victim Witness website for more information at https://www.justice.gov/criminal-vns/case/lee-elbaz.
This investigation is ongoing.
Department of Justice, United States Patent and Trademark Office, and National Institute of Standards and Technology Announce Joint Policy Statement on Remedies for Standard-Essential PatentsRead the Press Release
Today the Justice Department, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), and National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) issued a joint policy Statement regarding the treatment of standard-essential patents (SEP) where the patent holder has agreed to license its patents on fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory (F/RAND) terms. This Statement replaces the 2013 policy statement on SEP remedies issued jointly by the Department of Justice and USPTO.
“Consistent with Article I, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution, our patent system rewards inventors with an exclusive right to practice their inventions for a limited time,” said Assistant Attorney General Makan Delrahim of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division. “Today’s Policy Statement recognizes that when licensing negotiations fail, appropriate remedies for patent infringement, including injunctive relief, should be available to SEP holders. The availability of the full range of remedies is necessary in order to preserve competition and incentives for innovation, and for continued participation in standards-setting activities, which can produce substantial benefits for American consumers.”
To this end, the Statement clarifies that a patent owner’s promise to license a patent on F/RAND terms is not a bar to obtaining any particular remedy, including injunctive relief. The agencies make clear that no “special set of legal rules” apply to SEPs, and the courts, the U.S. International Trade Commission, and other decision makers are able to assess appropriate remedies based on current law and relevant facts. According to the Statement, “The particular F/RAND commitment made by a patent owner, the [standard development organization’s] intellectual property policies, and the individual circumstances of licensing negotiations between patent owners and implementers all may be relevant in determining remedies for infringing a standards-essential patent, depending on the circumstances of each case.”
The Statement follows the Justice Department’s withdrawal from the 2013 SEP policy statement, which had been construed incorrectly as suggesting that special remedies applied to SEPs and that seeking an injunction or exclusion order could potentially harm competition.
“Our patent system is what has made the American economy the innovation capital of the world, and we should not misapply the antitrust laws to diminish the incentive to innovate,” said Assistant Attorney General Delrahim.
Since that announcement, many industry participants and policymakers have provided input to the agencies as they prepared the new Statement.
“We value the input provided across the industry and policy spectrum as the agencies drafted a new Statement, in particular the input from Senate Intellectual Property Committee Chairman Thom Tillis and Ranking Member Chris Coons,” said Assistant Attorney General Delrahim. “As the new Statement emphasizes, ultimately, there is no special set of remedies for standard-essential patents. All patent owners have a statutory right to seek injunctive relief, and this joint statement reaffirms that if they do so the agencies will not put a thumb on the scale against them.”
Justice Department Files Lawsuit Against the City of Chicago to Enforce USERRA Rights of U.S. Army ReservistRead the Press Release
On Dec. 17, 2019, the Department of Justice filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois on behalf of Captain and Judge Advocate Derrick Strong against the City of Chicago Fire Department (CFD), alleging that the City violated the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 (USERRA) when it failed to provide Strong with an opportunity, after his return from active duty military service, to take a promotional examination that he missed while deployed.
“Beginning with the American Revolution and every day since the Revolution, American patriots risked their lives to establish and defend our nation by serving in the United States armed forces. The United States has an obligation to ensure that employers do not penalize our servicemembers for performing their military duty,” said Assistant Attorney General Eric Dreiband of the Civil Rights Division. “Generations of Americans owe a debt of gratitude to our soldiers, sailors, and other servicemembers, and the United States Department of Justice remains committed to robust enforcement of civil rights protections for these brave women and men.”
“The men and women of our Armed Forces make personal sacrifices to protect our nation, and they have rights that must be respected,” said U.S. Attorney John R. Lausch Jr. of the Northern District of Illinois. “The Department of Justice will not falter in protecting the rights of those who selflessly serve our country.”
According to the complaint, Strong is currently assigned to the 416th Theater Engineer Command’s (TEC), Office of the Staff Judge Advocate as a trial counsel and administrative law attorney, where he provides legal advice and overall legal support to the 416th TEC and its Command. He is also employed as a cross-trained firefighter and emergency medical technician-basic (firefighter/EMT) for the Chicago Fire Department. Strong is currently assigned to Squad 5, which is a special operations heavy rescue unit. From Sept. 30, 2016, to June 26, 2017, he was actively deployed with the U.S. Army Reserve in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. While Strong was deployed, the city of Chicago administered a test for firefighters to become fire engineers. He alleges, as outlined in the complaint filed in federal court, that the CFD violated USERRA by failing to provide him with an opportunity to take a fire engineer promotional examination following his return to work upon his honorable discharge from active duty military service.
The Justice Department gives high priority to the enforcement of servicemembers’ rights under USERRA. This lawsuit stems from a referral to the Department of Justice from the U.S. Department of Labor, after an investigation by the Department of Labor’s Veterans’ Employment and Training Service. Additional information about USERRA can be found on the Justice Department’s websites at https://www.justice.gov/crt-military/employment-rights-userra and https://www.justice.gov/servicemembers, as well as on the Department of Labor’s website at https://www.dol.gov/agencies/vets/programs/userra.
Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey A. Rosen Issues Update to Memo on the Applicability of the Wire Act to Non-Sports GamblingRead the Press Release
In the December 18, 2019 memorandum to all U.S. Attorneys, Assistant Attorneys General, and the FBI, the Deputy Attorney General extended the grace period until June 30, 2020, on implementing the Office of Legal Counsel's (OLC) 2018 opinion finding that all but one of the prohibitions of the Wire Act, 18 U.S.C. § 1084, apply to non-sports gambling. During the grace period, federal prosecutors should not apply the Wire Act to non-sports-related betting or wagering. The Deputy Attorney General also directed that, to ensure continuity across the country, any Wire Act charges must be reviewed and approved by the Criminal Division’s Organized Crime and Gang Section.
Department of Justice and Department of Homeland Security to Publish Joint Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to Restrict Certain Criminal Aliens' Eligibility for AsylumRead the Press Release
The Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security (collectively, “the Departments”) today issued a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) that would amend their respective regulations in order to prevent certain categories of criminal aliens from obtaining asylum in the United States. Upon finalization of the rulemaking process, the Departments will be able to devote more resources to the adjudication of asylum cases filed by non-criminal aliens.
Asylum is a discretionary immigration benefit that generally can be sought by eligible aliens who are physically present or arriving in the United States, irrespective of their status, as provided in section 208 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), 8 U.S.C. § 1158. However, in the INA, Congress barred certain categories of aliens from receiving asylum. In addition to the statutory bars, Congress delegated to the Attorney General and the Secretary of Homeland Security the authority to establish by regulation additional bars on asylum eligibility to the extent they are consistent with the asylum statute, as well as to establish “any other conditions or limitations on the consideration of an application for asylum” that are consistent with the INA. Today, the Attorney General and Secretary of Homeland Security are proposing to exercise their regulatory authority to limit eligibility for asylum for aliens who have engaged in specified categories of criminal behavior. The proposed rule will also eliminate a regulation concerning the automatic reconsideration of discretionary denials of asylum applications in limited cases.
The proposed regulation would provide seven additional mandatory bars to eligibility for asylum. The proposed rule would add bars to eligibility for aliens who commit certain offenses in the United States. Those bars would apply to aliens who are convicted of:
(1) A felony under federal or state law;
(2) An offense under 8 U.S.C. § 1324(a)(1)(A) or § 1324(a)(1)(2) (Alien Smuggling or Harboring);
(3) An offense under 8 U.S.C. § 1326 (Illegal Reentry);
(4) A federal, state, tribal, or local crime involving criminal street gang activity;
(5) Certain federal, state, tribal, or local offenses concerning the operation of a motor vehicle while under the influence of an intoxicant;
(6) A federal, state, tribal, or local domestic violence offense, or who are found by an adjudicator to have engaged in acts of battery or extreme cruelty in a domestic context, even if no conviction resulted; and
(7) Certain misdemeanors under federal or state law for offenses related to false identification; the unlawful receipt of public benefits from a federal, state, tribal, or local entity; or the possession or trafficking of a controlled substance or controlled-substance paraphernalia.
The seven proposed bars would be in addition to the existing mandatory bars in the INA and its implementing regulations, such as those relating to the persecution of others, convictions for particularly serious crimes, commission of serious nonpolitical crimes, security threats, terrorist activity, and firm resettlement in another country.
Under the current statutory and regulatory framework, asylum officers and immigration judges consider the applicability of mandatory bars to asylum in every proceeding involving an alien who has submitted an application for asylum. Although the proposed regulation would expand the mandatory bars to asylum, the proposed regulation does not change the nature or scope of the role of an immigration judge or an asylum officer during proceedings for consideration of asylum applications.
The proposed rule would also remove the provisions at 8 C.F.R. § 208.16(e) and §1208.16(e) regarding reconsideration of discretionary denials of asylum. The removal of the requirement to reconsider a discretionary denial would increase immigration court efficiencies and reduce any cost from the increased adjudication time by no longer requiring a second review of the same application by the same immigration judge.
Attorney General William P. Barr Announces Launch of Operation Relentless PursuitRead the Press Release
Today, Attorney General William P. Barr announced the launch of Operation Relentless Pursuit, an initiative aimed at combating violent crime in seven of America’s most violent cities through a surge in federal resources.
Joined at a press conference in Detroit, Michigan, by Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Acting Director Regina Lombardo, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Acting Administrator Uttam Dhillon, FBI Director Christopher A. Wray, and U.S. Marshals Service Director Donald W. Washington, Attorney General Barr pledged to intensify federal law enforcement resources into Albuquerque, Baltimore, Cleveland, Detroit, Kansas City, Memphis, and Milwaukee – seven American cities with violent crime levels several times the national average.
“Americans deserve to live in safety,” said Attorney General William P. Barr. “And while nationwide violent crime rates are down, many cities continue to see levels of extraordinary violence. Operation Relentless Pursuit seeks to ensure that no American city is excluded from the peace and security felt by the majority of Americans, while also supporting those who serve and protect in these communities with the resources, training, and equipment they need to stay safe.”
“The men and women of ATF are deeply committed to and focused on reducing crime gun violence in our communities,” said ATF Acting Director Regina Lombardo. “We are proud that our efforts have significantly contributed to the historic reductions in violence that our nation has realized in recent years. Operation Relentless Pursuit combines the resources of ATF, DEA, FBI, and U.S. Marshals to support our state and local law enforcement partners in those cities that – regrettably – continue to be plagued by rates of violent crime that are simply too high. Through Relentless Pursuit, we pledge to hold accountable the trigger-pullers, firearm traffickers, violent criminals and those who supply them the guns to terrorize our communities. ATF will aggressively utilize every available tool, including our crime gun enforcement teams, National Integrated Ballistic Information Network and firearms tracing to identify, investigate and support the prosecution of the most violent firearm offenders.”
“Drug traffickers – including cartels and street gangs – will stop at nothing to turn a profit, often using violence and intimidation to expand their reach,” said DEA Acting Administrator Uttam Dhillon. “This targeted surge of resources will further strengthen our ability to work with our federal, state, and local partners to pursue the worst offenders and make our communities safer.”
“The FBI remains committed to providing our specialized expertise and resources to assist our federal, state and local partners fighting violent crime,” said FBI Director Christopher A. Wray. “We are here today to reaffirm our dedication to reducing violent crime in the cities selected for Operation Relentless Pursuit to combat the threats that arise from gangs and criminal enterprises that drive violence in the communities we are sworn to protect.”
“The U.S. Marshals Service is proud of the integral role we play in supporting Attorney General Barr’s strong leadership and commitment to combating violent crime and enhancing public safety throughout our nation,” said U.S. Marshals Service Director Donald W. Washington. “We will continue to work with our local, state, and federal partners to make communities safer by addressing violent crime at its core and taking the worst of the worst fugitives and other felons off the streets.”
The operation will involve increasing the number of federal law enforcement officers to the selected cities, as well as bulking up federal task forces through collaborative efforts with state and local law enforcement partners. The surge in federal agents will be complemented by a financial commitment of up to $71 million in federal grant funding that can be used to hire new officers, pay overtime and benefits, finance federally deputized task force officers, and provide mission-critical equipment and technology.
Virginia Attorney Arrested for Engaging in Scheme to Extort a Public CompanyRead the Press Release
A licensed Virginia attorney was arrested today on federal extortion and interstate threat charges for allegedly trying to extort a public company by threatening to inflict substantial financial and reputational harm on the company if his demands for a $200 million payment disguised as a purported “consulting agreement” were not met, announced Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and Inspector in Charge Delany De Leon-Colón of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service’s Criminal Investigations Group.
Timothy Litzenburg, 37, of Charlottesville, Virginia, was charged in a criminal complaint unsealed today with transmitting interstate communications with intent to extort, attempted extortion and conspiracy to commit extortion and transmit interstate communications with intent to extort.
Litzenburg was arrested this morning and appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Joel C. Hoppe of the Western District of Virginia. Litzenburg was released on bail.
According to the criminal complaint, in approximately October 2019, Litzenburg approached a company (Company 1) and threatened to make public statements alleging that Company 1 had significant civil liability for manufacturing a purportedly harmful chemical used in a common household product used to kill weeds. Litzenburg allegedly also said that after making these statements, he would use media and other means to find plaintiffs to sue Company 1. Litzenburg allegedly threatened that he would only refrain from any such public actions if Company 1 (and its parent company) paid Litzenburg and his associates $200 million in “consulting fees.” In exchange for the $200 million, Litzenburg allegedly indicated that he would not tell any existing or future clients about Company 1 or its purported role in manufacturing the product. Litzenburg also allegedly made clear that the $200 million would not be a settlement for any clients, but rather would be a payment for Litzenburg and his associates.
Litzenburg allegedly communicated his extortionate demands by telephone and email and during an in-person meeting. During the in-person meeting, Litzenburg allegedly threatened that he and his law associates would be Company 1’s “biggest problem” unless they received the $200 million payment, and that the public disclosure of the purportedly damaging information about Company 1 would cause a “40 percent stock loss,” and “public relations nightmare” for Company 1’s publicly traded parent company.
During other communications with Company 1, Litzenburg allegedly told Company 1 that if he received the $200 million in “consulting fees,” he was willing to “take a dive” during a civil deposition of a Company 1 toxicologist to prevent any of his purported current clients or prospective future plaintiffs from suing Company 1.
A criminal complaint is merely an allegation and the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
The USPIS is investigating the case. Assistant Chief L. Rush Atkinson and Principal Assistant Chief Henry P. Van Dyck of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section are prosecuting the case.
New Jersey Man Convicted of Promoting Tax Fraud SchemeRead the Press Release
A federal jury sitting in Camden, New Jersey, convicted an Atlantic City man of conspiring to defraud the United States, filing false claims, and obstructing the internal revenue laws, announced Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg of the Justice Department’s Tax Division.
According to evidence presented at trial, between 2015 and 2016, Kenneth Crawford Jr., and his co-conspirators promoted and sold a “mortgage recovery” tax fraud scheme in which they obtained for their clients fraudulent refunds from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Crawford promoted the scheme to individuals who were facing foreclosure or behind on their mortgage payments, and represented to them that they could extinguish their outstanding mortgage debts by filing tax forms with the IRS. As part of the scheme, Crawford and his co-conspirators caused clients to file forms that fraudulently claimed that a substantial amount of taxes had already been withheld from them. These false withholding claims caused the IRS to authorize significant refunds to which the clients were not entitled. As a result of Crawford’s scheme, more than $2.5 million in fraudulent refunds were sought from the IRS, of which the IRS paid out more than $1.3 million. Crawford charged his clients a fee of roughly 25 percent of the refund obtained.
When the IRS discovered the fraud and attempted to recover the previously issued refunds, Crawford provided clients with false and fraudulent documents to send to the IRS, directed clients to conceal from the IRS his role in filing the false returns, and advised clients to remove funds from bank accounts in their names in order to thwart IRS collection efforts.
U.S. District Judge Robert B. Kugler scheduled sentencing for March 20, 2020. As a result of his conviction, Crawford faces a statutory maximum sentence of five years in prison for the conspiracy charge, five years in prison for each false claim count, and three years in prison for obstructing the internal revenue laws. He also faces a period of supervised release, restitution, and monetary penalties.
Crawford is currently detained pending sentencing as a result of his conviction, and for previously violating his conditions of pretrial release.
Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Goldberg commended special agents of IRS-Criminal Investigation, who conducted the investigation, and Tax Division Trial Attorney Sean Green and Assistant Chief John Kane, who are prosecuting the case. He also thanked the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey for its assistance and support during the investigation and prosecution of this case.
Additional information about the Tax Division and its enforcement efforts may be found on the division’s website.
Justice Department Awards over $62 Million to Support Health and Safety of Law Enforcement OfficersRead the Press Release
The Department of Justice’s Office of Justice Programs today announced it has awarded funding totaling over $62 million to provide services designed to protect officers and improve overall public safety. OJP’s Bureau of Justice Assistance and National Institute of Justice awarded grants to law enforcement departments, local jurisdictions, and training, technical assistance and research organizations throughout the United States.
“The Office of Justice Programs stands proudly with the Attorney General and the President in our commitment to the 700,000 sworn law enforcement professionals who selflessly put their lives on the line to keep us all safe,” said OJP’s Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Katharine T. Sullivan. “Bulletproof vests, body-worn cameras, health and safety research—these resources will provide officers the training, equipment and strategies needed to enable them to do their jobs effectively and keep them safe from harm.”
The FBI’s official crime data for 2019 reflects a decrease in the number of law enforcement officers feloniously killed between 2018 and 2019 (43 killed through September 2018 and 32 killed as of Sept. 30, 2019). There was also a slight decrease in the number of law enforcement officers reported accidentally killed in 2019 (29) as compared to the same reporting period in 2018 (33).
Still, there were almost 60,000 assaults against officers in 2018, according to the latest data available from the FBI.
Nearly $23 million will support the training and implementation of law enforcement agencies’ body-worn camera programs. Another $21 million will reimburse jurisdictions for up to 50 percent of the cost of body armor vests, while over $14.8 million will support law enforcement safety and wellness programs, research and services.
In addition, over $3 million is allocated for research and evaluation of safety, health and wellness priorities. These investments include the development of ballistic vests, studies of in-vehicle safety and the evaluation of less-lethal technologies to increase police and public safety.
A full list of the awards, organized under specific grant programs and listed awardees by state, is available online at https://go.usa.gov/xpxd3.
Additional information about Fiscal Year 2019 grant awards made by the Office of Justice Programs can be found online at the OJP Awards Data webpage.
The Office of Justice Programs, directed by Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Katharine T. Sullivan, provides federal leadership, grants, training, technical assistance and other resources to improve the nation’s capacity to prevent and reduce crime, assist victims and enhance the rule of law by strengthening the criminal and juvenile justice systems. More information about OJP and its components can be found at www.ojp.gov.
U.S. Department of Justice’s OPDAT Section Hosts Visit by the Chief Justice of MalaysiaRead the Press Release
On December 13, the Chief Justice of Malaysia, Tan Sri Tengku Maimun Binti Tuan Mat traveled to the United States on her first international engagement since her historic appointment last May as the first woman to hold the office of Chief Justice. The Chief Justice is joined by fellow Malaysian judges on the program, which is designed to strengthen bilateral judicial engagement and encourage the sharing of best practices. The visit is hosted by the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Overseas Prosecutorial Development Assistance and Training (OPDAT), U.S. Department of State and Judge Loretta A. Preska of the Southern District of New York.
OPDAT Resident Legal Advisor to Malaysia Karyn Kenny, Senior Judge Loretta Preska of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, Chief Justice of Malaysia Tengku Maimun Binti Tuan May, and OPDAT ICHIP Legal Advisor for Southeast Asia Thomas Dougherty.While in New York, the delegation will meet with representatives of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, the New York City Police Department and officials from the Permanent Mission of Malaysia to the United Nations.
At the U.S District Court for the Southern District of New York, the delegation will explore best practices supporting the Rule of Law, judicial independence, courtroom security and combating cybercrime.
From New York, the delegation will travel to Washington, D.C. to visit the Supreme Court of the United States as well as meet with the OPDAT Director Faye Ehrenstamm and officials from the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts.
“We are honored to co-host the first international visit of Chief Justice Maimun since her historic appointment as the first female Chief Justice of Malaysia,” said OPDAT Director Ehrenstamm. “Her visit marks an important milestone in the U.S. Government and Malaysian justice sector relationship.”
“Let me express my deep appreciation to the U.S. Department of Justice, OPDAT, the U.S. State Department, Judge Loretta A. Preska and the Southern District of New York, and the NYPD for the opportunity to visit America and exchange best practices,” said Chief Justice of Malaysia Maimun. “I look forward to a series of fruitful discussions on a number of topics of mutual interest and benefit to both Malaysia and the United States. I have no doubt it will be an enriching experience. I also look forward to continuing our cooperation as we work together to strengthen our bilateral relationship. I am pleased we can join together to promote the independence of the judiciary and the rule of law.”
On December 16, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York will host a luncheon for Chief Justice Maimun with the women judges of New York federal and state courts. On December 17, the New York Bar Association will host a Continuing Legal Education (CLE) event at 5:30 p.m. in Room 850 of the Daniel Patrick Moynihan Courthouse in Manhattan. The CLE is open to members of the bar and the press. Topics will include the Malaysian Court framework, including the civil, criminal, tribal and Shariah sectors, as well as ethical obligations, the role of women in judicial leadership roles, the strengthening of judicial security, and best practices to combat cyber crime.
To learn more about OPDAT, visit: https://www.justice.gov/criminal-opdat.
Thirty Tribes Selected for Expansion of Program Enhancing Tribal Access to National Crime Information DatabasesRead the Press Release
The Department of Justice has selected an additional 30 Indian tribes to participate in the expansion of the Tribal Access Program for National Crime Information (TAP), a program that provides federally recognized tribes the ability to access and exchange data with national crime information databases for both criminal and non-criminal justice purposes.
“The Tribal Access Program is strengthening tribal governance and public safety in tribal communities across the United States,” said Attorney General William P. Barr. “TAP provides law enforcement and tribal governments real-time access to data that can help locate a missing person, identify a dangerous fugitive or prevent a domestic abuser from obtaining a gun, among many other important functions. The Trump administration is committed to fixing these public safety gaps and serving victims in Indian country. I believe the expansion of this law enforcement tool will prove to be critical in achieving those goals.”
TAP is currently deployed to more than 75 tribes across the country with over 300 participating tribal justice agencies. The program provides software to enable tribes to access national crime information databases and/or a kiosk-workstation that provides the ability to submit and query fingerprint-based transactions via FBI Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) Next Generation Identification (NGI) System.
This fifth expansion of TAP is part of the Justice Department’s continuing focus on public safety in American Indian and Alaska Native communities, allowing tribes to more effectively serve and protect their communities by ensuring the exchange of critical data with federal and state databases.
On Nov. 22, Attorney General Barr launched a national strategy to address the issues surrounding missing and murdered Native Americans, and TAP provides the ability for participating tribes to exchange data with FBI CJIS, including data on missing persons from the National Crime Information Center (NCIC).
In October, the Justice Department announced an unprecedented $273 million in grants to improve public safety, serve victims of crime, combat violence against women, and support youth programs in American Indian and Alaska Native communities.
The following tribes have been selected for the next phase of TAP:
Bay Mills Indian Community, Michigan
Bear River Band of the Rohnerville Rancheria, California
Central Council of the Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes
Chippewa Cree Indians of the Rocky Boy’s Reservation, Montana
Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation
Cowlitz Indian Tribe
Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe of South Dakota
Fort Mojave Indian Tribe of Arizona, California & Nevada
Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska
Jamestown S’Kallam Tribe
Kenaitze Indian Tribe
Miami Tribe of Oklahoma
Muckleshoot Indian Tribe
Nisqually Indian Tribe
Nooksack Indian Tribe
Ohkay Owingeh, New Mexico
Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation
Pueblo of Pojoaque, New Mexico
Pueblo of Taos, New Mexico
Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe of the Pyramid Lake Reservation, Nevada
Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians of Wisconsin
San Carlos Apache Tribe of the San Carlos Reservation, Arizona
San Pasqual Band of Diegueno Mission Indians of California
The Chickasaw Nation
The Muscogee (Creek) Nation
The Osage Nation
Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah)
Washoe Tribe of Nevada & California (Carson Colony, Dresslerville Colony, Woodfords Community, Stewart Community & Washoe Ranches)
Yankton Sioux Tribe of South Dakota
Yavapai-Prescott Indian Tribe
TAP enhances tribal efforts to register sex offenders pursuant to the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA), have orders of protection enforced off-reservation, protect children, keep firearms away from persons who are disqualified from receiving them, improve safety within public housing, and allows tribes to record their arrests and convictions in national databases.
TAP supports tribes in analyzing their needs for national crime information with appropriate solutions, including a state-of-the-art biometric/biographic kiosk-workstation with capabilities to process finger and palm prints, take mugshots and submit records to national databases, as well as the ability to access CJIS systems for criminal and non-criminal justice purposes through the Department of Justice’s Criminal Justice Information Network. TAP, which is managed by the Chief Information Officer and the Office of Tribal Justice, provides specialized training and assistance for participating tribes, including computer-based training and on-site instruction, as well as a 24/7 help desk.
Recent success stories from the TAP program include:
- A tribal foster care program conducted fingerprint-based record checks of a couple who applied to be foster parents. The prints, which were searched via the TAP biometric kiosk-workstation, revealed that one of the applicants had an extensive criminal record, including a manslaughter charge. TAP allowed the tribal foster care program to quickly learn this information and thus cease the licensing process.
- A tribal police department utilized TAP to develop leads that eventually resulted in the arrest of a suspect and seizure of 400 counterfeit OxyContin pills laced with fentanyl.
- A tribal child protective services program conducted a name-based check of subjects under investigation for child abuse/neglect. One subject was determined to have an active warrant. A second subject was found to have an extensive violent criminal history and be the subject of an order of protection issued in another state. The tribal child protective services program promptly notified law enforcement of the outstanding warrant.
- A tribal court entered information into national databases to prevent a person with a prior domestic violence conviction who was threatening a former spouse from purchasing a firearm.
- A tribal sex offender registry program has entered all tribally-registered sex offenders into the National Sex Offender Registry (NSOR) file, information which is accessible to all law enforcement agencies nationwide.
TAP is primarily funded by the Office of Sex Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, Apprehending, Registering, and Tracking (SMART); the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS); and the Office for Victims of Crime (OVC). TAP prioritized tribal applicants that have a law enforcement agency currently unable to access the FBI CJIS databases; have a tribal sex offender registry pursuant to the Adam Walsh Act and are currently unable to easily submit data to national crime information databases; and/or have a tribal court which issues orders of protection in domestic violence cases.
For more information on TAP, visit www.justice.gov/tribal/tribal-access-program-tap.
For more information about the Justice Department’s work on tribal justice, public safety issues and victim services, visit www.justice.gov/tribal.
Statement by Attorney General William P. Barr on the Departure of Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General Edward O'CallaghanRead the Press Release
Attorney General William P. Barr issued the following statement:
“Ed is one of the most highly regarded lawyers at the Department of Justice. His dedication and tireless commitment to the work of the Department is second to none. Ed possesses a rare combination of sharp intellect, common sense, and sound judgment – traits that served him well from his time as a prosecutor in the Southern District of New York to his service at the highest levels of the Department, including as Acting Deputy Attorney General. We were lucky to have him at the heart of the leadership team at DOJ. He will be greatly missed.”
Seth DuCharme Appointed as Principal Associate Deputy Attorney GeneralRead the Press Release
Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey A. Rosen issued the following statement on the appointment of Seth DuCharme as Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General, effective December 23, 2019:
“Seth is a dedicated public servant and long-time career prosecutor of the highest caliber. From his time as Chief of the Criminal Division in the Eastern District of New York to most recently serving with distinction as Counselor to the Attorney General for criminal and national security matters, Seth’s sharp intellect, quick thinking, and excellent judgment have greatly benefitted all who have worked with him. His deep experience in areas ranging from narcotics trafficking and cybercrime to terrorism and public corruption will be an asset to the Office of the Deputy Attorney General. I look forward to Seth serving by my side at the Department of Justice.”
Louisiana Man Pleads Guilty to Trafficking Protected BirdsRead the Press Release
A Louisiana resident and owner of a freight forwarding company pleaded guilty today in federal court in the Eastern District of Louisiana to trafficking exotic birds that are protected under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).
Paul Tallman of Kenner, Louisiana, owner of Aerotyme-Inc., pleaded to the charges, which stemmed from a scheme by codefendant William McGinness to ship birds from California to the Port of New Orleans for export to Taiwan. This scheme sought to avoid a 2015 Taiwanese ban on the import of all California birds due to the risk of highly pathogenic avian flu. The shipment contained 86 birds, including three falsely labeled macaws.
“This illegal scheme flouted federal and international laws meant to protect exotic birds from exploitation as well as international efforts to contain infectious disease,” said Assistant Attorney General Jeffrey Bossert Clark of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division. “This case shows well how federal law enforcement protects our nation’s resources, its biodiversity, and the public’s health from criminal enterprises.”
On Dec. 11, 2019, McGinness pleaded guilty to conspiracy to smuggle and make false statements in violation of the Lacey Act, as well as a false statement charge. Another codefendant, Rene Rizal, also pleaded guilty to a false statement charge.
McGinness had Tallman and Rizal create and certify false paperwork to facilitate the shipment of the birds from New Orleans. McGinness trucked the birds from California to Aerotyme Inc. in Kenner, Louisiana, where he and Tallman submitted false paperwork, including a veterinary health certificate certifying that the birds were disease free, to agents of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Federal law enforcement officers seized 14 birds prior to export.
Codefendants Wayne Andrews, a bird breeder, and Alex Madriaga, a veterinarian, both from California, previously pleaded guilty to creating false documents to facilitate McGiness’ plan to transport the birds from California to Louisiana. Andrews’ and Madriaga’s sentencings are scheduled for Jan. 15, 2020. Rizal’s, McGinness’ and Tallman’s sentencings are scheduled for March 4, 2020.
The maximum sentence for Tallman is one year in prison and a fine of up to $100,000. The maximum sentence for McGinness and Rizal is five years in prison, three years of post-release supervision, and a fine of up to $250,000. Andrews and Madriaga face a maximum sentence of one year in prison and a fine of up to $100,000.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Office of Law Enforcement investigated this case. Trial Attorney Mary Dee Carraway of the Justice Department’s Environmental Crimes Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Missy Bucher of the Eastern District of Louisiana are prosecuting the case.
Fishing Vessel Owner and Operator Plead Guilty and Fined $1 Million for Discharging Oily Waste into the Coastal Waters of the United StatesRead the Press Release
Sea Harvest Inc., operator of the fishing vessels Enterprise and Pacific Capes, along with Fishing Vessel Enterprises Inc., the vessels’ owner, pleaded guilty today to violating the Clean Water Act for both knowing and negligent discharges of oily bilge water from the vessels’ engine rooms. The companies were sentenced to pay a $1 million criminal fine and serve a five-year term of probation. As a special condition of probation, the companies will be required to implement a robust environmental compliance plan at their own expense that will cover 36 commercial fishing vessels that are owned or operated by the defendants.
“The laws that govern the discharge of oily bilge waste from vessels have been on the books for decades,” said Assistant Attorney General Jeffrey Bossert Clark of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division. “Today’s plea should send the message that we will no longer tolerate the routine discharge of oily bilge waste into New Bedford Harbor and its surrounding waters. Vessel owners and operators can either voluntarily comply with laws that protect the nation’s waters or face criminal prosecution.”
“The defendants intentionally discharged pollutants from their fishing vessels into New Bedford Harbor,” said Special Agent in Charge Tyler Amon of EPA’s Criminal Investigation Division for New England. “It is important that we all treat our nation's resources with respect and to comply with our laws. EPA will continue to work with our enforcement partners with the State of Massachusetts and U.S. Coast Guard to investigate environmental crimes like this one that threaten marine life and the coastal waters of New England.”
According to court documents, the defendants owned and operated multiple vessels engaged in commercial fishing operations out of New Bedford, Massachusetts. From at least early 2017 until late 2018, as a result of insufficient supervision, fishing vessels owned and operated by the defendants discharged oily bilge waste from the vessels into the sea on multiple occasions. Count one of the information charged that, on Sept. 20, 2017, the New Bedford Massachusetts Police Port Security Unit traced an oil sheen in the Acushnet River to the F/V Enterprise, which was owned and operated by the defendants. When questioned about the sheen, the vessel’s manager confirmed that he had illegally pumped oily bilge water from the Enterprise’s engine room bilge overboard into the Acushnet River.
Previously, the vessel had been subject to several enforcement actions related to their improper management of oily bilge waste on the vessel. On Nov. 19, 2016, the U.S. Coast Guard issued a Letter of Warning to the vessel for pumping oily bilge waste into the Acushnet River. In addition, on or about Jan. 26, 2017, the Coast Guard issued a Captain of the Port Order requiring the vessel to return to port and discharge oily bilge water to a shore side facility. On Aug. 22, 2017, the U.S. Coast Guard held a community outreach meeting aimed at informing the commercial fishing community about the problem of discharging oily bilge water into New Bedford Harbor. Defendant’s representatives did not attend this meeting. Nevertheless, U.S. Coast Guard representatives went to the vessel to meet with the defendant’s representative after the meeting and provided handouts and information that detailed the prohibition of discharging oily bilge water into the sea. Less than a month later, the vessel made the illegal discharge that forms the basis of count one.
In a second incident that forms the basis of count two, on July 3, 2018, the Captain of the F/V Pacific Capes attempted to discharge water from a fish hold into New Bedford Harbor in Fairhaven, Massachusetts. In doing so, the Captain negligently failed to ensure that the valve alignment on the vessel’s bilge manifold was in the proper configuration to prevent the bilge pump from pumping oily bilge water overboard. Oil contamination was discovered alongside the Pacific Capes, as well as approximately 1,000 yards north of the vessel along the beach.
Commercial fishing vessels, such as the F/V Enterprise and F/V Pacific Capes, generate oily bilge water in their machinery spaces. This oily bilge water is the result of fuel, lubrication oil, fresh water, and sea water entering the bilge of the vessel and comingling. These leakages may originate from the main engines, generators, fuel lines, stern-tube packing glands and other piping, valves and machinery in the vessel.
There are two lawful means of disposing of oily bilge water from commercial fishing vessels such as the F/V Enterprise and F/V Pacific Capes. First, the oily bilge water may be retained onboard the vessel and then discharged ashore to a properly licensed reception facility. Second, the oily bilge water may be discharged offshore if it has been processed through an Oily Water Separator (OWS) that ensures that the oily bilge water discharged contains no more than 15 parts per million of oil to water. At all times relevant to the information, neither the F/V Enterprise nor the F/V Pacific Capes had onboard an OWS. Therefore, the only lawful manner in which oily bilge water could have been discharged from either vessel was to land the oily bilge water ashore and dispose of it through a properly licensed reception facility.
New Bedford Harbor, a busy commercial seaport, works to support its surrounding communities as it did through the whaling and industrial times. The harbor environment struggles from a more recent past of electrical device production which caused it to be one of EPA's largest Superfund cleanup sites. The harbor continues to require significant time and funding to clean up. Visit https://www.epa.gov/new-bedford-harbor/harbor-cleanup#Why for more information.
The Environmental Protection Agency’s Criminal Investigation Division and Coast Guard Investigative Service investigated the case. Kenneth E. Nelson and Stephen Da Ponte of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Environmental Crimes Section are prosecuting the case.
Andrew R. Vara Appointed as U.S. Trustee for Ohio and MichiganRead the Press Release
Attorney General William P. Barr has appointed Andrew R. Vara as the U.S. Trustee for Ohio and Michigan (Region 9) effective December 22, 2019, the Executive Office for U.S. Trustees (EOUST) announced today. He will replace Daniel M. McDermott, who is retiring after 30 years of government service. In addition to his appointment in Region 9, Mr. Vara also will continue to serve as the U.S. Trustee for Region 3 (Delaware, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania) on an interim basis.
Mr. Vara has served the U.S. Trustee Program with distinction for 26 years, first as a Trial Attorney under the Attorney General’s Honors Program and then as an Assistant U.S. Trustee in Wilmington, Delaware, from 2005 to 2008 and in Cleveland for the past 11 years. He received his law degree from The Ohio State University Michael E. Moritz College of Law and his undergraduate degree magna cum laude from Duke University.
“Mr. Vara has made significant contributions to the U.S. Trustee Program both at the local and national levels, and he possesses the legal and managerial skills that will allow Region 9 to continue to perform at the highest level,” said EOUST Director Cliff White. “I also congratulate and thank Mr. McDermott for his many years of exceptional leadership in support of the U.S. Trustee Program’s mission.”
The U.S. Trustee Program is the component of the Justice Department that protects the integrity of the bankruptcy system by overseeing case administration and litigating to enforce the bankruptcy laws. The USTP has 21 regions and 90 field office locations. Region 9 is headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, with additional offices in Cincinnati and Columbus, Ohio, and Detroit and Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Justice Department Awards More than $333 Million to Fight Opioid CrisisRead the Press Release
The Department of Justice today announced awards of more than $333 million to help communities affected by the opioid crisis. The funds support families, children and crime victims dealing with the impact of substance abuse, along with first responders whose actions can often mean the difference between life and death for those who have overdosed.
“The opioid epidemic is the deadliest drug crisis this country has ever faced,” said Attorney General William P. Barr. “The Department of Justice is committed to using all means available to bring drug traffickers to justice, disrupt the supply chain, support our law enforcement officers, and help the victims.”
“The opioid crisis has destroyed far too many lives and left too many Americans feeling helpless and hopeless,” said Office of Justice Programs Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Katharine T. Sullivan. “This epidemic — the most deadly in our nation’s history — is introducing new dangers and loading public health responsibilities onto the public safety duties of our law enforcement officers. OJP is here to support them through this unprecedented and extremely challenging time.”
With more than 130 people dying from opioid-related drug overdoses per day, the Department of Justice has made fighting addiction to opioids – including heroin and fentanyl – a national priority. The Trump Administration is providing critical funding for a wide range of activities – from preventive services and comprehensive treatment to recovery assistance, forensic science services and research – to help save lives and break the cycle of addiction and crime.
Funding was awarded under the following programs.
- The Comprehensive Opioid Abuse Programs ($163 million) will help jurisdictions plan and implement programs aimed at reducing opioid abuse and mitigating its impact on crime victims and will provide training and technical assistance.
- The Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Program ($23.8 million) will address the treatment needs of people using opioids.
- The Enhancing Community Responses to the Opioid Crisis: Serving Our Youngest Crime Victims ($15.8 million) program will help service providers ensure children and youth are supported as they heal from the impact of crime and substance abuse.
- The Opioid Affected Youth Initiative ($7.9 million) will develop effective programs for children, youth and their families who have been affected by the opioid crisis and drug addiction.
- The Drug Courts Program ($83.5 million) will provide financial and technical assistance to states and federally recognized tribes to develop and implement drug courts to help adults, youth and veterans suffering from substance abuse issues.
- The Child Abuse Training for Judicial Personnel program ($1 million) will provide specialized training for juvenile and family court judges on serving families affected by opioids.
- The Mentoring Opportunities for Youth Initiative ($15 million) will support mentoring programs that address the issues experienced by youth affected by opioids.
- The Research and Evaluation on Drugs and Crime Program ($6 million) will support research on criminal investigation, prosecution, drug intelligence and community surveillance to reduce violent and other crimes related to fentanyl and its analogues.
- The Paul Coverdell Forensic Science Improvement Grant Program ($17 million) is being made available to address the impact of the opioid crisis on forensic laboratory operations.
The more than $333 million in awards will be distributed to jurisdictions throughout the U.S. in order to maximize the effectiveness of the funding. Information about the programs and awards announced today is available here. For more information about OJP awards, visit the OJP Awards Data webpage.
In addition to providing unprecedented funding to combat the opioid crisis, the Trump Administration also created the Stop Opioid Abuse and Reduce Drug Supply and Demand Initiative, which prevents over-prescription, reduces the demand for drugs through education and awareness and cuts off the flow of illicit drugs across our borders. President Trump also signed the bipartisan Substance Use – Disorder Prevention that Promotes Opioid Recovery and Treatment for Patients and Communities Act, or the SUPPORT Act, the largest legislative effort ever to address a single drug crisis in our nation’s history. This law expands access to evidence-based treatment, protects communities from drugs, invests more in sustained recovery, brings those in treatment and recovery back into the workforce and raises awareness of the dangers of illicitly imported synthetic opioids.
The Office of Justice Programs, directed by Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Katharine T. Sullivan, provides federal leadership, grants, training and technical assistance, and other resources to improve the nation’s capacity to prevent and reduce crime, assist victims and enhance the rule of law by strengthening the criminal and juvenile justice systems. More information about OJP and its components can be found at www.ojp.gov.
Department of Justice Revises and Re-Issues Export Control and Sanctions Enforcement Policy for Business OrganizationsRead the Press Release
The Department of Justice today announced the release of a revised policy for business organizations regarding voluntary disclosures of export control and sanctions violations (Voluntary Self-Disclosure Policy or VSD Policy). The Voluntary Self-Disclosure Policy builds on the guidance NSD issued in October 2016, and will be formally incorporated into the Justice Manual. This revised VSD Policy signals the Department’s continued emphasis on corporate voluntary self-disclosure, rewarding cooperating companies with a presumption in favor of a non-prosecution agreement and significant reductions in penalties.
“Protecting our nation’s sensitive technologies and preventing transactions with sanctioned entities are DOJ priorities, but we cannot succeed alone,” said Assistant Attorney General for National Security John C. Demers. “We need the private sector to come forward and work with DOJ. The revised VSD Policy should reassure companies that, when they do report violations directly to DOJ, the benefits of their cooperation will be concrete and significant.”
The Department encourages companies to voluntarily self-disclose all potentially willful violations of the statutes implementing the U.S. government’s primary export control and sanctions regimes—the Arms Export Control Act (AECA), 22 U.S.C. § 2778, the Export Control Reform Act (ECRA), 50 U.S.C. § 4801 et seq., and the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), 50 U.S.C. § 1705—directly to NSD. The VSD Policy includes three key changes from the predecessor guidance, all of which provide further incentives for corporations to voluntarily self-disclose violations to the DOJ.
- The VSD Policy clarifies the benefits that are available to companies that voluntarily disclose a violation, fully cooperate with NSD, and timely and appropriately remediate. Specifically, absent aggravating factors, there is a presumption that the company will receive a non-prosecution agreement and will not be assessed a fine. If aggravating circumstances warrant an enforcement action other than a non-prosecution agreement, but the company satisfies all other criteria, the VSD Policy states that DOJ will recommend a fine that is at least 50 percent lower than what would otherwise be available under the alternative fine provision and will not require the imposition of a monitor. The prior guidance did not provide a presumption of any kind, and did not assign any concrete benefits to companies that met certain criteria.
- The VSD Policy clarifies that disclosures of potentially willful conduct made to regulatory agencies, and not to DOJ, will not qualify for the benefits provided in the VSD Policy.
- Finally, the VSD Policy was drafted to more closely resemble existing and analogous guidance from other DOJ components in an effort to standardize, to the extent possible, DOJ voluntary disclosure policies. Specifically, the definitions of “Voluntary Self-Disclosure,” “Full Cooperation,” and “Timely and Appropriate Remediation” closely mirror those provided in the FCPA Corporate Enforcement Policy.
The VSD Policy is effective today, December 13, 2019. It applies only to export control and sanctions matters brought by the National Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section. It does not apply to any other section in the National Security Division, any other part of the Department of Justice, or any other agency. The precise terms of the VSD Policy, and additional information about the Justice Department’s National Security Division, Counterintelligence and Export Control Section and its enforcement efforts, can be found at this link.
Justice Department Seeks to Shut Down Nevada Tax Return PreparerRead the Press Release
The United States filed a civil injunction suit seeking to bar Gregory C. Diedrich and Saginaw Financial from owning or operating a tax return preparation business and preparing tax returns for others, the Justice Department announced today.
The complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court in Las Vegas, Nevada, alleges that the defendants prepare and file tax returns that overstate their customers’ refunds, and that they fail to conduct the required due diligence, including taking reasonable steps to ensure that information provided by customers is accurate. The complaint alleges that the defendants engaged in misconduct, including fabricating business income and claiming false deductions, such as for charitable contributions and phony business expenses. For example, according to the complaint, Saginaw and Diedrich prepared a tax return for a married couple claiming over $16,000 in false deductions for travel, mileage, and a cell phone without receiving any supporting documentation, and prepared a return for another customer that reported income not received by the customer in order to maximize her Earned Income Credit. In the complaint, the government estimates the lost tax revenue from Saginaw and Diedrich’s actions to be over $1.5 million for the 2017 tax year alone.
According to the complaint, the IRS has taken multiple steps to correct Diedrich and Saginaw Financial’s unlawful behavior, including scheduling personal visits, and, later, assessing substantial financial penalties, but these efforts have failed to curb Saginaw and Diedrich’s unlawful behavior.
The complaint seeks an order permanently barring Diedrich and Saginaw Financial from preparing federal tax returns for others, and requiring Diedrich and Saginaw Financial to send a notice of the injunction to all customers who have retained them since 2016.
Return preparer fraud is one of the IRS’s Dirty Dozen Tax Scams. Taxpayers seeking a return preparer should remain vigilant. The IRS has information on its website for choosing a return preparer and has launched a free directory of federal tax preparers.
In the past decade, the Tax Division has obtained injunctions against hundreds of unscrupulous tax preparers. Information about these cases is available on the Justice Department’s website. An alphabetical listing of persons enjoined from preparing returns and promoting tax schemes can be found on this page. If you believe that one of the enjoined persons or businesses may be violating an injunction, please contact the Tax Division with details.
Justice Department Files Antitrust Case and Simultaneous Settlement Requiring Elimination of Anticompetitive College Recruiting RestraintsRead the Press Release
The Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division today filed a civil lawsuit against the National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC) alleging that NACAC established and enforced illegal restraints on the ways that colleges compete in the recruiting of students. The Antitrust Division simultaneously filed a proposed consent decree with NACAC. Under the decree, NACAC is required to remove three anticompetitive rules from its Code of Ethics and Professional Practices (CEPP), which broadly regulates how its college members conduct their admissions process. In advance of today’s court filings, and in response to the Antitrust Division’s investigation, NACAC members voted to remove the rules at their Annual Meeting in September.
“While trade associations and standards-setting organizations can and often do promote rules and standards that benefit the market as a whole, they cannot do so at the cost of competition,” said Assistant Attorney General Makan Delrahim of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division. “Today’s settlement is a victory for all college applicants and students across the United States who will benefit from vigorous competition among colleges for their enrollment.”
Under its proposed consent decree with the Justice Department, NACAC has agreed to remove rules regarding recruitment of (1) transfer students from other schools; (2) prospective incoming freshmen after May 1; and (3) prospective Early Decision applicants. NACAC is further restrained from establishing or enforcing any similar rule in the future, and has agreed to increase its antitrust compliance training with employees and members. If approved by the court, the consent decree will resolve the Antitrust Division’s competitive concerns.
NACAC is headquartered in Arlington, Virginia. NACAC is the leading trade association related to the college admissions process. Its members include primarily non-profit colleges and universities and their admissions staff, as well as high schools and their counselors.
As required by the Tunney Act, the proposed consent decree, along with the Department’s competitive impact statement, will be published in the Federal Register. Any person may submit written comments concerning the proposed settlement within 60 days of its publication to Aaron Hoag, Chief, Technology and Financial Services Section, Antitrust Division, U.S. Department of Justice, 450 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 7100, Washington, D.C. 20530. 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.
Former Army Employee Charged with Bribery, Kickbacks in Connection with Scheme to Steer ContractsRead the Press Release
A former civilian employee of the U.S. Army was charged in an indictment unsealed today for his role in a scheme to steer Army contracts for work to be performed at Camp Arifjan, a U.S. Army base in Kuwait.
Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Special Agent Jozette Gillespie, Acting Director, U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command's (CID) Major Procurement Fraud Unit and Special Agent in Charge Robert E. Craig Jr. of the U.S. Defense Criminal Investigative Service’s (DCIS) Mid-Atlantic Field Office made the announcement.
Ephraim Garcia, 62, was charged in an indictment filed in December 2018 in the District of Columbia with one count of offering a bribe, one count of receiving illegal gratuities and one count of offering kickbacks. The indictment further charges Gandhi Raj, 39, with paying illegal gratuities to Garcia.
As alleged in the indictment, Garcia worked in the U.S. Army’s Directorate of Public Works and was involved in the solicitation, award and management of various government contracts related to projects at Camp Arifjan. In or around September 2015, Garcia allegedly approached an employee of a prime contractor and offered to pay him in exchange for his assistance in steering contracts to a particular subcontractor owned by Raj, Gulf Link Venture Company. Garcia allegedly told the prime contractor employee that Gulf Link would artificially inflate the cost of certain of its bid proposals, and Garcia, Gulf Link and the prime contractor employee would split the proceeds. Additionally, over a period of about five years, Garcia and/or members of his immediate family allegedly received over $170,000 in wire transfers from Raj and other individuals associated with Gulf Link and another subcontractor that was bidding on work under the prime contract.
Garcia was arrested on Dec. 10, 2019, in the Philippines, where he has been residing since 2016. Raj, who was living in Kuwait at the time of the offense, remains a fugitive.
The charges in the indictment are merely allegations, and the defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
The Army CID and DCIS investigated the case. Trial Attorney Christopher D. Jackson of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section is prosecuting the case.
Federal Court Shuts Down Illinois Tax Return PreparerRead the Press Release
A federal court has permanently barred Jackelin Brooks, a Bolingbrook, Illiniois tax return preparer, from preparing federal tax returns for others, the Justice Department announced today. The civil injunction order was entered by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.
According to the government’s complaint, Brooks, a Bolingbrook resident, prepared returns that reported false income and expenses from Schedule C businesses and improperly claimed the American Opportunity Tax Credit and the Residential Energy Credit, resulting in refunds to which her customers were not entitled. The complaint alleges that the falsified tax returns cost the United States tens of thousands of dollars in tax revenue. The injunction was entered against Brooks by default because she failed to defend against the government’s allegations.
Return preparer fraud is one of the IRS’s “Dirty Dozen” tax scams for 2019. In the past 10 years, the Justice Department’s Tax Division has obtained injunctions against hundreds of return preparers and tax-fraud promoters. Information about these cases is available on the Justice Department website.
Joint U.S-EU Statement Following the U.S.-EU Justice and Home Affairs Ministerial MeetingRead the Press Release
On December 11, the U.S.-EU Ministerial Meeting on Justice and Home Affairs took place in Washington D.C. The United States of America was represented by Attorney General William P. Barr and Acting Secretary for Homeland Security Chad Wolf. The Ministerial – which is held twice a year -- aims to oversee transatlantic cooperation in the area of Justice and Home affairs and address common security threats.
The European Union was represented by the Commissioner for Justice Didier Reynders, as well as by Finnish Minister of Justice Anna-Maja Henriksson, Finnish Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of the Interior Ilkka Salmi, Croatian Minister of the Interior Davor Božinović, and Croatian Minister of Justice Dražen Bošnjaković, on behalf of the current and incoming Presidencies of the Council of the European Union. The meeting was also attended by Assistant Attorney General John C. Demers, the EU Counter-Terrorism Coordinator Gilles de Kerchove, the Deputy Secretary General of the EEAS Christian Leffler, the Deputy Executive Director of Europol Jürgen Ebner, and the Vice President of Eurojust Klaus Meyer-Cabri.
As the EU begins a new political cycle, the United States and the EU reaffirmed their strong commitment to foster the Transatlantic Partnership and pursue their dialogue on Justice and Home Affairs, building on the existing operational cooperation and best-practice exchanges on matters of common interest.
Fighting terrorism in all its forms remains our top common priority. We concurred on the importance of continuing and expanding our efforts to identify and hold accountable all those who support or engage in terrorist activity, with a particular emphasis on the sharing of information gathered in zones of combat for use in criminal proceedings as admissible evidence. The importance of using this type of information to improve the security of our borders was also highlighted, especially in the context of returning foreign terrorist fighters. We welcomed achievements in this domain, in particular the U.S. efforts to share information on foreign terrorist fighters with EU Member States and Europol. We called for continued engagement and ongoing operational cooperation between relevant agencies, building on the conclusions of the meeting on these subjects held in Brussels on July 10. We further discussed various forms of violent extremism, including ethnically- and racially-motivated violent extremism, and we supported further expert exchanges to examine the international linkages among these groups.
The U.S.-EU agreement on Passenger Name Records (PNR) remains an important instrument for enhancing the security of our citizens. In that context, we look forward to the final report following the joint evaluation. We reaffirmed our shared interest in establishing ICAO standards to encourage rapid and effective implementation of UNSCR 2396 for the use of PNR to combat terrorist travel, with full respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms.
Together we acknowledge that threats to security take on increasingly different forms, challenging our collective resilience. We discussed means to enhance cooperation on countering hybrid threats -- including chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear weapons, as well as explosives – and welcomed the U.S.-EU experts seminar on that issue held in Brussels in September 2019. We also recognized the challenges to security presented by drones. We further discussed challenges to cybersecurity and updated each other on our respective efforts to assess and address 5G security challenges, including those impacting the security of our supply chain. In particular, we discussed the need to work with industry to establish trusted markets for 5G and other telecommunications equipment and services. We will continue to keep each other informed of developments in this area and commit to approaching emerging technologies through a risk-informed perspective.
The United States and the European Union reaffirmed the importance of enhancing judicial cooperation in cyberspace, in particular with regard to cross-border access to electronic evidence. In this context, we welcome the negotiations for an U.S.-EU agreement facilitating access to e-evidence for the purpose of judicial cooperation in criminal matters. We agreed to review progress in the negotiations at the next Ministerial Meeting in 2020. Furthermore, we exchanged views on the ongoing negotiations for the Second Additional Protocol of the Budapest Convention and discussed the importance of making swift progress, in view of our joint and strong commitment to the Budapest Convention, which remains the instrument of choice for international cooperation on cybercrimes for both the EU and the United States.
We also acknowledged that the use of warrant-proof encryption by terrorists and other criminals – including those who engage in online child sexual exploitation – compromises the ability of law enforcement agencies to protect victims and the public at large. At the same time, encryption is an important technical measure to ensure cybersecurity and the exercise of fundamental rights, including privacy, which requires that any access to encrypted data be via legal procedures that protect privacy and security. Within this framework, we discussed the critical importance of working towards ensuring lawful access for law enforcement and other law enforcement authorities to digital evidence, including when encrypted or hosted on servers located in another jurisdiction.
We reiterated a common commitment to enhance the resilience of our electoral systems and to combat any form of interference in electoral processes. In this context we welcomed the outcome of the November 26 first experts’ meeting on resilience of electoral systems. The event brought together specialists from both sides of the Atlantic to discuss respective approaches and share best practices; we look forward to continuing dialogues on this issue.
Finally, we welcomed Poland’s designation for the U.S. Visa Waiver Program, which underscores the usefulness of the tripartite process and the encouraging progress made by four other Member States towards reciprocal visa free travel under our respective legal frameworks. We are committed to continue working together, in the appropriate frameworks, to support the remaining four EU Member States in their efforts towards designation in the Visa Waiver Program.
Reaffirming our joint commitment to advance together towards common solutions in all these areas, we agreed to meet again in the first half of 2020 in Croatia.
EPA and Justice Department Announce $245 Million Agreement for Cleanup at the Allied Paper Inc./Portage Creek/Kalamazoo River Superfund SiteRead the Press Release
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), U.S. Department of Justice, the Kalamazoo River Natural Resource Trustee Council, and Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) today announced a proposed consent decree that would require NCR Corp. to clean up and fund future response actions at a significant portion of the Allied Paper Inc./Portage Creek/Kalamazoo River Superfund site. The consent decree also includes payments related to natural resource damages and past cleanup efforts at the site. The consent decree is subject to a 30-day public comment period.
“This agreement marks a milestone in efforts to clean up Superfund sites in the Great Lakes region, and especially to address the legacy of paper mill generated PCB contamination in the Kalamazoo River watershed,” said Assistant Attorney General Jeffrey Bossert Clark of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division. “Under this settlement, cleanup and restoration efforts will be accelerated and that’s really good news for communities in the region and the environment.”
“This is a terrific settlement,” said EPA Assistant Administrator for Enforcement and Compliance Assurance Susan Bodine. “It not only ensures that responsible parties will continue to clean up contamination at the Kalamazoo River Superfund site, but also ensures that both past and future costs incurred by the EPA and the state will be recovered.”
“Today’s agreement is a big step towards cleaning up the Kalamazoo River,” said EPA Regional Administrator Cathy Stepp. “This Administration is committed to cleaning up and restoring contaminated sites so they can be put back to productive use in the community.”
“This settlement is an important step for the State and the federal government in cleaning up contamination in and near the Kalamazoo River,” said Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel. “I look forward to continued cooperation with our federal partners on this site to benefit our communities – including the cities of Plainwell and Otsego, and the townships of Gun Plain, Otsego, and Trowbridge – and to protect public health, safety, and welfare.”
“This settlement represents substantial progress in the cleanup and restoration of the Kalamazoo River,” said Liesl Clark, Director of EGLE. “The agreement requires NCR Corporation to take specific cleanup actions to address PCB contamination in and near the Kalamazoo River that will protect the public health and the environment. It also provides funds for the selection of natural resource projects to restore natural resources and help compensate the public for lost recreational opportunities within this important Southwest Michigan watershed.”
This Superfund site has been listed on the EPA Administrator’s Emphasis List of Superfund sites targeted for immediate, intense action. Each site on the list has a short-term milestone to provide the basis for tracking the site’s progress.
The Allied Paper Inc./Portage Creek/Kalamazoo River Superfund site is in Allegan and Kalamazoo counties and is divided into six segments, or operable units (OUs), that require cleanup. According to the settlement terms, NCR Corporation has agreed to spend approximately $135.7 million cleaning up three areas of OU 5. OU 5 includes 80 miles of the Kalamazoo River and three miles of Portage Creek. In addition, NCR will pay:
- $76.5 million to EPA for past and future costs in support of river cleanup activities;
- $27 million to natural resource trustees of the Kalamazoo River Natural Resource Trustee Council for natural resources damage assessment and claims; and
- $6 million to State of Michigan for past and future costs.
Historically, the Kalamazoo River was used as a power source for paper mills that were built along the river and a disposal site for the paper mills and the communities adjacent to the river. NCR arranged for disposal of carbonless copy paper contaminated with chemicals called polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) at the site. In the early 1970’s, PCBs were identified as a problem in the Kalamazoo River. In 1990, in response to the nature and extent of PCB contamination, the site was added to the National Priorities List, which includes the nation’s most serious uncontrolled or abandoned hazardous waste releases. EPA, working along with EGLE, has cleaned up three of the six operable units, removed nearly 450,000 cubic yards of contaminated material from the site, cleaned up and restored seven miles of the Kalamazoo River and banks, and capped 82 acres worth of contaminated material.
To learn more about this site, visit http://www.epa.gov/superfund/allied-paper-kalamazoo.
To view the government’s complaint and the consent decree, go to https://www.justice.gov/enrd/consent-decrees.
Background
EPA established the Administrator’s Emphasis List in December 2017 in response to recommendations from EPA’s Superfund Task Force. The list is comprised of sites identified by Administrator Wheeler and the EPA regional offices that will benefit from the administrator’s immediate attention or action.
The list serves as a mechanism to address delays in the cleanup of significant Superfund sites by specifying milestones that will facilitate and accelerate a site’s cleanup progress. EPA will consider removing a site from the list once the milestone is achieved and the cleanup activities at that site are back on track. The list is updated quarterly with sites moving on and off the list as needed. Removal from the Administrator’s Emphasis List does not change the site’s status on the NPL.
EPA remains committed to addressing risks at all Superfund sites, not just those on the Administrator’s Emphasis List. EPA continues to accelerate progress at all Superfund sites across the country.
The updated Administrator’s Emphasis List is available on the agency’s website at https://www.epa.gov/superfund/administrators-emphasis-list.
United States and Croatia Sign Bilateral Agreements Enhancing Law Enforcement CooperationRead the Press Release
On Tuesday, United States Attorney General William P. Barr and Croatia’s Minister of Justice Dražen Bošnjaković signed an extradition and mutual legal assistance agreement on behalf of their nations at the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, DC.
Attorney General Barr signed the bilateral U.S.-Croatia extradition and mutual legal assistance instruments, which were negotiated this year by the Department of State’s Office of the Legal Adviser and the Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs.
Croatia’s Minister of Justice Dražen Bošnjaković and U.S. Attorney General William P. Barr“I commend the negotiators from our countries for their work on U.S.-Croatia law enforcement cooperation agreements, and for expeditiously preparing these texts for signature before Croatia begins its EU presidency next month,” said Attorney General Barr. “The instruments will further strengthen our bilateral law-enforcement relationship, improving the ability to extradite fugitives and exchange evidence needed for prosecutions.”
“This is a great achievement which will further strengthen relations between our two countries,” said Minister of Justice Bošnjaković. “These two new agreements respond to the challenges of fighting cross-border crime in a more efficient manner.”
Present at the signing were officials from the U.S. Department of State and the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Croatia.
Croatia’s Minister of Justice Dražen Bošnjaković and U.S. Attorney General William P. BarrThe new agreements enhance bilateral relations by affording both nations with better information-sharing and cooperative capabilities. The new extradition agreement modernizes the extradition relationship between the countries, which had been governed by a 1901 treaty. The instrument provides a dual-criminality basis for extradition, and it streamlines the procedures to be followed in pursuing extradition. The mutual legal assistance instrument, the first such bilateral instrument between the countries, will better enable prosecutors to exchange information facilitating the prevention, investigation, and prosecution of crime. It will improve cooperation in the fight against terrorism, organized crime, corruption, cybercrime, and other serious transnational criminal offenses.
The instruments stem from the legal framework of the U.S.-European Union Agreements on Extradition and Mutual Legal Assistance signed on June 25, 2003, prior to Croatia entering the EU.
Statement by Attorney General William P. Barr on the Inspector General's Report of the Review of Four FISA Applications and Other Aspects of the FBI’s Crossfire Hurricane InvestigationRead the Press Release
Attorney General William P. Barr issued the following statement:
"Nothing is more important than the credibility and integrity of the FBI and the Department of Justice. That is why we must hold our investigators and prosecutors to the highest ethical and professional standards. The Inspector General’s investigation has provided critical transparency and accountability, and his work is a credit to the Department of Justice. I would like to thank the Inspector General and his team.
The Inspector General’s report now makes clear that the FBI launched an intrusive investigation of a U.S. presidential campaign on the thinnest of suspicions that, in my view, were insufficient to justify the steps taken. It is also clear that, from its inception, the evidence produced by the investigation was consistently exculpatory. Nevertheless, the investigation and surveillance was pushed forward for the duration of the campaign and deep into President Trump’s administration. In the rush to obtain and maintain FISA surveillance of Trump campaign associates, FBI officials misled the FISA court, omitted critical exculpatory facts from their filings, and suppressed or ignored information negating the reliability of their principal source. The Inspector General found the explanations given for these actions unsatisfactory. While most of the misconduct identified by the Inspector General was committed in 2016 and 2017 by a small group of now-former FBI officials, the malfeasance and misfeasance detailed in the Inspector General’s report reflects a clear abuse of the FISA process.
FISA is an essential tool for the protection of the safety of the American people. The Department of Justice and the FBI are committed to taking whatever steps are necessary to rectify the abuses that occurred and to ensure the integrity of the FISA process going forward.
No one is more dismayed about the handling of these FISA applications than Director Wray. I have full confidence in Director Wray and his team at the FBI, as well as the thousands of dedicated line agents who work tirelessly to protect our country. I thank the Director for the comprehensive set of proposed reforms he is announcing today, and I look forward to working with him to implement these and any other appropriate measures.
With respect to DOJ personnel discussed in the report, the Department will follow all appropriate processes and procedures, including as to any potential disciplinary action."
Justice Department Seeks to Denaturalize Chicago-Area Gymnastics Coach and Former Olympian Who Sexually Abused Multiple Minor Female AthletesRead the Press Release
The Justice Department today filed a lawsuit seeking to revoke the naturalized U.S. citizenship of José Vilchis, who allegedly concealed from U.S. immigration authorities his repeated sexual abuse of at least three minor female athletes. According to the Department’s civil complaint, Vilchis, a native of Mexico, sexually assaulted the girls at various gymnastics training centers in the greater Chicago, Illinois, area over a span of decades. The complaint alleges that beginning as early as 1985, Vilchis sexually assaulted gymnastics students – some as young as 12 – whom he was coaching, and then concealed his conduct throughout multiple immigration proceedings. The complaint was filed in federal court in the Northern District of Illinois.
“The Department of Justice will do everything in its power to hold accountable those who sexually abuse minors,” said Assistant Attorney General Jody Hunt of the Department of Justice’s Civil Division. “This individual’s abuse of his position of authority and trust to prey on his students is reprehensible, and but for his fraud on our immigration process, he never would have been granted a green card and never would have been permitted to naturalize as a U.S. citizen.”
“Vilchis fraudulently gained U.S. citizenship by lying about the horrific, ongoing crimes he was committing against innocent children,” said acting ICE Director Matthew T. Albence. “His crimes and his fraud have justifiably returned to haunt him as the government pursues his denaturalization. The United States will not allow itself to be a safe haven for sexual predators.”
According to the complaint, Vilchis, 68 – who competed in gymnastics for Mexico during the 1968 Summer Olympics – coached aspiring gymnasts at the Beverly Gymnastics Center in Chicago, the American Academy of Gymnastics in Wheeling, and other gyms in the Chicago area. Vilchis became a permanent resident of the United States in 1991 and a naturalized citizen in 1997. The complaint alleges that in his applications for those benefits, Vilchis concealed his criminal conduct, which began in the 1980s and continued through the time he naturalized, and therefore never lawfully obtained either status.
Vilchis is currently awaiting trial in Will County, Illinois, where he faces 18 criminal charges for sexually assaulting a minor in 2013 and 2014. Those allegations, which concern conduct that occurred after Vilchis naturalized, are separate from the allegations concerning whether he unlawfully naturalized by concealing similar conduct against other minor victims in the 1980s and 1990s.
The case was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations and the Civil Division’s Office of Immigration Litigation, District Court Section (OIL-DCS), with consultation and support from ICE’s Office of the Principal Legal Advisor. The case is being prosecuted by Aaron Petty and Kathryne Gray of OIL-DCS’s National Security and Affirmative Litigation Unit.
The claims made in the complaint are allegations only, and there have been no determinations of liability.
Members of the public who have information concerning this matter are encouraged to contact U.S. law enforcement through the DHS tip line at 1-866-DHS-2-ICE or to complete its online tip form at https://www.ice.gov/webform/hsi-tip-form. Callers may remain anonymous.
International Anti-Corruption Day Observed by the Justice DepartmentRead the Press Release
The U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Overseas Prosecutorial Development Assistance and Training (OPDAT) and International Criminal Investigative Training Assistance Program (ICITAP) helps foreign governments combat corruption. OPDAT provides expert assistance and case-based mentoring to foreign counterparts to help develop justice systems that can effectively combat corruption in furtherance of U.S. national security. ICITAP helps foreign governments combat corruption by building capacity of law enforcement institutions and other government entities to investigate misconduct and corruption and to implement internal controls that encourage professional conduct among government employees.
OPDAT’s Senior Counsel on Global Anticorruption provides specialized technical advice, training, and consultation to foreign prosecutors, judges, and investigators around the world. OPDAT’s anticorruption program assists counterparts from other jurisdictions in analyzing, investigating, and prosecuting corruption pursuant to international standards, including the UN Convention Against Corruption. OPDAT’s anticorruption program aids U.S. law enforcement efforts by strengthening international cooperation and promoting evidence sharing around the globe. Most recently, during the weeks of October 21 and 28, at the International Law Enforcement Academies in Botswana and Ghana, respectively, OPDAT led two anticorruption programs for prosecutors and judges.
In its bilateral programs, OPDAT’s Resident Legal Advisors, Intermittent Legal Advisors, and International Computer Hacking and Intellectual Property Advisors have also provided expert anticorruption assistance and case-based mentoring to foreign counterparts. Notable recent successes include:
- In Indonesia, the OPDAT Indonesia-mentored Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) arrested the mayor of Indonesia’s third largest city, Medan, for allegedly receiving bribes of approximately $25,000. Medan’s public works chief, a protocol official, the mayor’s personal aide, and three businessmen were also arrested. According to the KPK, the mayor had used the funds to cover his family member’s travel expenses.
- In Colombia, an OPDAT-mentored prosecutor helped secure the conviction of the former mayor of Bogotá on 34 fraud and corruption counts related to a public contracting scheme worth $63 million.
- In El Salvador, a judge found that OPDAT-mentored prosecutors had submitted sufficient evidence for the former minister of health and 15 other defendants to be re-tried for defrauding the government of $2.7 million.
- In Paraguay, an OPDAT-mentored organized crime prosecutor oversaw the takedown of a police protection and corruption scheme, filing charges against 21 police officers who were taken into custody for having collaborated with Brazilian transnational criminal organizations, including the Primer Comando Capital and the Comando Vermelho.
- In Serbia, OPDAT supported legislative reforms and institutional capacity building that helped the Ministry of Justice establish four specialized anti-corruption prosecutorial, police, and judicial departments. Since their creation, OPDAT has trained and mentored prosecutors, investigators, and judges assigned to the new departments. The Republic Public Prosecutor’s Office, in close cooperation with Serbia’s Ministry of Interior and regulatory bodies, has secured hundreds of convictions successfully using a task-force model and proactive approach, as trained by OPDAT. In Nis, Serbia, the OPDAT-mentored anti-corruption prosecutorial department has recently garnered positive media attention for achieving significant convictions and having hundreds of ongoing investigations.
Building effective anticorruption investigative capacity depends on institutions having sound management practices and human resource systems. ICITAP helps host-country law enforcement institutions improve their ability to direct and train employees to follow new laws and procedures, to recruit and retain qualified personnel, and to manage them effectively through leadership, discipline, and merit-based incentives. ICITAP also promotes public education campaigns and transparency and assists in setting up units and training personnel to handle citizen complaints in a professional manner. In addition, ICITAP provides training in a range of investigative methods and skills, which are necessary to build a successful anticorruption case.
ICITAP’s team of forensic specialists design and guide critical assistance to foreign laboratories that supports counterparts’ efforts around the world to combat corruption, terrorism, and transnational criminal organizations. Funded primarily through agreements with the U.S. Department of State, ICITAP’s work supports the efforts of the international community and host-country partners to implement and comply with the United Nations Convention Against Corruption.
To learn more about OPDAT and ICITAP’s capacity-building efforts around the world, go to: https://www.justice.gov/criminal-opdat and www.justice.gov/criminal-icitap.
- In Indonesia, the OPDAT Indonesia-mentored Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) arrested the mayor of Indonesia’s third largest city, Medan, for allegedly receiving bribes of approximately $25,000. Medan’s public works chief, a protocol official, the mayor’s personal aide, and three businessmen were also arrested. According to the KPK, the mayor had used the funds to cover his family member’s travel expenses.
Leader of a Violent Mexican Drug Trafficking Organization Charged with International Drug Importation Conspiracy and Weapons UseRead the Press Release
Fausto Isidro Meza-Flores, also known as “Chapo Isidro,” has been charged in a superseding indictment with a conspiracy to distribute cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin and marijuana for importation into the United States. Meza-Flores, a Mexican national who is believed to currently reside in Mexico, is the leader of the Meza-Flores Transnational Criminal Organization (TCO), a major drug trafficking organization based in Sinaloa, Mexico.
Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and Assistant Director in Charge Timothy R. Slater of the FBI’s Washington Field Office made the announcement.
Fausto Isidro Meza-Flores, 37, is charged in a two-count indictment returned Nov. 26, 2019, alleging that from in or around January 2005, through November 2019, he conspired to distribute cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin, and marijuana from Mexico and elsewhere for importation into the United States. Further, Meza-Flores is alleged to have used and carried a machinegun and destructive device during, and in relation to, his drug trafficking crimes.
As part of continuing efforts to disrupt and dismantle the operations of the drug trafficking organizations, the FBI Washington Field Office, in partnership with the U.S. Department of State’s Narcotics Rewards Program, has issued a reward of up to $5 million for information leading directly to the arrest and/or conviction of Meza-Flores. Individuals with information about Meza-Flores or the Meza-Flores TCO should contact the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI (1-800-225-5324), contact the nearest U.S. Embassy or Consulate, or submit a tip online at tips.fbi.gov. Tips can remain confidential.
The case is being investigated by the FBI Washington Field Office. This case is also the result of the ongoing efforts by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF), a partnership that brings together the combined expertise and unique abilities of federal, state, and local enforcement agencies. The principal mission of the OCDETF program is to identify, disrupt, dismantle, and prosecute high-level members of drug trafficking, weapons trafficking, and money laundering organizations and enterprises.
An indictment is merely an allegation, and a defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
Trial Attorneys Jason Ruiz and Anthony Aminoff of the Criminal Division’s Narcotic and Dangerous Drug Section (NDDS) are prosecuting the case.
Justice Department Settles Immigration-Related Discrimination Claim Against Staffing CompanyRead the Press Release
The Department of Justice announced today that it has reached a settlement agreement with Onin Staffing LLC (Onin Staffing), a Birmingham, Alabama-based staffing company with locations in over a dozen states. The settlement resolves the Department’s investigation into whether the company violated the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) by discriminating against work-authorized, non-U.S. citizens in McAllen, Texas, because of their citizenship status when verifying their authorization to work in the United States.
“Employers must ensure that their employees are properly trained regarding the employment eligibility verification process so that they do not violate federal law by requiring additional, unnecessary work authorization documents based on a worker’s citizenship status,” said Assistant Attorney General Eric Dreiband of the Civil Rights Division. “We commend Onin Staffing for their commitment to ensuring that all future document requests will comply with the law.”
The Department’s investigation concluded that from at least May 2018 until at least May 2019, Onin Staffing employees in its McAllen, Texas, office required specific work authorization documents from all non-U.S. citizens, while not imposing a similar requirement on U.S. citizens. Federal law allows all work-authorized individuals, regardless of citizenship status, to choose which valid, legally acceptable documents to present to demonstrate their ability to work in the United States. The anti-discrimination provision of the INA prohibits employers from requesting more or different documents than necessary to prove work authorization based on employees’ citizenship status or national origin.
Under the terms of the settlement, the company will pay a civil penalty of $70,695, train certain employees on the requirements of the INA’s anti-discrimination provision, and be subject to departmental monitoring and reporting requirements. Additionally, to avoid discrimination in the future, the company must change features of the Form I-9 software it uses that do not comply with federal law.
The Immigrant and Employee Rights Section (IER) is responsible for enforcing the anti-discrimination provision of the INA. Among other things, the statute prohibits discrimination based on citizenship status and national origin in hiring, firing, or recruitment or referral for a fee; unfair documentary practices; retaliation; and intimidation.
More information on how employers can avoid discrimination in the Form I-9 and E-Verify processes is available here. For more information about protections against employment discrimination under immigration laws, call IER’s worker hotline at 1-800-255-7688 (1-800-237-2515, TTY for hearing impaired); call IER’s employer hotline at 1-800-255-8155 (1-800-237-2515, TTY for hearing impaired); sign up for a free webinar; email [email protected]; or visit IER’s English and Spanish websites. Subscribe to GovDelivery to receive updates from IER.
Applicants or employees who believe they were subjected to discrimination based on their citizenship, immigration status, or national origin in hiring, firing, or recruitment or referral for a fee; or discrimination in the employment eligibility verification process (Form I-9 and E-Verify) based on their citizenship, immigration status, or national origin; or retaliation can file a charge or contact IER’s worker hotline for assistance.
Waco Tax Return Preparer Sentenced to Prison for Defrauding the United StatesRead the Press Release
A Waco, Texas, tax return preparer was sentenced to 27 months in prison today for her role in a conspiracy to defraud the United States, announced Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Richard E. Zuckerman of the Justice Department’s Tax Division.
According to the indictment and information provided to the court, Janell Lightner and her co-defendant Stacey Anderson conspired to defraud the United States by preparing false tax returns for clients of Anderson’s tax return preparation business, Anderson Professional Tax Services. Anderson operated the business out of her residence in Waco, but she and Lightner prepared tax returns for clients in Texas, Maryland, and the District of Columbia. From 2013 through 2014, Lightner assisted Anderson in preparing fraudulent returns that inflated deductions and claimed false education credits in order to increase client refunds. Lightner’s conduct caused a tax loss of more than $1.3 million to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
In addition to the term of imprisonment, U.S. District Judge Alan D. Albright ordered Lightner to serve three years of supervised release and to pay restitution to the United States in the amount of $1,337,800.88. Anderson was previously sentenced on Oct. 9, 2019, and ordered to serve 87 months in prison and to pay more than $8 million in restitution to the United States.
Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Zuckerman commended special agents of IRS-Criminal Investigation and the Inspector General of the Social Security Administration, who conducted the investigation, and Tax Division Trial Attorneys Robert Kemins and David Zisserson, who prosecuted the case. Mr. Zuckerman also thanked the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Texas (Waco Division) for their substantial assistance.
Additional information about the Tax Division and its enforcement efforts may be found on the division’s website.
Readout of U.S. Attorney General William P. Barr's Visit to MexicoRead the Press Release
Earlier today, U.S. Attorney General William P. Barr traveled to Mexico. Together with U.S. Ambassador Christopher Landau, Attorney General Barr met with Mexico’s President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, Minister of Foreign Relations Marcelo Ebrard Casaubon, Secretary of Defense Luis Crescencio Sandoval Gonzalez, Secretary of the Navy Admiral Jose Rafael Ojeda Duran, Security Minister Alfonso Durazo Montaño and Attorney General Alejandro Gertz Manero to continue strengthening their bilateral law enforcement cooperation. Attorney General Barr also accompanied Ambassador Landau in a visit to Mexico’s National Shrine, Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe.
Attorney General Barr with Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard Casaubon at the Mexican Foreign Ministry ahead of their bilateral meeting
Attorney General Barr and Mexican Government counterparts discussed a broad range of issues including their shared commitment to protecting the security and safety of the citizens of both the United States and Mexico from transnational criminal organizations (TCOs) as well as how our countries work together to combat drug, human, and arms trafficking. They talked about the importance of targeting illicit financial networks and disrupting the illicit movement of cash, weapons, and drugs, combatting corruption, and strengthening cooperation on bringing members of TCOs to justice.
Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard Casaubon, Attorney General Barr and U.S. Ambassador Landau
Attorney General Barr thanked the Mexican government for a number of recent matters, including the arrests of individuals suspected in the Nov. 4 murder of nine U.S. citizens in Northern Mexico and Mexico’s partnership in combatting illegal immigration at our shared border.
Secretary of the Navy Admiral Jose Rafael Ojeda Duran, Security Minister Alfonso Durazo Montaño, Attorney General Barr and Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard Casaubon
The U.S. law enforcement relationship with Mexico is one of our most important partnerships to combat trans-border crime. Continued collaboration and successful joint law enforcement programs between the United States and Mexico on justice matters remain a priority for the U.S. Government. Attorney General Barr looks forward to further dialogue on these important matters. He will brief President Trump tomorrow on the trip and make recommendations for next steps.
US Ambassador Landau, Attorney General Barr, Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard Casaubon, Secretary of the Navy Admiral Jose Rafael Ojeda Duran and Security Minister Alfonso Durazo Montaño
Attorney General Barr signs the guest book at the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe
Attorney General Barr receiving a gift from Monsignor Salvador Martinez Avila, the Rector of the Sanctuary of the Basilica.
Justice Department Announces More than $376 Million in Awards to Promote Public SafetyRead the Press Release
The Department of Justice’s Office of Justice Programs (OJP) today announced that it has awarded more than $376 million in grant funding to enhance state, local and tribal law enforcement operations and reinforce public safety efforts in jurisdictions across the United States.
“Crime and violence hold families, friends and neighborhoods hostage. They also rip those communities apart,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Katharine T. Sullivan for the Office of Justice Programs. “These programs simultaneously play a role in mending communities through preventing crime, apprehending and prosecuting perpetrators, facilitating appropriate sentencing and adjudication, and restoring communities and their residents.”
This year, more than $252 million is being awarded to 929 states, tribes, and local governments through the Edward Byrne Justice Assistance Grant Program (JAG), administered by OJP’s Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA). JAG funding supports a range of program areas including law enforcement; prosecution and courts; crime prevention and education; corrections; drug treatment and enforcement; technology improvement; victim and witness initiatives; mental health programs and others.
Through BJA’s National Sexual Assault Kit Initiative, $40 million will help law enforcement agencies and prosecutors address the challenges associated with sexual assault kits that have not been submitted to crime laboratories for testing. An additional $6.6 million for training and technical assistance will build state and local capacity to address unsolved crimes revealed by evidence obtained when the kits are tested.
BJA is providing more than $6.9 million to 20 state, local and tribal prosecutors through the Innovative Prosecution Solutions for Combatting Violent Crime Program. Prosecutors receive training and technical assistance to use data in the development of their violent crime strategies and create programs that are analysis-driven and based upon promising practices.
Reducing intellectual property theft and related crime are the focus of six awards, totaling nearly $2.3 million, made through BJA’s Intellectual Property Enforcement Program: Protecting Public Health, Safety, and the Economy from Counterfeit Goods and Product Piracy. The funding is being provided to state, local, tribal and territorial criminal justice systems to address intellectual property enforcement, including prosecution, prevention, training and technical assistance.
This year BJA is providing $500,000 through the Enhancing Task Force Leadership, Operations and Management Program to the Institute of Intergovernmental Research, which will provide training and technical assistance to state and local multi-jurisdictional law enforcement task forces created to address local crime. The program promotes integrity and accountability by emphasizing best practices to reduce liability and enhance officer safety and effectiveness.
Through BJA’s Upholding the Rule of Law and Preventing Wrongful Convictions Program, 12 awards totaling more than $3.2 million are supporting state and local policymakers, practitioners, and entities that represent individuals with post-conviction claims of innocence to review wrongful conviction claims cases and enact measures to prevent future errors and ensure justice.
Two awards totaling $5 million are being provided to National Criminal Justice Association and National Association of Criminal Justice Defense Lawyers through BJA’s Justice for All: Effective Administration of Criminal Justice Training and Technical Assistance Program. The recipients will deliver training and technical services to state and local governments requesting assistance.
To assist confinement facilities and the agencies that oversee them, BJA is providing 13 grants totaling more than $2.4 million to state, local and tribal governments for responding to incidents of sexual abuse in these facilities. The awards are made through the Implementing the Prison Rape Elimination Act Standards, Protecting Inmates, and Safeguarding Communities Program.
BJA’s Comprehensive Corrections Training and Technical Assistance Program is providing more than $23.7 million, to seven organizations that will provide comprehensive training and technical assistance to BJA grantees and criminal justice practitioners to improve correctional services and increase public safety through improving outcomes for people incarcerated and detained in correctional facilities. The recipients are Advocates for Human Potential, Inc.; American Correctional Association; American Institutes of for Research in the Behavioral Sciences; Impact Justice; the Moss Group, Inc.; the Research Triangle Institute; and the Urban Institute.
OJP’s Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention is providing more than $1.9 million in funding to four organizations under the Supporting Effective Interventions for Adolescent Sex Offenders and Youth with Sexual Behavioral Problems Program. The program also helps fund treatment and supportive services for victims and their caregivers. Three recipients are receiving $475,000; they are Youth Outreach Services, Ill; Cayuga Counseling Services, Inc., New York; and the Joseph J. Peters Institute, Pennsylvania. The University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center is receiving $517,592 to provide training and technical assistance to the award recipients.
Through OJP’s Office for Victims of Crime, 36 public law enforcement agencies, of which four are tribal, are receiving over $12 million to develop victim specialist programs that connect survivors and families to coordinated trauma-informed services. OVC is also awarding $2.25 million to the International Association of Chiefs of Police for related training and technical assistance.
OJP’s Office of Sex Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, Apprehending, Registering, and Tracking (SMART) is providing more than $15.7 million to 59 states, U.S. territories and tribal communities to be used to help jurisdictions meet the requirements of the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act, Title I of the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act.
SMART is also awarding more than $1.6 million for the maintenance of the Dru Sjodin National Sex Offender Public Website, a resource that provides the public access to sex offender data nationwide. The funding also provides sex offender registry systems and tools at no cost to U.S. states, territories and federally recognized tribes who are implementing standards established by the Adam Walsh Act to close gaps and loopholes in reporting.
Information about the programs and awards announced today is available here. For more information about OJP awards, visit the OJP Awards Data webpage.
The Office of Justice Programs, directed by Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Katharine T. Sullivan, provides federal leadership, grants, training and technical assistance, and other resources to improve the nation’s capacity to prevent and reduce crime, assist victims and enhance the rule of law by strengthening the criminal and juvenile justice systems. More information about OJP and its components can be found at www.ojp.gov.
Justice Department Announces Funding Opportunities to Support Public Safety for American Indian and Alaska Native CommunitiesRead the Press Release
The U.S. Department of Justice today announced the opening of the grant solicitation period for comprehensive funding to tribal communities to support crime prevention, victim services, and coordinated community responses to violence against native women.
The Department’s FY 2020 Coordinated Tribal Assistance Solicitation, or CTAS, posts today online at https://www.justice.gov/tribal/open-solicitations. The solicitation contains details about available grants and describes how federally-recognized American Indian and Alaska Native tribal governments and tribal consortia can apply for funding to aid in developing a comprehensive and coordinated approach to public safety and victimization.
“Increasing public safety, reducing violent crime and servicing crime victims — especially women and children — across American Indian and Alaska Native communities is a top priority for the Justice Department,” said Attorney General William P. Barr. “We will continue to provide funding to tribes and villages to bolster law enforcement, protect citizens and provide justice.”
The funding from the Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), Office for Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP), Office for Victims of Crime (OVC), Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office) and Office on Violence Against Women (OVW) can be used for a variety of public safety and justice-related projects and services. Funds can be used to enhance law enforcement; bolster adult and juvenile justice systems; prevent and control juvenile delinquency; serve native victims of crimes such as child abuse, sexual assault, domestic violence, and elder abuse; improve responses to violence against native women; and support other efforts to combat crime.
Applications for CTAS are submitted online through the Department’s Grants Management System, or “GMS.” Applicants must register with GMS prior to submitting an application. The application deadline is 9 p.m. EST, Feb. 25, 2020. Applicants will submit a single application and select from any or all of the eight competitive grant programs, referred to as purpose areas. This approach allows the Department’s grant-making components to consider the totality of a tribal nation’s overall public safety needs.
The eight purpose areas are:
- COPS Office’s Public Safety and Community Policing
- Comprehensive Tribal Justice Systems Strategic Planning
- BJA’s Tribal Justice Systems Program
- BJA’s Tribal Justice System Infrastructure Program
- OVW’s Violence Against Women Tribal Governments Program
- OVC’s Children’s Justice Act Partnerships for Indian Communities
- OJJDP’s Juvenile Tribal Healing to Wellness Courts
- OJJDP’s Tribal Youth Program
The Department of Justice has incorporated feedback from tribal meetings, listening sessions, consultations and other methods into this year’s solicitation. Accordingly, the Department has streamlined the application process to reduce requirements for repetitive input from applicants. For example, the application’s required question and answer templates have been refined across the purpose areas to ensure greater clarify and reduce duplication. Also, previously required documents such as the tribal authority to apply have been eliminated (except for tribal designees) to reduce the burden on applicants.
To address tribal feedback about long-term sustained funding, the Justice Department is making changes to award lengths. For Fiscal Year 2020, awards under the following Purpose Areas will be made for 60 months for:
- COPS Office’s Public Safety and Community Policing (hiring officers)
- Comprehensive Tribal Justice Systems Strategic Planning
- BJA’s Tribal Justice Systems Program
- BJA’s Tribal Justice System Infrastructure Program
- OJJDP’s Juvenile Tribal Healing to Wellness Courts
- OJJDP’s Tribal Youth Program
Also new to Fiscal Year 2020 is a change to OVW’s Violence Against Women Tribal Governments Program. Awards will be made for up to $900,000 for 36 months. At the end of the 36-month period, grantees may be eligible to receive 24 months of additional noncompetitive funding up to $600,000 to continue their projects.
Additionally, the scope of BJA’s Tribal Justice System Infrastructure Program (Purpose Area 4) has been expanded to fund support of physical infrastructure projects related to domestic violence shelters, safe homes, transitional living facilities, and advocacy programs. Purpose Area 4 will also include funding for adding associated capacity, equipment, and infrastructure to support staff training, fitness and wellness.
This year’s solicitation will not include two purpose areas included in previous years: OVC’s Tribal Victim Services Program (Purpose Area 7) and BJA’s Addressing Violent Crime in Native Communities (Purpose Area 10). OVC’s Victims Services Program will be offered via a stand-alone solicitation separate from CTAS. Resources to support tribes’ efforts to address investigations and prosecutions of violent crime in native communities will be managed through a separate, targeted process. More details on this program to reduce violent crime in tribal communities will be announced separately.
Fact sheets and other relevant information regarding this year’s CTAS can be found online at: https://www.justice.gov/tribal/grants. The Department will also facilitate a series of webinars to guide applicants through the CTAS application requirements. Details, including how to register for these webinars, will be made available online in coming weeks at https://www.justice.gov/tribal/open-solicitations.
Additionally, tribes and tribal consortia may also be eligible for non-tribal federal grant programs and are encouraged to explore other funding opportunities, which may be found at DOJ’s Tribal Justice and Safety website at https://www.justice.gov/tribal/open-solicitations or the www.grants.gov website.
In FY 2019, the Department funded 149 tribes with 236 awards totaling more than $273.4 million in grants to improve public safety, serve victims of crime, combat violence against women and support youth programs in American Indian and Alaska Native communities.
CTAS is administered by the Department’s Office of Justice Programs, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services and Office on Violence Against Women.
Today’s announcement is part of the DOJ’s ongoing initiative to increase engagement, coordination and action on public safety in tribal communities.
Defense Contractor Agrees to Pay $45 Million to Resolve Criminal Obstruction Charges and Civil False Claims Act AllegationsRead the Press Release
WASHINGTON – Unitrans International Inc. (Unitrans), a privately held Virginia defense contracting company, has agreed to pay $45 million to resolve criminal obstruction charges and civil False Claims Act allegations relating to the illegal transportation of goods across Iran in connection with a contract to provide material and logistical support to U.S. troops in Afghanistan.
Assistant Attorney General Brian Benczkowski of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Assistant Attorney General Jody Hunt of the Justice Department’s Civil Division, U.S. Attorney Zachary Terwilliger of the Eastern District of Virginia, Special Agent in Charge Raymond Villanueva of U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations’ (HSI) Washington, D.C. Field Office, Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) John F. Sopko, and Special Agent in Charge Robert E. Craig Jr. of the Defense Criminal Investigative Service - Mid-Atlantic Field Office (DCIS) made the announcement.
As part of the global resolution, Unitrans entered into a non-prosecution agreement (NPA) with the Department of Justice and agreed to pay $31.5 million as a combined criminal monetary penalty and victim compensation payment amount in this matter.
In connection with the NPA, Unitrans admitted that certain of its officers, as well as officers of Anham FZCO (Anham), an associated Dubai Free Zone company incorporated under the laws of the United Arab Emirates, obstructed proceedings pending before the U.S. Defense Logistics Agency (DLA). In June 2012, the DLA awarded Anham a contract to provide material and logistical support to U.S. troops in Afghanistan. This contract required Anham to certify that it would comply with all executive orders, proclamations and statutes that prohibit U.S. persons and companies from shipping materials through Iran.
Between November 2011 and May 2012, officers of Unitrans, which provided logistical services to Anham, facilitated the transportation of construction materials to Afghanistan through Iran. These materials were used in the construction of a warehouse that Anham used to assist in the performance of the troop support contract that Anham had with the DLA. At the time of the shipments, high level officers at Unitrans and Anham were aware of the activity and took no action to stop the conduct, Unitrans admitted.
According to the factual statement agreed to as part of the NPA, on Sept. 23, 2013, Anham’s then-CEO, who was also an indirect and partial owner of Unitrans, sent an email to a representative of DLA about the shipments to Afghanistan through Iran. The email stated: “At no time did Anham acquire any goods in, or from, Iran. The senior team at Anham had no knowledge of these shipments and upon learning of this possibility made a voluntary disclosure to the U.S. government that Anham was investigating whether any violations had in fact occurred.”
The Department of Justice has separately entered into non-prosecution agreements with three individuals who were previously indicted in relation to the scheme.
To resolve a related civil matter, Unitrans also has agreed to pay $27 million to resolve allegations under the False Claims Act that it, along with Anham fraudulently induced DLA and the Army to award wartime contracts for food and trucks by knowingly and falsely certifying compliance with United States sanctions against Iran. The civil agreement also resolves allegations that Anham FZCO knowingly and falsely represented construction progress on its Bagram warehouse to induce DLA to award the prime vendor contract to provide food to U.S. troops in Afghanistan. The civil settlement will credit $13.5 million of Unitrans’ payment under the NPA, and require an additional payment by Unitrans of $13.5 million. The defendants did not admit liability as a result of the Civil Agreement. The allegations resolved by the civil settlement were brought in a lawsuit filed under the qui tam or whistleblower provisions of the False Claims Act by Rory Maxwell, John Bush, and Supreme Foodservice GmbH. The Act permits private parties to sue on behalf of the government for false claims and receive a share of any recovery. Under the Act, the United States may intervene in such a suit or, as it did in this case, allow the private party to pursue the action.
HSI–Washington, D.C., DCIS, and investigators from SIGAR investigated the criminal case. Trial Attorneys James Gelber and Danny Nguyen of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section prosecuted the case. Trial Attorney Art Coulter of the Civil Division’s Fraud Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Krista Anderson of the Eastern District of Virginia handled the civil litigation supported by the Defense Contract Audit Agency.
The qui tam case is captioned U.S. ex rel. Maxwell, et al. v. Anham, USA, et al., 1:14-CV-0156 (E.D.VA). There has been no determination of liability in the civil case.
Chicago Man Sentenced to More Than 16 Years in Federal Prison for Shooting ATF AgentRead the Press Release
CHICAGO — A federal judge today sentenced a Chicago man to more than 16 years in prison for shooting an agent from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives.
ERNESTO GODINEZ shot the agent on May 4, 2018, in the Back of the Yards neighborhood of Chicago. At the time of the early morning shooting, the agent and several law enforcement officers were conducting a covert investigation in the 4300 block of South Hermitage Avenue. The agent was wounded in the head but survived.
A federal jury earlier this year convicted Godinez, 29, of both counts against him, including one count of assault of a federal officer, and one count of discharging a firearm during a crime of violence. U.S. District Judge Harry D. Leinenweber imposed a sentence of 16 years and eight months in prison.
The sentence was announced by John R. Lausch, Jr., United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Timothy Jones, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Division of ATF. Substantial assistance was provided by the Chicago Police Department, FBI, U.S. Marshals Service, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, and Illinois State Police.
“The depravity of the defendant’s crime is remarkable,” Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kavitha J. Babu and Nicholas J. Eichenseer argued in the government’s sentencing memorandum. “This was indiscriminate, deadly violence by a recidivist shooter. It is critical that assaults on law enforcement be met with serious punishment.”
“The primary goal of our violent crime prosecutions is to ensure public safety,” said U.S. Attorney Lausch. “To that end, we will continue to aggressively prosecute repeat violent offenders like Defendant Godinez in order to hold them accountable for their reprehensible conduct and to deter others from committing similar crimes. I commend the AUSAs, agents, and officers involved in this case for their outstanding work to seek justice. Our office will continue to use every available federal law enforcement tool to investigate, prosecute, and seek stiff prison sentences for those offenders who illegally use, possess, or transfer firearms.”
“This experience emboldens us to continue in our efforts to reduce gun violence in the city of Chicago,” said ATF SAC Jones. “We stand together with the families of all victims of violence in our city as they seek the closure we found today. We commit all of ATF’s resources to investigate violent crimes in partnership with the Chicago Police Department to ensure that offenders are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
Settlement with Lehigh Cement Company and Lehigh White Cement Company to Reduce Thousands of Tons of Air EmissionsRead the Press Release
In a settlement to resolve alleged violations of the Clean Air Act, Lehigh Cement Company LLC (Lehigh) and Lehigh White Cement Company, LLC (Lehigh White) have agreed to invest approximately $12 million in pollution control technology at their 11 portland cement manufacturing plants, announced the Department of Justice and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Today’s settlement will reduce more than 4,555 tons of harmful nitrogen oxides (NOx) and 989 tons of sulfur dioxide (SO2) pollution each year.
“This settlement with Lehigh and Lehigh White will significantly reduce harmful air emissions at their cement plants nationwide,” said Bruce Gelber, Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division. “The settlement is a product of the federal government’s close work with state and local agencies who all share the goal of improving air quality in their regions in compliance with state and federal laws.”
“Today’s settlement will require these cement manufacturers to improve their operations to reduce harmful air pollutants,” said Assistant Administrator of the Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance Susan Bodine. “The upgrades at these facilities will improve air quality for the surrounding communities.”
Under this settlement, the companies will install and operate equipment to control NOx and meet emission limits that are consistent with controls at comparable cement kilns across the country. This settlement also requires the companies to operate existing pollution controls at four kilns and meet more stringent emission limits. For controlling SO2, Lehigh will install and operate pollution control equipment at several kilns, and will meet low SO2 emission limits at all kilns.
Lehigh has agreed to mitigate the effects of past excess emissions from its facilities by replacing old diesel truck engines at its facilities in Union Bridge, MD, and Mason City, IA, at an estimated cost of approximately $650,000, which is expected to reduce smog-forming NOx by approximately 25 tons per year. Lehigh will also pay a civil penalty of $1.3 million to resolve Clean Air Act violations.
The settlement is the 12th settlement to address harmful air pollution from Portland cement manufacturing facilities. Sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides, two key pollutants emitted from cement plants, can harm human health and are significant contributors to acid rain, smog, and haze. These pollutants are converted in the air into fine particles that can cause severe respiratory and cardiovascular impacts and premature death. Reducing these harmful air pollutants will benefit communities located near the Lehigh plants, particularly communities disproportionately impacted by environmental risks and vulnerable populations, including children.
The Lehigh cement plants covered by the settlement are located in Leeds, AL.; Cupertino, Redding, and Tehachapi, CA.; Mason City, IA; Mitchell, IN; Union Bridge, MD; Glens Falls, NY, and Fleetwood, PA. Lehigh White’s facilities are located in York, PA and Woodway, TX. Seven state and state or regional agencies have joined the United States in the settlement, consisting of Indiana, Iowa, Maryland, New York, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, Jefferson County Board of Health (Alabama), and Bay Area Air Quality Management District (California). The states and state and regional agencies will share in the civil penalty.
The settlement was lodged today in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and is subject to a 30-day public comment period and final court approval. It will be available for viewing at www.justice.gov/enrd/Consent_Decrees.html.
More information about this settlement:
https://www.epa.gov/enforcement/lehigh-cement-company-llc-and-lehigh-white-cement-company-llc-clean-air-act-settlement
More about EPA’s National Enforcement Initiatives:
https://www.epa.gov/enforcement/cement-manufacturing-enforcement-initiative
Second Pharmaceutical Company Admits to Price Fixing, Resolves Related False Claims Act ViolationsRead the Press Release
Rising Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Rising), a generic pharmaceutical company headquartered in New Jersey, was charged for conspiring to fix prices and allocate customers for a generic hypertension drug, the Department of Justice announced today.
According to a one-count felony charge filed today in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, from about April 2014 until at least September 2015, Rising participated in a criminal antitrust conspiracy with a competing manufacturer of generic drugs and its executives to fix prices and allocate customers for Benazepril HCTZ, a medicine used to treat hypertension. This charge is the fourth in the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division’s ongoing criminal investigation in the generic pharmaceuticals industry; previously, two executives were charged and pleaded guilty to criminal antitrust violations, and a corporation, Heritage Pharmaceuticals Inc., was charged and entered into a deferred prosecution agreement with the Antitrust Division.
Today, the Antitrust Division also announced a deferred prosecution agreement resolving the charge against Rising, under which the company admits that it conspired to fix prices and allocate customers for Benazepril HCTZ. Under the deferred prosecution agreement, Rising agrees that $1,543,207 is the appropriate amount of restitution it owes to victims of the charged conduct. To account for Rising’s separate agreement with the Department’s Civil Division, which requires Rising to pay approximately $1.1 million in civil damages for False Claims Act violations predicated on Rising’s antitrust conduct, the deferred prosecution agreement calls for an offset of Rising’s restitution, to $438,066. The agreement also requires Rising to pay a $1.5 million monetary penalty, reduced from the fine of approximately $3.6 million called for under the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, due to Rising’s financial condition and liquidation. Both the deferred prosecution agreement and civil settlement agreement require approval in the bankruptcy court. Once approved, the deferred prosecution agreement will be filed in district court.
In addition, under the deferred prosecution agreement, Rising has agreed to cooperate fully with Antitrust Division’s ongoing criminal investigation. To allow Rising to comply with the agreement’s terms, the United States will defer prosecuting Rising for three years, or until its ongoing bankruptcy proceedings become final, whichever comes first. The agreement will not be final until accepted by the court.
“Today’s charge, like the previous corporate and individual charges announced in this investigation, publicly affirms the Antitrust Division’s steadfast commitment to prosecuting the companies and executives who fixed prices of generic pharmaceuticals,” said Assistant Attorney General Makan Delrahim of the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division. “Rising and its co-conspirators exploited patients that rely on Benazepril HCTZ as a low-cost alternative to brand-name medications to treat high blood pressure. The deferred prosecution agreement is an important step in restoring integrity to the generics industry. It will require from Rising not only an admission of guilt, a criminal penalty and cooperation in the ongoing investigation, but also restitution to the direct purchasers that bought Benazepril HCTZ at artificially inflated prices.”
“The U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General appreciates the opportunity to assist in these critical generics industry antitrust investigations,” said Special Agent in Charge Scott Pierce. “Aggressively pursuing those companies and executives who foster behavior related to price fixing, bid rigging and market allocation helps to ensure an open process by which generic pharmaceuticals can be competitively priced and sold. Working closely with the Department of Justice and our counterparts at the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General stands ready to support these vital efforts going forward.”
“The FBI is proud to join our partners in this effort to uncover companies and individuals who attempt to exploit necessary medicines to cheat the economic system and illegally amass wealth,” said Timothy R. Slater, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office. “Today’s announcement shows the FBI’s level of commitment to investigating allegations of antitrust violations and illuminating criminal behavior so that the perpetrators can be held accountable.”
The Antitrust Division entered into this deferred prosecution agreement with Rising based on the individual facts and circumstances of this case. Among those facts and circumstances, the agreement specifically identifies the company’s substantial and ongoing cooperation with the investigation to date, including its disclosure of information regarding criminal antitrust violations involving drugs other than those identified in the criminal charge and the agreement. According to the agreement, this cooperation has allowed the United States to advance its investigation into criminal antitrust conspiracies among other manufacturers of generic pharmaceuticals. Other facts and circumstances identified in the agreement include Rising’s agreement to pay restitution, and the fact that a conviction (including a guilty plea) would result in substantial delay to Rising’s ongoing bankruptcy proceeding and liquidation. The agreement can ensure that Rising is held accountable for its criminal conduct and preserves the United States’ ability to prosecute it should material breaches occur.
In a separate civil resolution, Rising has agreed to pay $1.1 million to resolve allegations under the False Claims Act related to the price-fixing conspiracy. The government alleged that between 2013 and 2016, Rising paid and received remuneration through arrangements on price, supply, and allocation of customers with another pharmaceutical manufacturer for certain generic drugs in violation of the Anti-Kickback Statute, and that its sale of these drugs resulted in claims submitted to the Medicare and Medicaid programs.
“My Office is proud to announce the next civil healthcare fraud settlement with the Antitrust Division and the Civil Division,” said William M. McSwain, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. “We remain focused on price-fixing and market allocation in generic drugs and addressing the impact on federal healthcare programs like Medicare and Medicaid. This resolution with Rising is another important accomplishment in that area, which will only serve to accelerate our ongoing investigation.”
“Hypertension medicines are vital for patient health, and engaging in schemes to price fix these generic medicines is illegal and could potentially be dangerous, as some patients may have an inability to pay for the medicines they need,” said Maureen R. Dixon, Special Agent in Charge of the Philadelphia Regional Office of the Inspector General, Department of Health and Human Services. “HHS-OIG will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to investigate allegations of companies engaging in actions that put the public and the Medicare program at risk.”
The criminal charge is the result of an ongoing federal antitrust investigation into price fixing, bid rigging and other anticompetitive conduct in the generic pharmaceutical industry, which is being conducted by the Antitrust Division with the assistance of the United States Postal Service Office of Inspector General, the FBI’s Washington Field Office and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Anyone with information on market allocation, price fixing, bid rigging and other anticompetitive conduct related to the generic pharmaceutical industry should contact the Antitrust Division’s Citizen Complaint Center at 1-888-647-3258 or visit www.justice.gov/atr/contact/newcase.html.
The civil settlement was handled by the Civil Division’s Commercial Litigation Branch and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania with support from the Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General. Except for those facts admitted to in the deferred prosecution agreement, the claims resolved by the civil settlement are allegations only, and there has been no determination of liability.
Justice Department Honors Law Enforcement Officers and Deputies in Third Annual Attorney General’s Award for Distinguished Service in PolicingRead the Press Release
Attorney General William P. Barr and Justice Department leadership today announced the recipients of the Third Annual Attorney General’s Award for Distinguished Service in Policing, recognizing the exceptional work of 19 law enforcement officers and deputies from 12 jurisdictions across the country.
“Honoring and supporting the work of law enforcement officers and deputies is a top priority for the Trump Administration, and today is an opportunity for me to personally express my gratitude and commitment to those who risk their lives daily to protect our communities,” said Attorney General Barr. “The Attorney General’s Award for Distinguished Service in Policing honors exceptional police officers and the vital public service they provide. The brave men and women in law enforcement are engaged in an unrelenting and often unacknowledged fight to keep our communities safe each and every day. It is an honor to thank them for their service.”
President Donald J. Trump established clear directives for the Department of Justice – with three Executive Orders – demonstrating his strong support of the law enforcement community. These Executive Orders commit the Department to working in tandem with state and local law enforcement to restore the rule of law, reduce violent crime, dismantle criminal gangs, and combat the growing drug epidemic. Today the Department of Justice continues to support the President’s directive to honor law enforcement officers by announcing the third annual Attorney General’s Award for Distinguished Service in Policing.
The Attorney General’s Award recognizes individual state, local, and tribal sworn rank-and-file police officers and deputies for exceptional efforts in policing. The awarded officers and deputies have demonstrated active engagement with the community in one of three areas: criminal investigations, field operations or innovations in community policing. The Department received 199 nominations for 414 individuals ranging from state police departments, to local police, to campus public safety agencies. This award highlights the work that troopers, officers and deputies do to prevent, intervene in, and respond to crime and public safety issues. The individuals recognized today include:
CRIMINAL INVESTIGATIONS
Detective William Maldonado of the Suffolk County Police Department, New York:
Detective William Maldonado is being recognized posthumously for his effort in leading the criminal investigation into the violent transnational street gang MS-13. Detective Maldonado was assigned to assist in the investigation of the disappearance of a young man. Intelligence gathered by Detective Maldonado indicated the missing boy was a murder victim of MS-13. Without the detective’s work, along with his team, the murder spree would no doubt have continued. Instead, several dozen people were arrested, charged with 17 murders, the Suffolk County MS-13 Sailor Clique was eliminated, and several other cliques were disrupted. Maldonado accomplished this while battling cancer, and rarely missed work. He succumbed to his illness in 2018, but not before arrests were made in the cases.
Detectives George Duarte and Jeffrey Richards of the Providence Police Department, Rhode Island:
Detectives George Duarte and Jeffrey Richards are being recognized for their extraordinary investigative work in solving an abduction and sexual assault case of a 14-year-old girl. Their investigation not only solved that case, but also led to solving several other cases of sexual assault by the same suspect. Because of their work, the detectives were able to have this vicious predator removed from the community, victims of unreported crimes were helped, and justice was brought to a number of other victims.
Detectives Sandra Marquez and Kenneth Sealy of the Aventura Police Department, Florida:
Detectives Kenneth Sealy and Sandra Marquez are being recognized for their investigative work in solving several high-dollar fraud schemes targeting multiple businesses and retail stores. During an intense investigation involving a large credit card fraud ring operating in south Florida, the detectives identified approximately $194,000 in fraudulent transactions and seized another $218,000. Another case involved money laundering and widespread credit card fraud committed in multiple states, which included a loss of almost $4 million over three years. The detectives are continuing this important work in coordination with several federal agencies.
FIELD OPERATIONS
Officers Evan Jurgensen, Nicholas Kelly, Rachel Mynier, and John Yenchak of the Prince William County Police Department, Virginia:
In November 2018, the Prince William County Police Department received a call reporting an active shooter. Within minutes of responding to the scene, Officers Jurgensen, Kelly, Mynier and Yenchak had to take cover from gunfire. Officer Mynier noticed movement on the roof of a residence and transmitted a warning to incoming units, and in doing so saved lives. After the shooter ignored officers’ commands, he was eventually struck and fell to the ground. Although officers feared a possible second shooter, they exposed themselves to harm once again to extract the shooter for medical treatment, and also pulled an occupant from the residence to safety. The heroism demonstrated by each officer represents true courage.
Deputy Richard Hassna of the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office, California:
Deputy Richard Hassna is being recognized for his innovative use of small unmanned aerial systems (UAS) for public safety operations. In 2018, during the deadly Camp Fire in Butte County, Deputy Hassna led more than 16 unmanned aerial vehicle teams, and conducted 517 flights in two days, taking more than 70,000 images. These images were stitched into a map that allowed residents to see the damage to their property, without being exposed to danger. This was likely the largest response of small UAS’s to a disaster scene in U.S. history. Deputy Hassna has also developed tactics and training for this technology that has redefined high-risk tactical operations and air support as we know it.
Deputy Ross Jessop of the Missoula County Sheriff’s Office, Montana:
Deputy Jessop is being recognized for his action and dedication to duty in saving the life of a kidnapped baby. In July 2018, the Sheriff’s Office received a call about a man with a gun, who had fled in a vehicle with his girlfriend’s infant son. One hour later the suspect appeared back on the scene without the baby. The suspect said he killed and buried the baby; but his irrational statements led investigators to search for the missing child. During Deputy Jessop’s search in more than a million acres of forest, he heard a faint whimper, and found a baby boy lying face down. To his surprise, the baby was alive and uninjured. There is no question Deputy Jessop’s instincts, perseverance, and dedication saved the child’s life.
Officers Aaron Bates and Alexander Stotik of the Cohasset Police Department, Massachusetts:
Officers Bates and Stotik are being recognized for their courageous actions that saved the life of a woman who was being brutally attacked. The officers were dispatched to a home where neighbors complained of loud noises and a fight. After investigating, the officers heard a muffled scream, kicked in a locked door, and saw what they described as an “attempted murder in progress.” After a heated struggle, the officers were able to subdue the suspect, place him under arrest, and get medical attention for the victim. The officers exhibited extraordinary valor, bravery, courage, and professionalism in the face of extreme danger that would no doubt have resulted in the murder of the victim.
INNOVATIONS IN COMMUNITY POLICING
Officer Phalon McFate of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, Nevada:
Officer McFate developed Project Daybreak, an initiative used to address violent crime-hot spots in downtown Las Vegas neighborhoods. Since it started, Project Daybreak has significantly contributed to decreasing violent crime – down by 50 percent in these neighborhoods. Through positive police interactions, Officer McFate was able to create transparency and build trust in neighborhoods, where these previously did not exist. The success of Project Daybreak is a direct result of Officer McFate’s passion and commitment to her community.
Officer Jesse Guardiola of the Tulsa Police Department, Oklahoma:
Officer Guardiola is being recognized for the Hispanic outreach program he has developed, which provides survival Spanish language training, and educates law enforcement and the community on the immigrant Hispanic culture. The program has received national recognition and is being promoted as a national model for Hispanic community outreach. Through his efforts, Officer Guardiola is building bridges and making a difference in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Detective Anthony Roberson of the Providence Police Department, Rhode Island:
Detective Roberson is being recognized for his use of community policing initiatives that build partnerships between law enforcement and local businesses to support underserved families. The “Shop with a Cop” program has now served 300 children. The “Handshake Initiative” has grown from 40 to 200 mentors, and is benefiting families of all backgrounds, across the city. Through these programs, Detective Roberson is giving back to his community, increasing partnerships and building bridges between law enforcement, families and businesses.
Officer Jonathan Plunkett of the Irving Police Department, Texas:
In August 2016, after the murder of five police officers in Dallas, Officer Plunkett began working on an outreach initiative to bridge the gap between the African-American community and law enforcement. The idea was to connect with the community in places where residents would feel comfortable, and be open to sharing their concerns and engaging in dialogue. Officer Plunkett knew that barbershops would work. The initiative, which began with one shop, has now increased to 16 shops, and is known as ShopTalk. Through ShopTalk, Officer Plunkett has created a way to build mutual trust and respect between law enforcement and community members who had not been reached with traditional police outreach efforts.
Detective Kathleen Lucero of the Isleta Tribal Police Department, New Mexico:
Detective Lucero is being recognized for community policing initiatives that provide resources to impoverished youth, and build connections between law enforcement and the community. Through the annual Reaching for A Star initiative, Detective Lucero provides gifts and food to more than 150 children and their families during the holiday season. Through her Camp Courage program, 60 children participate in a youth camp every summer. Detective Lucero’s on-and off-duty dedication cannot be overstated and has made a true impact on the community.
Officer Troy Quick of the Conyers Police Department, Georgia:
Officer Quick is making a lasting impact on the youth within his community. As a School Resource Officer at Rockdale County High School, Officer Quick has been able to help a number of students leave gang life. Whether it is though the mentoring sessions he coordinates for students, donating items to families in need, or just taking an interest in student’s daily lives, Officer Quick is a true example of dedication and service.