District Not Recorded
The source did not name an office we could identify. These records remain unassigned rather than guessed.
United States, State of Washington, and the Suquamish and Tulalip Tribes Announce Major Settlement Addressing Natural Resource Damages at Port Gardner Bay Area, WashingtonRead the Press Release
Today, the U.S. Department of Justice, the Department of the Interior (DOI), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the State of Washington, the Suquamish Tribe, and the Tulalip Tribes (collectively, “the Port Gardner Bay Trustees” aka “the Trustees”), announced that they have reached a settlement with the Port of Everett (the Port) related to contamination of the Port Gardner Bay Area in Everett, Washington. The settlement is intended to resolve claims brought under the Clean Water Act (CWA), the Oil Pollution Act (OPA), and the Washington Model Toxics Control Act (MTCA), for damages to natural resources stemming from the release of oil and other hazardous substances in Port Gardner Bay. The settlement will also address potential liability of the U.S. Navy for natural resource damages.
In April 2018, three other identified potentially responsible parties (PRPs) entered into a consent decree to resolve the full amount of their liability for natural resource damages in the Port Gardner Bay Area, through cash-out payments totaling over $3.9 million. Today’s settlement, if approved by the court, will resolve the liability of the remaining identified PRPs — the Port and the Navy.
As part of the proposed settlement, the Port is required to construct the Blue Heron Slough Restoration Project (the BHS Project), in accordance with a final design plan approved by the Trustees, and maintain the project in perpetuity. The BHS Project will restore 338 acres of intertidal estuarine and upland habitats along Interstate I-5 in the lower Snohomish River estuary, reconnecting these habitats to the Snohomish River watershed and Puget Sound, and preserving open space. The restoration of this habitat will be beneficial to a multitude of native fish, wildlife, and other natural resources. The Port will operate the Project as a “bank” for conservation credits, and will resolve its liability by “retiring,” or setting aside, credits equivalent to approximately 35 acres of the Project.
The proposed settlement also states that the United States, on behalf of the Navy, will make a payment of $789,840 to be used towards construction of the BHS Project. In exchange for the payments from the Navy and the other three PRPs, the Port will set aside credits equivalent to approximately 36 additional acres of the project. As part of the proposed settlement, the Port and the Navy will also pay a proportionate share of the costs incurred by the Trustees in assessing natural resource damages in the Port Gardner Bay Area.
“The Department of Justice is confident that this voluntary settlement will be a significant win for the environment,” said Assistant Attorney General Jeffrey Bossert Clark for the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division. “The United States is looking forward to cooperating with the other Trustees and the Port to ensure that the vital habitats of the Port Gardner Bay Area can successfully recover.”
“The Department of the Interior worked together with all the trustees to come to a successful conclusion,” said Regional Director Robyn Thorson for the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service’s Pacific Region. “We are excited to see the Blue Heron Slough Restoration Project come to life for the benefit of the public and all our shared trust resources."
“This settlement highlights the benefits of working cooperatively with industry, co-trustees and private partners to resolve natural resource liability at a contaminated site”, said Nicole LeBoeuf, Acting Assistant Administrator for NOAA's National Ocean Service. “This agreement will restore habitats critical for salmon and many other species of fish and wildlife, and benefit local communities and economies that depend on clean and robust fisheries.”
“This groundbreaking achievement is a win-win for the environment and local communities,” said Jim Pendowski, Toxics Cleanup Program Manager for the Washington Department of Ecology. “Restoring and protecting 338 acres of critical tidal habitats will help salmon thrive and the communities that rely on healthy fisheries.”
“This settlement will restore habitat that is critical to protecting and supporting treaty-reserved fisheries, which the Suquamish Tribe has relied upon since time immemorial,” said Leonard Forsman, Chairman of the Suquamish Tribe and President of the Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians. “The process that resulted in this agreement is a model for the sort of collaboration that can restore the health of Puget Sound. We look forward to continuing this work for the benefit of all of us who rely on the Salish Sea for economic and cultural sustenance.”
“Our ancestral waters, and the marine habitats vital to the natural and cultural resources of the Tulalip people, are in need of protection and restoration if they are to continue to support Salmon, Orcas, and shellfish,” said Teri Gobin, Chairwoman of the Tulalip Tribes. “The collaborative process of this settlement represents the best path forward for protecting our natural resources for future generations of the Salish Sea.”
According to documents filed with the court, the violations for which the Port is allegedly liable involved the unauthorized discharge of oil and other harmful compounds on properties now owned or operated by the Port. Investigations have detected hazardous substances in soils, groundwater and sediments on or in the Port’s properties. Alleged liability of the Navy is the result of past releases of harmful substances on land now owned or operated by the Navy.
The claims against the Port were brought under Section 311 of the CWA, Section 1002(b) of the OPA, and the MTCA. These statutes protect against the discharge of oil or hazardous substances into the waters and marine habitats of the United States and impose liability for damages to natural resources resulting from those discharges.
This settlement marks the close of a long-running matter by resolving the liability of the only remaining PRPs on terms which are acceptable to all parties. The settlement will yield the construction of a large-scale restoration project that will benefit a multitude of injured natural resources in the Port Gardner Bay Area, and it ensures that each PRP is proportionately responsible for the resolution of both the cost of damages to the area’s habitats and the assessment costs incurred by the Trustees.
The proposed settlement, which is subject to a 30-day public comment period, is available at: https://www.justice.gov/enrd/consent-decrees.
Justice Department Announces Addition of 10 Cities and Counties as Part of the National Public Safety Partnership to Combat Violent CrimeRead the Press Release
As the Department of Justice continues its efforts to fulfill President Donald J. Trump’s commitment to reducing violent crime in America, Attorney General William P. Barr today announced 10 new National Public Safety Partnership (PSP) sites in areas with elevated crime rates. The partnership provides a framework for enhancing federal support of state, local and tribal law enforcement officials and prosecutors as they aggressively investigate and pursue violent criminals, specifically those involved in gun crime, drug trafficking and gang violence.
“The Public Safety Partnership is a successful program that directs federal law enforcement resources to the cities where they can have the greatest impact," Attorney General Barr said. "These resources help police departments to diagnose where crime is highest—and why—and to find, arrest and prosecute criminals. Several participating cities have already seen dramatic reductions in violent crime over the past two years. As we expand this program to 10 more cities across America, we are determined to replicate that success.”
The Justice Department created PSP and the Task Force on Crime Reduction and Public Safety in response to President Trump’s February 9, 2017, Executive Order charging the agency with leading a national effort to combat violent crime. In June 2017, the Department of Justice announced the formation of the National Public Safety Partnership initiative.
To be considered for selection, a site must have sustained levels of violence that far exceed the national average and demonstrate a commitment to reducing crime. Cities must also display compliance with federal immigration requirements.
The 10 sites announced today are as follows:
- Anniston, Alabama
- Oxford, Alabama
- Anchorage, Alaska
- Davenport, Iowa
- Wichita, Kansas
- Baton Rouge, Louisiana
- Baltimore, Maryland
- Cleveland, Ohio
- Amarillo, Texas
- Harris County, Texas
Last week, Attorney General Barr visited one of the new PSP sites in Anchorage, Alaska, and participated in a roundtable where he heard the public safety concerns from many Alaska Native leaders.
“I know through experience as a former U.S. Attorney that the surest way to drive down crime is through a united effort that involves local government leaders and law enforcement agencies at all levels,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Matt M. Dummermuth, who oversees DOJ’s Office of Justice Programs. “The National Public Safety Partnership has been the force behind successful violence reduction efforts in a number of communities, and we intend to carry that success into other high crime neighborhoods.”
More than 30 cities have participated in PSP. The primary participating Justice Department components include the Office of Justice Programs, Office on Violence Against Women, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, FBI, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and U.S. Marshals Service.
“We are proud to provide support to law enforcement in these new Sites, and we’re confident that this collaborative effort will help these jurisdictions reduce violent crime,” said Jon Adler, Director of the Bureau of Justice Assistance.
More information about PSP can be found at: http://www.nationalpublicsafetypartnership.org.
Justice Department Requires Amcor to Divest Medical Flexible Packaging Assets in Order to Proceed with Bemis AcquisitionRead the Press Release
The Department of Justice announced today that Amcor Limited will be required to divest three manufacturing facilities and other assets in order to proceed with its $6.8 billion acquisition of Bemis Company Inc. The Department said that, without the divestiture, the proposed acquisition would eliminate competition between two of only three significant suppliers of three medical packaging products that are critical to the safe transportation and use of medical devices.
The Department’s Antitrust Division filed a civil antitrust lawsuit today in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to block the proposed transaction. At the same time, the Department filed a proposed settlement that, if approved by the court, would resolve the Department’s competitive concerns.
“The medical packaging products that Amcor and Bemis manufacture are integral to the safe sterilization, transportation, and use of medical devices in hospitals, medical offices, and labs around the country,” said Assistant Attorney General Makan Delrahim of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division. “Today’s settlement, which requires Amcor to divest its medical flexible packaging business at these three facilities, will ensure that medical care providers continue to benefit from competition for these critical products.”
According to the Department’s complaint, Amcor and Bemis both supply three types of heat-seal, coated medical packaging products critical to the safe transportation and use of medical devices: medical-grade Tyvek rollstock, medical-grade paper rollstock, and medical-grade Tyvek die-cut lidding. Due to Amcor’s and Bemis’s collective overall expertise in meeting the needs of doctors and hospitals, Amcor and Bemis are two major competitors supplying these products. According to the complaint, the combination of Amcor and Bemis would eliminate head-to-head competition between the companies in the markets for these products and threaten the benefits that medical care providers have realized from that competition in the form of lower prices and better service.
Under the terms of the proposed settlement, Amcor must divest manufacturing facilities located in Ashland, Massachusetts; Milwaukee, Wisconsin; and Madison, Wisconsin; along with certain related assets, to Tekni-Plex Inc., or an alternate acquirer approved by the United States. Tekni-Plex is an international leader in flexible films and medical supplies.
Amcor, headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland, had total sales of over $9 billion in 2018, including approximately $288 million in sales of flexible packaging for medical use in the United States.
Bemis, a Missouri corporation headquartered in Neenah, Wisconsin, had total sales of over $4 billion in 2018, including approximately $260.9 million in sales of flexible packaging for medical use in the United States.
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 Maribeth Petrizzi, Chief, Defense, Industrials, and Aerospace Section, Antitrust Division, U.S. Department of Justice, 450 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 8700, 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.
Dallas Men Charged with Hate Crimes, Kidnapping, and Conspiracy after Targeting Gay Men for Violent CrimesRead the Press Release
WASHINGTON – Daniel Jenkins, 20, and Daryl Henry, 22, were charged by a federal grand jury in a superseding indictment unsealed yesterday with conspiracy to commit hate crimes, kidnapping, and carjacking, announced Assistant Attorney General Eric Dreiband of the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division, U.S. Attorney Erin Nealy Cox for the Northern District of Texas, and FBI Special Agent-in-Charge Matthew DeSarno of the Dallas Division. Mr. Jenkins and Mr. Henry were also charged with hate crimes and kidnapping. Additionally, Mr. Jenkins was charged with carjacking and brandishing a firearm during crimes of violence.
According to the 15 count indictment—which supersedes a previously filed indictment—members of the conspiracy used Grindr, a dating app for LGBT people, to create fake profiles and pose as gay men interested in “dates” to lure gay men to an apartment complex in Dallas, Texas, in order to commit violent crimes against them, including kidnapping, assault, robbery, and carjacking. Members of the conspiracy forced the victims at gunpoint to relinquish their possessions, including their wallets, money, car keys, cars, drivers’ licenses and identification cards, credit and debit cards, and cellular telephones.
According to the indictment, the conspirators used Grindr to lure nine victims to an apartment complex in Dallas from Dec. 6, 2017, through Dec. 11, 2017. On Dec. 11, 2017, the conspirators held five victims against their will in an apartment at the complex. Four of the victims were physically assaulted, three were sexually assaulted, and some victims were called gay slurs. A conspirator also urinated and wiped human feces on at least one victim. The indictment further alleges that Jenkins and Henry caused bodily injury to four victims because of their actual and perceived sexual orientation. The indictment charges both Jenkins and Henry with kidnapping these four victims and Jenkins with kidnapping two additional victims, carjacking two victims, and using a firearm in connection with the carjackings.
An indictment is merely an accusation, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. If convicted, both defendants face a maximum statutory penalty of life in prison for the hate crime and kidnapping charges, five years for the conspiracy charge, and a fine of up to $250,000 with respect to each charge. Jenkins also faces up to 15 years for the carjacking charges and a mandatory minimum of at least seven years in prison, plus a $250,000 fine for each firearms charge.
The FBI’s Dallas Field Office conducted the federal investigation with the assistance and cooperation of the Dallas Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicole Dana of the Northern District of Texas and Trial Attorneys Rose E. Gibson and Kathryn E. Gilbert of the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division are prosecuting the case.
Justice Department Announces Sixth Settlement Under the Civil Rights Division’s Protecting U.S. Workers InitiativeRead the Press Release
The Department of Justice today reached a settlement agreement with El Expreso Bus Company (El Expreso), a company that provides intercity passenger bus service, headquartered in Houston, Texas. The agreement resolves the Department of Justice’s investigation into whether El Expreso unlawfully denied employment to qualified and available U.S. workers because it preferred to hire temporary visa workers with H-2B visas. This agreement is the sixth settlement under the Civil Rights Division’s Protecting U.S. Workers Initiative, which is aimed at targeting, investigating, and taking enforcement actions against companies that discriminate against U.S. workers in favor of temporary visa workers.
The Department’s investigation determined that El Expreso failed to consider applications from qualified U.S. workers for its temporary bus driver positions and then petitioned for H-2B visa workers to fill the positions, even though the H-2B visa program requires employers to recruit and hire available and qualified U.S. workers before they receive permission to hire temporary foreign workers. The Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) prohibits employers from discriminating in the hiring process based on a worker’s citizenship status or national origin. Refusing to hire or consider U.S. citizens because of their citizenship status violates the anti-discrimination provision of the INA.
“Employers cannot discriminate against qualified U.S. workers because they prefer to hire visa holders,” said Assistant Attorney General Eric Dreiband of the Civil Rights Division. “This agreement is part of the Civil Rights Division’s continuing commitment to protect U.S. workers from discrimination, and we look forward to working with El Expreso as a partner in compliance.”
Under the settlement, El Expreso must engage in enhanced recruiting and job advertising efforts to attract qualified U.S. workers before using temporary visa programs. El Expreso must also set aside $197,500 to pay any wages lost by U.S. workers whose applications it improperly rejected or ignored, pay $31,500 in civil penalties to the United States, and be subject to monitoring compliance by the Department of Justice.
Under the Protecting U.S. Workers Initiative, the Civil Rights Division has opened dozens of investigations, filed one lawsuit, and reached settlement agreements with six employers. Since the Initiative’s inception, employers have agreed to pay or have distributed nearly $1 million in back pay to affected U.S. workers and civil penalties to the United States. The Division has also increased its collaboration with other federal agencies to combat discrimination and abuse by employers using foreign visa workers.
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 status and national origin discrimination in hiring, firing, or recruitment or referral for a fee; unfair documentary practices; and retaliation and intimidation.
More information on how employers can avoid unlawful citizenship status discrimination 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; 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.
Houston Man Sentenced to 27 years in Federal Prison for His Role in Tilak Jewelers RobberyRead the Press Release
A Texas man was sentenced on Wednesday to 27 years in federal prison for his role in a large-scale jewelry robbery, announced U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Erin Nealy Cox.
At a trial in Dallas last October, Treveon Dominique Anderson, 28, of Houston Texas, was convicted of conspiring with 13 other individuals to rob Tilak Jewelers in Irving, Texas. Shortly after the robbery, evidence showed, Mr. Anderson and his co-conspirators returned to Houston and began selling the stolen jewelry to “fences” there.
Thanks to the dogged work of the FBI’s Violent Crime Squad, all involved – including the three fences – have been identified and charged.
Mr. Anderson, who has been in custody since his arrest in February 2016, was found guilty of one count of conspiracy to interfere with commerce by robbery, one count of interference with commerce by robbery, one count of using, carrying, and brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence, and two counts of kidnapping.
According to the testimony at trial, in the early morning hours on November 17, 2013, Mr. Anderson and 12 co-conspirators traveled from Houston to the Dallas area to rob Tilak Jewelers in Irving, Texas.
After arriving in Dallas, they stole a cargo van and a minivan. Then, while three of the conspirators positioned themselves outside the jewelry store to watch for law enforcement, Mr. Anderson, along with five other coconspirators, drove together in the stolen cargo van to Tilak Jewelers.
Once there, the conspirators disguised their identities with gloves, long-sleeved shirts, pants, and items covering their faces. One conspirator then smashed the jewelry store’s locked glass door with a hammer.
After gaining entry, as Mr. Anderson and two others brandished handguns, the conspirators restrained the owners of the jewelry store with zip-ties, smashed numerous jewelry display cases, and stole jewelry.
After securing the jewelry, they fled the scene in the stolen cargo van, which they abandoned at a predetermined location, where another conspirator was waiting in the stolen minivan. They were then driven to another predetermined location, where yet another conspirator was waiting in a switch vehicle.
After a short drive in the switch vehicle, the group handed off the stolen jewelry to another conspirator for transportation to Houston, where the Tilak tags were removed during a brief stop at a Houston strip club.
Mr. Anderson’s codefendants include: Afraybeom Traverom Jackson, 27, Joshua Deunte Caldwell, 26, Dominique Pearson, 25, Hilton Murdock Aitch, 56, Irving Tyrone Flanagan, 47, Larry Solomon, 42, Terrence Lynn Thompson, 53, Anthony Ray Turner, Jr, 25, Michael Cornelious, 27, Xavier Rashad Ross, 25, Vanlisa Scott, 47, and Jimmy Hatchett, 54. Out of the 13, 11 pled guilty and two -- Anderson and Jimmy Hatchett – were convicted after trial. One passed away before he could be brought to justice. Three fences have also been charged with lying to FBI Special Agents during the investigation. Two have pleaded guilty.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Irving Police Department, and Houston Police Department conducted in the investigation. U.S. District Judge Ed Kinkeade presided over the trial. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Walt Junker, John DeLaGarza, and Keith Robinson prosecuted the case.
Top U.S. Environmental Enforcement Officials Meet with Officials in ChinaRead the Press Release
Senior leaders from the Department of Justice’s Environment and Natural Resources Division (ENRD) traveled to China last week to meet with Chinese prosecutors, judges, academics and other officials to promote cooperation on enforcement of environmental laws and the importance of the rule of law.
On May 20, 2019, Assistant Attorney General Jeffrey Bossert Clark and Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Jonathan D. Brightbill met with personnel at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, including the Deputy Chief of Mission Robert Forden and the Legal Advisor of the Department of Justice to the U.S. Embassy, Richard Daynes. The visit to the Embassy included an evening presentation to the general public at the Beijing American Center about ENRD’s robust enforcement of the United States’ environmental and wildlife protection laws. The presentation was followed by a question and answer session with an audience of over 100, including area law students and interested parties. A focus of discussion was recent changes to China’s environmental enforcement laws and public interest litigation practices.
Later that week, Assistant Attorney General Clark and Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brightbill addressed Chinese prosecutors, judges, academics, and other Chinese officials at the National Prosecutors College of China. They discussed the relationship of constitutional law, federalism, and the separation of powers to the practice of environmental law and enforcement in the United States, highlighting the importance of the rule of law. Mr. Clark and Mr. Brightbill also participated in a two-day conference on U.S.-China Watershed Management and Public Interest Litigation, co-sponsored by the U.S.-Asia Partnerships for Environmental Law at Vermont Law School. The Assistant Attorney General’s presentations and remarks emphasized the Trump Administration’s role in reinvigorating the ideals of individual liberty, respect for private property rights, valuing the role of state and local governments, advancing the ability of people to be self-reliant and economically productive, and the appropriate use of the United States’ abundant natural resources.
While in China, Assistant Attorney General Clark, Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brightbill, and Department of Justice Legal Advisor Daynes also met with environmental enforcement officials from the Chinese Supreme People’s Procuratorate and judges of China’s Supreme People’s Court. The Assistant Attorney General and Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General also lectured at the Law School of the China University of Political Science and Law.
Justice Department Settles Immigration-Related Discrimination Claim Against Central California Agricultural CompanyRead the Press Release
The Department of Justice today announced that it reached a settlement agreement with WesPak Inc., an agricultural company located in Dinuba, California. The settlement resolves the Department of Justice’s investigation into whether the company discriminated against workers based on their citizenship status in violation of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) when verifying their authorization to work.
The investigation concluded that WesPak discriminated against lawful permanent resident workers by unnecessarily requiring them to re-prove their work authorization when their original documents expired, even though the workers’ original documents — such as Permanent Resident Cards — demonstrated that they were permanently authorized to work in the United States. The anti-discrimination provision of the INA prohibits employers from making unnecessary requests for documentation to prove work authorization based on a worker’s citizenship status or national origin.
Under the settlement, WesPak will pay a civil penalty to the United States, train its human resources personnel on the requirements of the INA’s anti-discrimination provision, and be subject to compliance monitoring by the Department of Justice.
“Employers must carefully examine their procedures for reverifying continuing work authorization to ensure that they protect workers against discrimination based on citizenship status, and we are pleased with WesPak’s agreement to do so,” said Assistant Attorney General Eric Dreiband of the Civil Rights Division.
The Civil Rights 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 discrimination against individuals who are authorized to work based on citizenship status and national origin in hiring, firing, or recruitment or referral for a fee; unfair documentary practices; retaliation; and intimidation.
Employers can find information on how to avoid unlawful discrimination based on citizenship status or national origin here. Workers can find information about their rights under the anti-discrimination provision of the INA here. For more information about protections against employment discrimination under the INA, 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 Settles Immigration-Related Discrimination Claim Against California CountyRead the Press Release
The Department of Justice today announced that it has reached a settlement agreement with Stanislaus County, California. The settlement resolves the Department of Justice’s investigation into whether the Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Department engaged in prohibited hiring practices in violation of the anti-discrimination provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA).
The Department’s investigation concluded that the Sheriff’s Department improperly delayed rehiring a former deputy sheriff who was a lawful permanent resident (LPR) because he was not a U.S. citizen. The INA prohibits employers from discriminating in the hiring process based on citizenship status against certain categories of individuals, including recent LPRs, unless necessary to comply with a specific legal requirement. Because the affected individual was an LPR who had applied for and was eligible for naturalization, he met all applicable citizenship requirements under California law and should have been rehired.
The investigation also concluded that Stanislaus County posted job advertisements for deputy probation officers, deputy sheriffs, trainees, and interns with language that unlawfully excluded applications from some eligible LPRs, in violation of the INA.
Under the terms of the settlement agreement, Stanislaus County will pay $7,000 in civil penalties, engage in training its human resources staff on the anti-discrimination provision of the INA, and review and revise its job advertisements and questionnaires to ensure compliance with the anti-discrimination provision of the INA. The settlement agreement also acknowledges that, after receiving notice of the investigation, the Sheriff’s Department rehired the affected individual with back pay for lost wages.
“We commend Stanislaus County for its cooperation and corrective action,” said Assistant Attorney General Eric Dreiband of the Civil Rights Division. “Qualified non-citizens who meet all legal citizenship requirements and wish to protect and serve their communities should not face unnecessary and unlawful barriers based on citizenship status. We are pleased that Stanislaus County has committed to ensuring compliance with the anti-discrimination provision of the INA.”
The Civil Rights 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 discrimination against individuals who are authorized to work based on citizenship status and national origin in hiring, firing, or recruitment or referral for a fee; unfair documentary practices; retaliation; and intimidation.
Employers can find information on how to avoid unlawful discrimination based on citizenship status or national origin here. Workers can find information about their rights under the anti-discrimination provision of the INA here. For more information about protections against employment discrimination under the INA, 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.
Statement by Attorney General William P. Barr on Memorial DayRead the Press Release
"Today we remember that our freedom was bought at a price," Attorney General William P. Barr said. "Over the course of our history, countless Americans have willingly laid down their lives so that the people of this great nation could continue to live in peace, prosperity, and liberty. We owe them a debt of gratitude that we can never fully repay. Today, I join with all Americans in pausing to remember them, honoring their sacrifice, and resolving to preserve the precious freedom and order that these heroes so selflessly won for each of us."
Texas Restaurant Owners Convicted of Tax FraudRead the Press Release
A Texas couple was convicted yesterday of conspiracy and tax charges by a federal jury in Austin, announced Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Richard E. Zuckerman of the Justice Department’s Tax Division.
Michael Herman and his wife, Cynthia Herman were convicted of conspiracy to defraud the United States by impeding the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and of filing false individual income tax returns for tax years 2010 and 2011. The jury also convicted Michael Herman of filing false 2010 through 2012 corporate income tax returns.
According to the evidence introduced at trial, the Hermans owned and operated three establishments: Cindy’s Gone Hog Wild, a restaurant and bar in Travis County, Texas, and two restaurants in Bastrop County, Texas, Cindy’s Downtown and Hasler Brothers Steakhouse. The Hermans skimmed cash from the restaurants by depositing only a portion of the restaurants’ cash receipts into their business bank accounts and reported only those deposits on the corporate and individual income tax returns. The evidence at trial showed that the Hermans failed to deposit approximately $570,000 in cash receipts into their business bank accounts. The Hermans also paid for personal expenses out of the business accounts, including repair of their personal swimming pool, utilities for their home, and the salary of a household employee. Michael Herman signed and filed the false 2010 through 2012 income tax returns filed on behalf of Cindy’s Gone Hog Wild Inc.
U.S. District Court Judge Xavier Rodriguez has not set a sentencing date. The Hermans each face a statutory maximum sentence of five years in prison on the conspiracy charge and three years in prison on each of the false tax return charges. They also face a period of supervised release, restitution and monetary penalties.
Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Zuckerman thanked agents of IRS-Criminal Investigation, who conducted the investigation, and Trial Attorneys Robert A. Kemins and David Zisserson, who are prosecuting the case. Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Zuckerman also thanked the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Texas for their substantial assistance.
Additional information about the Tax Division’s enforcement efforts can be found on the division’s website.
Statement by Attorney General William P. Barr on the Swearing-in of Jeffrey A. Rosen as Deputy Attorney General of the United StatesRead the Press Release
WASHINGTON – Attorney General William P. Barr issued the following statement:
"Jeffrey Rosen is a distinguished lawyer who has served at the highest levels of government and the private sector," said Attorney General William P. Barr. "As an attorney, he has more than 35 years’ experience litigating complex matters in state and federal courts across the country, including as a partner at Kirkland & Ellis. He supervised more than 400 attorneys while serving as General Counsel at the Department of Transportation and also served as General Counsel and Senior Policy Advisor at the White House Office of Management and Budget. In his most recent position, he served as Deputy Secretary of Transportation, where he successfully led 50,000 employees. His years of outstanding legal and management experience will make him an excellent Deputy Attorney General.”
Justice Department Recognizes California Task Force for Investigating Child Sexual Predator and Child PornographerRead the Press Release
The Department of Justice today honored Detective Christie Hirota and five other members of the Sacramento Valley, California, High Tech Crimes Task Force for their investigation that resulted in the timely arrest of a sexual predator who victimized at least five children and who had a foster child in his care at the time of his arrest.
Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General Ed O’Callaghan, Office of Justice Programs Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Matt Dummermuth, and Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Administrator Caren Harp presented Hirota and other task force members with the Missing Children’s Child Protection Award during the Justice Department’s National Missing Children’s Day ceremony. The award recognizes the extraordinary efforts of law enforcement officers who make a significant investigative or program contribution to protect children from abuse or victimization.
Other task force members recognized included:
- Detective James Williams, Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department
- Detective Melinda Gobron, Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department
- Special Agent Scott Schofield, FBI, Sacramento Field Office
- Investigator George Vasiliou, California Highway Patrol
- Detective Avis Beery, Sacramento Police Department
“The vigilance of this task force proves that there is a critical need for dedicated and timely investigative work in the fight to stop child exploitation,” said Administrator Caren Harp. “The Justice Department commends the Sacramento Valley High Tech Crimes Task Force for bringing this sex offender to justice and their commitment to stopping further child victimization.”
Hirota led a task force investigation into the suspect immediately after patrol officers received a Secure Digital (SD) memory card containing imagery of a partially-clothed boy from an acquaintance of the suspect. Through police and social service reports, Detective Hirota discovered that the suspect had a history of troubling behavior with boys, and that he currently had a foster child in his home. Just after midnight, Detective Hirota received a search warrant, which led to the seizure and subsequent review of multiple digital storage devices containing pornographic images of the suspect’s foster children. Within 48 hours of the initial patrol officers’ report, the task force’s investigation led to the suspect’s arrest on the charge of molesting four children.
The Department also recognized 11 other law enforcement officers for their investigations of child predators who sexually assaulted children, or created or viewed child pornography, as well as two firefighters who found a lost six-year-old boy. Harp also recognized Madison Dozier, a fifth grader at Reiley Elementary School in Alexandria, Kentucky, as the 20th winner of the National Missing Children’s Day poster contest.
Additional information about National Missing Children’s Day is available online.
The Office of Justice Programs, directed by Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Matt M. Dummermuth, provides federal leadership, grants and resources to improve the nation’s capacity to prevent and reduce crime, assist victims and enhance the rule of law by strengthening the criminal justice system. More information about OJP and its components can be found at www.ojp.gov.
Justice Department Observes National Missing Children’s DayRead the Press Release
The Department of Justice today recognized 17 law enforcement officers from California, Florida, and Texas, as well as two firefighters from Tennessee, for their efforts to find missing children and bring child sexual predators and child pornographers to justice.
Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General Ed O’Callaghan, Office of Justice Programs (OJP) Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Matt Dummermuth, and Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) Administrator Caren Harp presented the awards during the Department’s National Missing Children’s Day ceremony.
“Those recognized today epitomize the dedication of law enforcement officers, investigative officials, and private citizens who make a difference in the lives of children every day,” said Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General Ed O’Callaghan. “Their vigilant and selfless actions remind us of our responsibility to protect children and bring to justice those who attempt to exploit them. The Department of Justice is proud to honor these champions of justice and public safety.”
The ceremony, hosted by OJJDP, included recognition of Madison Dozier, a fifth grader at Reiley Elementary School in Alexandria, Kentucky, this year’s National Missing Children’s Day poster contest winner.
The following awards were presented:
Attorney General’s Special Commendation: This commendation recognizes the extraordinary efforts and significant investigative or program contributions of an Internet Crimes Against Children task force or affiliate agency, or an individual assigned to either.
Recipient: Detective Lorraine Szczepanik of the Broward County Sheriff’s Office and South Florida Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, whose timely investigation into a person suspected of viewing and sharing child pornography online led to the discovery of thousands of images and videos of child victims, as well as online conversations that led to the identification of three additional child pornographers.
Missing Children’s Law Enforcement Award: This award recognizes the extraordinary efforts of law enforcement officers who made a significant investigative or program contribution to the safety of children.
Recipients: Six members of the Round Rock, Texas, Police Department; three special agents from the San Antonio FBI Field Office (Austin and Laredo Resident Agencies); and a Texas Ranger from Austin collaboratively investigated and tracked down a suspect who kidnapped two missing sisters, ages 7 and 14, from their home in Round Rock. The sisters were found unharmed 700 miles away when the suspect was pulled over following issuance of an AMBER Alert and other alerts in Texas, New Mexico, and Colorado.
Missing Children’s Child Protection Award: This award honors the extraordinary efforts of law enforcement officers who made a significant investigative or program contribution on behalf of missing, abused, or victimized children.
Recipients: Detective Christie Hirota and five other members of the Sacramento Valley, California, High Tech Crimes Task Force led an investigation that resulted in the arrest, just 48 hours after receipt of the initial report, of a foster parent who abused his foster children and produced child pornography.
Missing Children’s Citizen Award: This award honors the extraordinary efforts of private citizens for their unselfish acts to recover missing or abducted children safely.
Recipients: Firefighters Aaron Woods and Michael Webb of the Blount County, Tennessee, Fire Department led a seven-hour portion of a 22-hour search across 2,000 acres of rugged, wooded terrain—on foot and by air—to find a six-year-old boy and his dog less than 24 hours after they were reported missing.
Other speakers at the ceremony included John F. Clark, president and chief executive officer of the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, and Yvonne Ambrose, founder of the Desiree Foundation Against Sex Trafficking.
President Ronald Reagan proclaimed May 25, 1983, the first National Missing Children’s Day in memory of Etan Patz, a six-year-old boy who disappeared from a New York City street corner on May 25, 1979. Missing Children’s Day honors his memory and the memories of children still missing. Although Etan’s killer was convicted in February 2017 for the 1979 murder, Etan’s case remains active with the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children because his body was never found.
In 2018, there were 424,066 missing children entries in the FBI’s National Crime Information Center. Additional information about National Missing Children’s Day is available online.
The Office of Justice Programs, directed by Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Matt M. Dummermuth, provides federal leadership, grants and resources to improve the nation’s capacity to prevent and reduce crime, assist victims and enhance the rule of law by strengthening the criminal justice system. More information about OJP and its components can be found at www.ojp.gov.
Justice Department Honors Texas Officers with Missing Children’s Law Enforcement AwardRead the Press Release
The Department of Justice today honored 10 Texas-based law enforcement officers who rescued two sisters abducted from their home in Round Rock, Texas.
Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General Ed O’Callaghan, Office of Justice Programs Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Matt Dummermuth, and Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Administrator Caren Harp presented the officers with the 2019 Missing Children’s Law Enforcement Award during the Justice Department’s National Missing Children’s Day ceremony. This award recognizes the extraordinary efforts of law enforcement officers who have made a significant investigative or program contribution to the safety of children.
On New Year’s Eve 2017, officers responded to a homicide scene in Round Rock, Texas. A woman had been murdered, and her 7- and 14-year-old daughters were missing. After an AMBER Alert was issued, credible sightings of the girls were also reported in northern New Mexico and southern Colorado, which led officials to issue alerts in all three states.
Through a combination of digital evidence, forensic processing, cell phone analysis, interviews, surveillance images and tips from the public, investigators discovered the suspect’s location. On Jan. 3, 2018, the sisters were found unharmed when the suspect was apprehended during a traffic stop near La Veta, Colorado—700 miles away from their home. The suspect had a long criminal history, including charges of attempted murder, rape, and child pornography. He was arrested and extradited to Texas, where he was subsequently convicted on two federal counts of kidnapping, one count of transportation of a minor with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity and one count of travel with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct. He was sentenced May 21, in Austin, Texas, to life in federal prison.
Award recipients include officers from Round Rock, Austin, and Laredo, Texas.
Officers from the Round Rock Police Department:
- Sergeant Darin Bayles
- Detective Bernardo Villegas
- Lieutenant Robert Drawbaugh
- Crime Scene Specialist Kerie McKown
- Detective Robert Watts (Retired)
- Detective Kevin Bender
Officers from the FBI San Antonio Field Office, Austin Resident Agency:
- Special Agent Sean M. Mullen
- Special Agent Jacob E. Baillie
Officer from the FBI San Antonio Field Office, Laredo Resident Agency (now with the FBI’s Honolulu Field Office):
- Special Agent Andrew Masters
Officer from the Texas Ranger Division, Texas Department of Public Safety, Austin:
- Ranger Gary Phillips
“This collaborative team of law enforcement officers from multiple cities and states worked around the clock during this four-day manhunt,” said Administrator Caren Harp. “The Department of Justice praises their swift efforts in rescuing these children and bringing this individual to justice.”
The Department also recognized seven other law enforcement officers for their investigations of child sexual predators who sexually assaulted children, or created or viewed child pornography, as well as two firefighters who found a lost six-year-old boy. Harp also recognized Madison Dozier, a fifth grader at Reiley Elementary School in Alexandria, Kentucky, as the 20th winner of the National Missing Children’s Day poster contest.
Additional information about National Missing Children’s Day is available online.
The Office of Justice Programs, directed by Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Matt M. Dummermuth, provides federal leadership, grants and resources to improve the nation’s capacity to prevent and reduce crime, assist victims and enhance the rule of law by strengthening the criminal justice system. More information about OJP and its components can be found at www.ojp.gov.
Justice Department Honors Tennessee Firefighters for Rescuing Lost Boy and His DogRead the Press Release
The Department of Justice today recognized two Tennessee-based firefighters who led a seven-hour search that led to the discovery of a missing six-year-old boy and his dog.
Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General Ed O’Callaghan, Office of Justice Programs Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Matt Dummermuth, and Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Administrator Caren Harp presented the Missing Children’s Citizen Award to Firefighters Aaron Woods and Michael Webb of the Blount County Fire Department in Maryville, Tennessee, during the Department’s National Missing Children’s Day ceremony. This award recognizes private citizens for extraordinary acts that lead to the safe recovery of missing or abducted children.
“The exhaustive search led by Mr. Woods and Mr. Webb as part of a broader effort to find this missing child epitomizes their dedication to duty and ‘others before self’ attitude,” said Administrator Caren Harp. “The Department of Justice applauds these brave firefighters, along with those law enforcement and Tennessee National Guardsmen who quickly mobilized and tirelessly searched to bring this boy and his dog home safely.”
After the Blount County, Tennessee, Fire Department was notified of the missing boy on April 23, 2018, the department organized a search of approximately 100 participants, including first responders from the local sheriff’s department, fire department, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, the FBI, and Army National Guard. The 22-hour-search spanned 2,000 acres of rugged, wooded terrain—on foot and by air—on and around Chilhowee Mountain and the Top of the World Community Recreation Center, where the child was last seen. Woods and Webb led a team of reinforcements to continue the search. After seven additional hours, the firefighters found the boy and his dog and ensured the boy received immediate medical treatment for exposure.
The Department also recognized 17 law enforcement officers for their investigations of child predators who sexually assaulted children, or created, viewed, and/or distributed child pornography. Harp also recognized Madison Dozier, a fifth grader at Reiley Elementary School in Alexandria, Kentucky, as the 20th winner of the National Missing Children’s Day poster contest.
Additional information about National Missing Children’s Day is available online.
The Office of Justice Programs, directed by Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Matt M. Dummermuth, provides federal leadership, grants and resources to improve the nation’s capacity to prevent and reduce crime, assist victims and enhance the rule of law by strengthening the criminal justice system. More information about OJP and its components can be found at www.ojp.gov.
Justice Department Honors Florida Detective for Investigation of Child Pornography CaseRead the Press Release
The Department of Justice today recognized Detective Lorraine Szczepanik of the Broward County Sheriff’s Office, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, for her investigation and subsequent arrest of three local child pornographers and the identification of a fourth suspect. Three were prosecuted, pleading guilty to possession of child pornography and receiving prison sentences. A case is pending against the fourth suspect.
Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General Ed O’Callaghan, Office of Justice Programs Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Matt Dummermuth, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Administrator Caren Harp presented the Attorney General’s Special Commendation to Szczepanik during the Department’s National Missing Children’s Day ceremony. The special commendation recognizes Internet Crimes Against Children task forces, affiliate agencies, or an individual assigned to either for making significant investigative or program contributions.
“Detective Szczepanik’s thoroughness in her investigation helped bring not one, but at least three perpetrators of internet-based crimes against children to justice,” said Administrator Care Harp. “The Department of Justice applauds her efforts and stands with the South Florida Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force as we continue to improve public safety for America’s children.”
Szczepanik’s investigation led her to the first suspect after two separate cyber tips reported child pornography use on Google and Tumblr. The suspect admitted his guilt in downloading and viewing child pornography. A search of his digital devices, along with a partial forensic examination, revealed thousands of pornographic images and videos of infants and toddlers, as well as online conversations that identified the three other pornographers.
The Department also recognized 16 other law enforcement officers for their investigations of child predators who sexually assaulted children, or created or viewed child pornography, as well as two firefighters who found a lost six-year-old boy. Harp also recognized Madison Dozier, a fifth grader at Reiley Elementary School in Alexandria, Kentucky, as the 20th winner of the National Missing Children’s Day poster contest.
Additional information about National Missing Children’s Day is available online.
The Office of Justice Programs, directed by Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Matt M. Dummermuth, provides federal leadership, grants and resources to improve the nation’s capacity to prevent and reduce crime, assist victims and enhance the rule of law by strengthening the criminal justice system. More information about OJP and its components can be found at www.ojp.gov.
Four Michigan Defendants Plead Guilty to Conspiracy to Defraud the IRS and Steal from an Organization Receiving Federal FundsRead the Press Release
Four individuals in Flint, Michigan, pleaded guilty today to conspiring to impede the lawful functions of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and steal from an organization receiving federal funds, announced Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg of the Justice Department’s Tax Division.
Jayson Rosett, Robert Rosett, Carol Almeranti, and Karen Miller each pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring to defraud the United States by impeding the lawful functions of the IRS and one count of conspiring to commit theft from an organization receiving federal funds.
According to court documents, from July 2012 through April 2018, Jayson Rosett, a resident of Bloomfield Hills, Robert Rosett, a resident of Boca Raton, Florida, Carol Almeranti, a resident of Farmington Hills, and Karen Miller, a resident of St. Clair Shores, engaged in a scheme in which Almeranti and Miller stole traffic crash reports from the Detroit Police Department (DPD) and delivered them to the Rosetts for regular cash payments. Many of the stolen DPD crash reports were marked “unapproved” and were not publicly available. Jayson Rosett and others used the stolen reports to solicit crash victims for clients of a business Rosett operated, including personal injury lawyers, chiropractors, and healthcare professionals.
United States District Court Judge Matthew F. Leitman scheduled sentencing for Jayson Rosett on Oct. 1, for Carol Almeranti and Karen Miller on Oct. 3, and for Robert Rosett on Oct. 8. All four defendants face a maximum of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine for each individual count of conspiring to defraud the United States and conspiring to commit theft from an organization receiving federal funds. Each defendant also faces a period of supervised release, restitution and monetary penalties.
Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Goldberg thanked special agents of IRS-Criminal Investigation and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, who conducted the investigation, and Tax Division Trial Attorneys Mark McDonald and William Guappone, who are prosecuting the case.
Additional information about the Tax Division’s enforcement efforts can be found on the division’s website.
District Court Orders Illinois Compounding Company and Two Executives to Comply with Drug Safety StandardsRead the Press Release
A federal court entered a consent decree of permanent injunction requiring a multi-site outsourcing compounding pharmacy, headquartered in Illinois, to comply with provisions of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (the Act) while manufacturing, holding, and distributing drugs.
In a complaint filed May 20, 2019, at the request of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the United States alleged that PharMedium Services LLC (PharMedium) violated the Act by distributing adulterated, misbranded, and unapproved new drugs in interstate commerce. As described in the complaint, PharMedium operated four registered outsourcing facilities in Tennessee, Mississippi, Texas, and New Jersey. According to the complaint, PharMedium’s drugs were adulterated because they were prepared, packed, or held under insanitary conditions whereby they may have been contaminated with filth or rendered injurious to health and because PharMedium failed to comply with current good manufacturing practices. The complaint also alleged that PharMedium distributed unapproved new drugs and misbranded drugs because PharMedium failed to comply with all of the requirements for drugs compounded in a registered outsourcing facility.
As a result of FDA inspections, PharMedium voluntarily ceased operations at one facility in Memphis, Tennessee. The company also agreed to be bound by a consent decree filed with the complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. In addition, Scott Aladeen, PharMedium’s new president, and Warren Horton, PharMedium’s new vice president for Quality and Research & Development, are named in the complaint and consent decree as the individuals responsible for establishing and maintaining PharMedium’s current and future compliance with the Act.
“The Department of Justice is committed to ensuring that compounding pharmacies follow safety laws that protect consumers,” said Assistant Attorney General Jody Hunt of the Department of Justice’s Civil Division. “We will continue to work with the FDA to ensure that drugs are manufactured and distributed appropriately under the law.”
“PharMedium exposed patients across the United States to risk of receiving a harmful drug, which we find unacceptable,” said Acting FDA Commissioner Ned Sharpless M.D. “We will continue to take appropriate enforcement actions when compounding pharmacies and outsourcing facilities produce drugs under substandard conditions or use inappropriate practices that could lead to serious harm to patients.”
The consent decree entered by the court permanently enjoins the defendants from violating the Act. As part of the settlement, PharMedium may not manufacture, hold, or distribute its drugs from the Memphis facility unless PharMedium complies with specific remedial measures set forth in the consent decree. PharMedium must also comply with remedial measures to ensure compliance with the Act at its other facilities and at its headquarters in Illinois.
Trial attorneys Shannon Pedersen and Claude Scott of the Civil Division’s Consumer Protection Branch represented the United States, along with the assistance of Associate Chief Counsel Laura Akowuah of the FDA’s Office of Chief Counsel and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois.
Additional information about the Consumer Protection Branch and its enforcement efforts may be found at http://www.justice.gov/civil/consumer-protection-branch. For more information about the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois, visit its website at https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndil.
Attorney General William P. Barr Joins President Donald J. Trump in Awarding the Medal of Valor to 14 Public Safety OfficersRead the Press Release
President Donald J. Trump and Attorney General William P. Barr today awarded the Public Safety Officer Medal of Valor to 14 recipients – two posthumously – who exhibited exceptional courage in saving and protecting others and whose heroic actions went above and beyond the call of duty. The Medal of Valor, authorized by the Public Safety Medal of Valor Act of 2001, is awarded by the President to public safety officers nominated by the directors of their employing agencies and recommended by the Medal of Valor Review Board. The Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Assistance oversees the Medal of Valor.
“The work that first responders do every day is heroic, and each one of them deserves our gratitude,” said Attorney General William P. Barr. “Even among these selfless public servants, some have distinguished themselves through exceptional acts of valor. Today, the men and women of the Department of Justice are proud to join with President Trump in honoring 14 first responders who did just that, including two who gave their lives in the line of duty. These brave Americans exemplify what serving as a first responder is all about: selflessness, poise, and sacrifice.”
Today’s recipients of the Medal of Valor include the following officers:
- Fallen Officer Sergeant Verdell Smith Sr., City of Memphis Police Department, Tennessee, for giving his own life to save the lives of civilians in the path of a driver speeding recklessly through a crowd
- Fallen Officer Brent Thompson, Dallas Area Rapid Transit Police Department, Texas, for giving his life while engaging a mass shooter at a protest march and saving the lives of countless civilians and fellow officers
- Lieutenant Xavier Torres, Retired; Sergeant Seth Chapman; Sergeant Terry Smith Jr., Retired; Sergeant Thomas Avila III; and Sergeant Rocky Wenrick; Corporal Andrew Rodriguez Jr., Retired; and Senior Officer Carlos Plascencia, Azusa Police Department, California; and Detective Manuel Campos, Irwindale Police Department, California, for placing themselves in mortal danger and saving the lives of civilians and fellow officers during a mass shooting incident on Election Day, 2016
- University Law Enforcement Officer Alan Horujko, Ohio State University Police Division, for risking his life to save the lives of several civilians from a driver who sped through a crowd and then emerged from his car to attack pedestrians with a knife
- Senior Trooper Nicholas Cederberg, Oregon State Police, for placing himself in the line of fire and suffering life-threatening injuries in order to bring a murderer to justice
- Fire Captain Dustin Moore and Firefighter Paramedic Andrew Freisner, Lenexa Fire Department, Kansas, for risking their lives to rescue a family from a burning apartment building
“These 14 recipients represent a proud tradition of service, one that has been ennobled by their valiant actions,” said Office of Justice Programs Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Matt M. Dummermuth, whose office oversees BJA. “We stand in awe of these extraordinary public servants and are inspired by their courageous example.”
“Public safety officers report to work each day knowing full well the risks inherent in the jobs they undertake, yet they do not shrink from their duty,” said BJA Director Jon Adler. “By standing tall in the face of danger, these brave men and women have done their communities an immeasurable service and they have done their profession tremendous credit.”
Including today’s awardees, a total of 139 medals have been presented since the first recipients were honored in 2003. More information about the award and today’s recipients, the Medal of Valor Review Board members and the nomination process can be found here: www.ojp.gov/medalofvalor.
Former Georgia County Commissioner Indicted on Extortion and Bribery ChargesRead the Press Release
A federal grand jury in the Northern District of Georgia has returned a three-count indictment against a former commissioner in DeKalb County, Georgia, for extorting bribe payments from a DeKalb County subcontractor. Assistant Attorney General Brian Benczkowski of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division made the announcement.
Sharon Barnes Sutton, 59, of Stone Mountain, Georgia, was arraigned on an indictment that charges her with two counts of extortion and one count of federal program bribery by U.S. Magistrate Judge Russell G. Vineyard for the Northern District of Georgia.
According to the allegations in the indictment, Barnes Sutton was an elected member of the DeKalb County Board of Commissioners (“the DeKalb Board”), representing District No. 4 of DeKalb County. The DeKalb Board is comprised of seven elected, part-time commissioners. Among other functions, the DeKalb Board appropriates funds for infrastructure development within the county, and a simple majority of four commissioners is needed to award public contracts for any such project. The indictment alleges that, during the relevant time period, Barnes Sutton also chaired the DeKalb Board’s subcommittee on Finance, Audit, and Budget, which undertook preliminary reviews of contracts, and was a member of the DeKalb Board’s subcommittee on Public Works and Infrastructure.
The indictment further alleges that, in May 2014, Barnes Sutton approached an individual whose company had received a sizeable procurement award from the DeKalb Board in connection with the construction of a wastewater treatment plant. Barnes Sutton demanded monthly payments of $500 from this individual, later increasing her demand to $1,000. The individual made the first $500 payment in June 2016 at a restaurant in Decatur, Georgia. The indictment further alleges that Barnes Sutton asked the individual to meet her at the restaurant and brought her son along so that her son would receive the cash payment on her behalf. The individual made the second $500 cash payment at Barnes Sutton’s residence in July 2014. The FBI disrupted Barnes Sutton’s continued demands in August 2014.
The indictment is the result of an ongoing investigation by the FBI’s Atlanta Field Office and the DeKalb County Police Department, and is being prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Amanda R. Vaughn and Victor R. Salgado of the Criminal Division’s Public Integrity Section.
The fact that a defendant has been charged with a crime is merely an accusation and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
Justice Department Seeks to Intervene in Private Class Action to Enforce Prohibition on Unlawful “No-Poach” AgreementsRead the Press Release
The Department of Justice announced today that it has filed an unopposed motion to intervene in a private antitrust class action challenging alleged agreements between Duke University (Duke) and the University of North Carolina (UNC) not to compete for each other’s medical faculty. At the same time, the Department joined the parties’ proposed settlement agreement for the limited purpose of obtaining the right to enforce an injunction designed to prevent the maintenance or recurrence of any unlawful no-poach agreements. If approved by the court, the settlement would give the United States the right to enforce an injunction and certain compliance and reporting requirements against Duke. The case is Seaman v. Duke University and Duke University Health System, Case No. 15-cv-00462, in the United States District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina.
Under the terms of the proposed settlement, Duke is prohibited from entering, maintaining, or enforcing unlawful no-poach agreements for five years. The settlement, if approved by the court, also requires Duke to implement rigorous notification and compliance measures to preclude its entry into these types of anticompetitive agreements in the future.
“Dr. Seaman’s class action challenged alleged anticompetitive conduct occurring at the intersection of two important sectors of the U.S. economy: healthcare and higher education,” said Assistant Attorney General Makan Delrahim of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division. “Today’s filings, along with the Statement of Interest we filed in March, make clear that the Antitrust Division will use all of its enforcement and advocacy tools to ensure that labor markets across the economy are free from anticompetitive conduct and that workers receive the benefits of robust competition for their labor.”
On June 9, 2015, Dr. Danielle Seaman, an assistant professor at Duke University School of Medicine, filed a class action alleging that Duke and UNC agreed not to permit lateral hiring of faculty between the universities. Her complaint further alleged that the universities’ agreement violates Section 1 of the Sherman Act by eliminating competition for faculty, restricting their mobility, and suppressing their compensation. In 2018, the court certified a class comprised of faculty members with an academic appointment at the Duke or UNC Schools of Medicine.
In March 2019, the Department’s Antitrust Division filed a Statement of Interest in this lawsuit addressing the proper application of the antitrust laws, including the standard for judging the legality of alleged no-poach agreements under the Sherman Act. In April 2019, the litigants announced an agreement to settle the case. The Department sought to intervene in the litigation for the limited purpose of joining the proposed settlement and thereby obtaining the right to enforce any injunctive relief entered by the court against Duke.
“I would like to thank our colleagues at the United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of North Carolina for their assistance,” said Assistant Attorney General Delrahim. “In addition, we commend the litigants for working cooperatively with us throughout the resolution of this matter, including for agreeing to permit the United States to seek to intervene in this settlement. Permitting the United States to become part of this settlement agreement in this private antitrust case, and thereby to obtain all of the relief and protections it likely would have sought after a lengthy investigation, demonstrates the benefits that can be obtained efficiently for the American worker when public and private enforcement work in tandem.”
Duke is a private research university located in Durham, North Carolina. It has several schools and institutes, including the Duke University School of Medicine.
Department of Justice Announces Third Annual Attorney General’s Award for Distinguished Service in PolicingRead the Press Release
Attorney General William P. Barr today announced the third annual Attorney General’s Award for Distinguished Service in Policing.
The Attorney General’s Award recognizes individual state, local or tribal sworn, rank- and-file police officers, deputies and troopers for exceptional efforts in community policing. The awarded officer(s), deputy(ies) or troopers will have demonstrated active engagement with the community in one of three areas: criminal investigations, field operations, or innovations in policing.
“Law enforcement officers put their safety and lives on the line every day for our protection," Attorney General William P. Barr said. "They have a noble calling, and we are grateful to every officer in this country. But some officers have gone above and beyond the call of duty and deserve to be recognized for particular acts of valor and dedication. Today I am pleased to announce the third annual Attorney General’s Award for Distinguished Service in Policing, which recognizes the accomplishments of outstanding state and local officers who have proven themselves to be some of the nation’s finest."
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.
Within each category, an award will be given to law enforcement agencies serving small, medium, and large jurisdictions:
- Small: Agencies serving populations of fewer than 50,000
- Medium: Agencies serving populations of 50,000 to 250,000
- Large: Agencies serving populations of more than 250,000
By distinguishing and rewarding these efforts, the Department strives to promote and sustain its national commitment to policing and to advance proactive policing practices that are fair and effective.
With the Attorney General’s Award for Distinguished Service in Policing, the Office of the Attorney General recognizes that the nation’s more than 18,000 law enforcement agencies, individual officers, deputies, and troopers are working hard to keep our communities safe.
The application for nominees can be found at: https://www.justice.gov/ag/policing-award.
Assistant Attorney General Jeffrey Bossert Clark Delivers Remarks at the Beijing American CenterRead the Press Release
Thank you for that kind introduction. I am pleased to be here as I begin my first visit to China in any capacity.
I very much appreciate the opportunity to discuss U.S. environmental law enforcement, generally, and how the important work of the Environment Division fits into that larger framework.
Robust enforcement of our nation’s environmental and wildlife protection laws is a high priority and a vital feature of the Division’s mission. In pursuing our enforcement mission, we strive to adhere to the fair and impartial rule of law, enhance federalism, exercise pragmatic decision-making, coordinate and collaborate with lead agencies and U.S. Attorneys, and protect the public fisc.
Before I get into the specifics of our work, however, I’d like to provide an overview of environmental law in the United States as a reference point.
The United States’ political system is not entirely centralized. In fact, our system of government, in many ways, structurally encourages participation by many independent actors – by states, by a range of business interests, by individuals and private interest groups of all types.
Because of our country’s political structure, Congress often seeks to exercise its powers by encouraging States to implement national programs. This allows the federal government to set national minimum standards that the states implement and exceed where they wish. This arrangement is commonly referred to as “cooperative federalism.” I also support classic federalism pursuant to which certain spheres of authority are left exclusively to the States. Indeed "left to the States" is not an accurate term, since the States are governments with general sovereign powers, whereas the federal government is confined to enumerated powers.
Cooperative federalism ensures a greater balance of authority between the US federal and state governments. The federal government often provides states with incentives to participate in particular federal programs.
Cooperative federalism is a feature of many U.S. environmental laws. The Clean Air Act is a good example. The federal government sets national ambient air quality standards. States determine how to meet those standards. This process involves each state creating a “State Implementation Plan” that limits emissions from industry within their own State and explains how any given State will enforce any emission limitations.
The federal government can enforce limits set through this process, as can the state. Additionally, the Clean Air Act contains a citizen suit enforcement provision. This creates yet another level of enforcement, one that serves to both supplement and check state and federal authority.
The Environment and Natural Resources Division actively promotes joint state-federal environmental enforcement, which underlies the whole nature of federalism in general and in its cooperative form, a concept central to the structure of our federal environmental laws. By teaming up with state partners in both enforcement and defensive cases, we combine sovereigns, reduce costs and obtain more comprehensive results.
Now I will turn to environmental law enforcement in the U.S. and where the Environment Division fits into that structure.
Environmental enforcement in the U.S. is often described from a quantitative perspective as a huge pyramid of actors and actions.
At the base of the pyramid are environmental enforcement cases brought by state and local government officials, as well as citizens and tribes. Of these, state agencies bring the largest number each year.
States have their own court systems. Though it’s unusual for the federal government to participate in state court, it does happen sometimes. This sometimes involves situations where the U.S. has waived its sovereign immunity.
Their enforcement actions range from cases seeking simple citations imposing a small monetary fine, to orders directing a company to comply with the law, to civil or criminal judicial enforcement actions in state or federal court.
The next level of the pyramid includes administrative actions brought by EPA to enforce U.S. environmental laws.
But U.S. environmental statutes generally place limits on the extent of penalties or other relief that EPA and other agencies may seek in administrative enforcement actions. This is because (a) agencies exercise only delegated judicial powers that we call "quasi-judicial" powers and (b) agencies do not provide the full measure of due process protections available in our so-called Article III Courts.
And so, for more serious violations of environmental laws in which a higher penalty is required or more extensive steps are needed to bring a defendant into compliance with the law or to respond to environmental harms resulting from a violation, EPA will refer the matter to the Justice Department for enforcement action in federal court.
ENRD also receives referrals from other federal agencies for violations of environmental laws under their agency’s jurisdiction. For example, the U.S. Coast Guard sends us referrals for oil pollution cases.
The Division can bring either civil cases or criminal cases. Taking those two types of cases in turn, I call it the next level simply because civil enforcement is generally less coercive though even that is not always true. Civil injunctions can be more coercive than civil cases. Civil cases comprise the next level of the pyramid.
Nearly all modern federal environmental laws in the U.S. have civil enforcement provisions that allow the Justice Department to seek injunctive relief, civil penalties, recovery of government response costs, enforcement of administrative orders, and other relief.
Finally, in the most serious cases involving violations of environmental laws, we pursue criminal enforcement actions, often times on top of civil enforcement, not in lieu of criminal enforcement. Although this is the smallest group of cases (i.e., top of the pyramid), they can often provide the most deterrent value because they can result in large monetary fines, imprisonment, and ongoing monitoring of operations to ensure that the defendant complies with the law in the future.
The Division has been in existence for nearly 110 years and is built upon a history of service, integrity, and adherence to the rule of law.
We began as a very small Division created to handle all cases concerning “enforcement of the Public Land Law,” including Indian rights cases. Initial staff consisted of 9 people -- 6 attorneys and 3 stenographers -- to carry out those responsibilities.
Many of these issues arose from an effort to balance competing interests related to westward expansion (e.g., preservation of natural spaces, resource disputes on public and tribal lands, balancing private and public property rights, and other such issues).
Our numbers grew over the course of the 20th Century to reflect our growing responsibilities under emerging environmental and natural resources laws in the U.S.
Our litigation responsibilities at present are broad and include:
Enforcing the nation’s civil and criminal pollution-control laws,
Defending environmental challenges to federal agency programs and activities,
Representing the United States in matters concerning the stewardship of the nation’s natural resources and public lands,
Acquiring real property,
Bringing and defending cases under the wildlife protection statutes, and
Litigating cases concerning the resources and rights of Indian tribes and their members.
Fiscal year 2018 – extending from October 1, 2017, through September 30, 2018 – was a successful year for the Division’s enforcement program. ENRD obtained over $3.2 billion in injunctive relief, over $100 million in costs and over $54 million in civil penalties. I personally negotiated the final stages of a more than one-half billion dollar case for auto-emissions cheating against Fiat Chrysler late last year. ENRD also achieved criminal convictions of 47 defendants in 31 cases. We secured criminal penalties totaling $48 million, and confinement totaling 65 years for 70 individuals.
I think it is fair to say that, in this Administration, we are seeing a reinvigoration of the ideals that are part of the fabric of the United States: individual liberty, respect for private property rights, prioritizing enforcement against cheating and malum in se (evil in itself) actions, not just penalizing technical violations, valuing the role of state and local governments, advancing the ability of people to be self-reliant and economically productive, and wisely using our abundant natural resources.
Much of our litigation directly supports the policy priorities of the Administration, as implemented by federal agencies.
For example, we support the Administration’s efforts to secure our Nation’s borders, and are assisting our client agencies in implementing the President’s January 2017 Executive Order directing the Secretary of Homeland Security to “immediately plan, design and construct” a “physical wall” or “barrier” along the border between Mexico and the United States.
The Division is aiding in the acquisition of land for the wall, fencing, towers, roads, infrastructure, and agent housing (along with developing associated title and appraisal work), as well as addressing legal challenges under a host of environmental, procedural, and inverse takings statutes. The Division is supporting the acquisition of land for the project by ensuring that proper survey work and title review is completed, as well as by ensuring negotiations and consultations are conducted with landowners prior to acquisition through condemnation. This is because the Fifth Amendment to our Constitution protects all people against unlawful takings of private property without due process of law.
ENRD is also providing expert appraisal review services in connection with land acquisitions to ensure uniformity in the valuation of the land. This ensures uniform results to satisfy the mandate of the U.S. Constitution for just compensation in the form of market value fair to both the landowners and the citizens who must pay for this land.
This Administration is also committed to course corrections in key areas within the purview of our Division. The President has directed new approaches to reduce regulatory burdens, especially for agriculture, energy development, infrastructure projects, and manufacturing; and to promote development of America’s energy resources, while also protecting the environment.
The Division is—and will continue to be—key to successful implementation of these new directions for the U.S. The Division’s efforts have included managing a number of existing cases challenging agency regulations now under review in this Administration.
ENRD’s work supports our nation’s investment in infrastructure development and energy security. Rebuilding the nation’s infrastructure is a critical part of the President’s agenda to promote job creation and grow the U.S. economy.
ENRD also continues to assist client agencies as they advance the goals of the President’s March 2017 Executive Order “Promoting Energy Independence and Economic Growth.”
Our Division vigorously defends the President’s energy agenda in the courts, which includes defending the Administration’s approvals for energy projects, from coast-to-coast. This includes representing the United States in lawsuits challenging coal mining projects, oil and gas development on public lands, offshore energy production, and many other vital energy decisions by the Administration.
In our work, we aim to avoid unnecessary litigation, support the integrity of the administrative process, and conserve the resources of the courts, the agencies, and other litigants. In doing so, we preserve the rightful prerogative of the new Administration to review the costs and benefits of regulations and to chart a new direction where appropriate.
Now that I have given you a flavor of the thousands of cases ENRD handles each year, I want to focus on our work in the enforcement arena.
ENRD is involved in many ways in wildlife protection in the U.S. and abroad. One area of increased attention and litigation for the Division has been the wide ranging efforts to stem wildlife trafficking.
With estimated annual revenues of $10 billion or more, wildlife trafficking is one of the most profitable types of transnational organized crime, behind only drugs, counterfeiting and human trafficking. In the past decade, wildlife trafficking has escalated into an international crisis.
ENRD implements a robust program of international activities that advances the goals of President Trump’s Executive Order on Enforcing Federal Law with Respect to Transnational Criminal Organizations and Preventing International Trafficking (Feb. 9, 2017).
Our prosecutors bring cases involving wildlife trafficking, and other transnational environmental crimes, in order to thwart criminal organizations and persons engaged in illicit activities that present a danger to public safety and national security. Illegal trade at the scale seen in wildlife trafficking threatens security, hinders sustainable economic development and undermines the rule of law.
In addition to prosecuting these cases, Division attorneys provide critical training for law enforcement partners in other countries to help them work more effectively with us in investigating and prosecuting transnational environmental crimes. Attorneys from the Division also participate in negotiation and implementation of trade agreements and international environmental agreements, to ensure they promote effective environmental enforcement.
Division attorneys also provide leadership in international law enforcement organizations. For example, we work with groups such as the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL) that promote international efforts to combat transnational criminal organizations. ENRD also represents the Department on the Presidential Task Force on Wildlife Trafficking, which the Department co-chairs along with the Departments of State and the Interior.
Over the past year we continued to work closely with the other federal agencies on the Task Force to implement the requirements of the Eliminate, Neutralize, and Disrupt (or END) Wildlife Trafficking Act and develop new reports to Congress that analyze global challenges to combatting wildlife trafficking and provide a new, country-specific focus to our ongoing efforts. We also supported the Office of the Attorney General to prepare the Attorney General at the time to lead the United States delegation and deliver the statement of the United States at the October 2018 London Conference on the Illegal Wildlife Trade. Later that month, we took the lead role in presenting the Attorney General’s Forum on Combating Poaching and Wildlife Trafficking, which assembled governmental and non-governmental leaders to assess the challenges and potential responses to this form of transnational crime.
Through the Division’s capacity-building efforts, our attorneys work to help law enforcement partners, particularly in countries where illegal poaching of wildlife and deforestation occur, to strengthen their evidence-gathering abilities and improve their judicial and prosecutorial effectiveness. These training programs also foster positive relationships with prosecutorial counterparts, thereby increasing the Division’s ability to prosecute under U.S. criminal laws such as the Lacey Act and Endangered Species Act.
In fiscal year 2018 [October 1, 2017, through September 30, 2018], Division attorneys provided training on combatting wildlife trafficking and associated financial crimes for prosecutors, magistrates, and judges – often at the request of the State Department, other federal agencies or the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime – in countries across the globe, including Africa, Asia and Latin America. This included prosecutor training in Malaysia that coincided with participation in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Wildlife Conference. We also supported the Justice Department’s placement in Laos of an ENRD prosecutor as a Resident Legal Advisor focused on wildlife trafficking in the Southeast Asia region.
In addition to our wildlife trafficking work, prosecutors from the Division now lead annual pollution enforcement workshops at the State Department’s International Law Enforcement Academies (ILEAs) in Thailand, Hungary, El Salvador and Botswana. Division attorneys also provided training for vessel pollution prosecutions in Singapore and South Africa.
Of course, as important as this work is, it comprises only a very small part of our environmental enforcement work. Our primary focus, as you might imagine, is on domestic enforcement of U.S. environmental laws, so I will turn to that now.
The Division plays a critical role enforcing federal environmental laws, both criminally and civilly. These include the Clean Air Act (CAA), the Clean Water Act (CWA), and the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA or Superfund Law), to name just a few. The main federal agencies the Division represents in these areas are the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps), and the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG).
The Division’s attorneys help to keep our nation’s waters clean by enforcing the CWA, which is the primary federal statute protecting the quality of the nation’s water, and regulates pollution from both industrial and municipal facilities. Together with the Oil Pollution Act, the CWA also prohibits oil spills.
The Division also requires responsible parties to clean up hazardous waste and to reimburse the government for cleanups already conducted by the United States by filing federal lawsuits under CERCLA, or the Superfund Law.
The CERCLA program operates on the principle that the cost of cleaning up a site should fall not on taxpayers, but on those responsible for the contamination. Our CERCLA litigation primarily deals with contamination left behind by past operations.
But sometimes an agency of the federal government, such as the Defense Department or the Energy Department, is one of the entities responsible for some portion of the contamination at a site. ENRD lawyers seek to limit the liability of the U.S. in such cases to only that portion of the contamination caused by the federal government, and to protect the taxpayers from unwarranted expenditures, by ensuring that other contributors pay their fair share. In that situation, Division attorneys must work together to defend the interests of the United States as a whole.
ENRD enforces the Clean Air Act, which is the primary federal statute protecting the quality of the nation’s air. The pollutants regulated under the CAA have numerous adverse effects on human health, including severe respiratory and cardiovascular impacts and premature death, and are significant contributors to acid rain, smog, and haze.
Now I would like to illustrate several of the topics I have touched upon with a recent example of a significant CAA enforcement case in which we partnered with a state to secure both penalties and injunctive relief.
On January 10, 2019, the United States and the State of California announced a settlement with Fiat Chrysler resolving alleged violations of the CAA and California law.
The United States’ case against the automaker — In Re: Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep Ecodiesel Marketing, Sales Practices, and Products Liability Litigation (N.D. Cal.) — began in May 2017, when the Division filed a civil complaint alleging that the company had used “defeat devices” to cheat on emissions tests.
A defeat device is something — here software — that reduces the effectiveness of the emission control system during normal on-road driving conditions. Defeat devices detect when a vehicle is being tested for compliance with emissions standards and fully activate the vehicle’s emissions controls. During normal driving conditions, however, defeat-device software renders certain emission control systems completely or partially inoperative, greatly increasing the vehicle’s emissions.
The United States’ complaint alleged that Fiat Chrysler equipped over 100,000 3.0-liter “EcoDiesel” Ram 1500 and Jeep Grand Cherokee vehicles in model years 2014 through 2016 with illegal defeat devices. EPA discovered the defeat devices during enhanced vehicle testing at the National Vehicle and Fuel Emissions Laboratory.
If the settlement agreement is approved by the court, Fiat Chrysler will implement a recall program to repair noncompliant diesel vehicles. To offset the air pollution emitted by the non-compliant vehicles, the settlement requires Fiat Chrysler to work with one or more vendors of aftermarket catalytic converters and improve the efficiency of 200,000 converters sold in the 47 States that do not already require the use of the California-mandated high-efficiency gasoline-vehicle catalysts.
The mitigation program under the joint U.S. and California settlement is expected to fully mitigate nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions caused by Fiat Chrysler’s violations outside of California. The recall and mitigation project required by the joint U.S. and California settlement is estimated to cost approximately $185 million. (The State of California has a separate settlement with Fiat Chrysler with a separate mitigation program that will fully address excess NOx from affected vehicles in California. That mitigation project is expected to cost $19 million.) To resolve the alleged violations of the CAA, Fiat Chrysler will pay a penalty of $305 million. All told, as I had noted before, the total value of federal relief exceeds $500 million.
As you can see, the work of ENRD has grown in ways that no one would have imagined in 1909 when the Attorney General first established the Division. I have offered you but a few examples of the breadth of ENRD’s work.
Thank you again for inviting me to speak with you tonight. I welcome your questions.
International Competition Network Adopts Framework for Competition Agency Procedures and Recommended Practices on Investigative Process, Announces U.S. Agencies Will Host 2020 ICN Annual ConferenceRead the Press Release
At its annual conference, the International Competition Network (ICN) established a Framework on Competition Agency Procedures (CAP) that reflects the commitment by its participants to uphold fundamental procedural fairness principles and adopted Recommended Practices for Investigative Process that offer aspirational guidance and norm-setting principles on procedural fairness. The ICN also presented reports on vertical mergers, vertical restraints, competition agency design, and private enforcement, the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced today. The ICN announced that the United States will host the 2020 ICN annual conference in Los Angeles, California.
The ICN held its 18th annual conference, hosted by Colombia’s Superintendence of Industry and Commerce, on May 15-17, 2019, in Cartagena, Colombia. Nearly 500 delegates from more than 80 jurisdictions participated, including competition experts from international organizations and the legal, business, academic, and consumer communities. The Department of Justice’s delegation was headed by Assistant Attorney General Makan Delrahim, and FTC Chairman Joseph J. Simons led the FTC delegation. The conference highlighted the achievements of the ICN working groups on cartels, mergers, unilateral conduct, competition advocacy and agency effectiveness, and featured discussion of the challenges of digitalization.
The conference approved two significant instruments to promote and strengthen procedural fairness in competition agency proceedings. The CAP came into effect on May 15, 2019, with the ICN announcing 62 participating agencies. The CAP establishes fundamental, procedural fairness principles that address non-discrimination, transparency, notice and meaningful engagement, timely resolution, confidentiality protections, impartiality, access to information and opportunity to defend, representation by counsel, written decisions, and independent review. By joining the CAP, competition agencies affirmatively indicate their intention to adhere to the principles laid out in the Framework. The principles are further supported by implementation provisions that facilitate agency-to-agency cooperation on procedures and regular review of CAP operations. While sponsored by the ICN, the CAP is open to all competition agencies around the world, including both ICN members and agencies that are not members of the ICN.
The U.S. Department of Justice served as co-chair for the Agency Effectiveness Working Group, which developed the Recommended Practices for Investigative Process in conjunction with the FTC. The Recommended Practices establish detailed, aspirational, procedural fairness norms for competition agency investigative tools, transparency, engagement during investigations, decision-making safeguards, and confidentiality protections. As Recommended Practices, they are the ICN highest level consensus statement on agency procedures and procedural fairness.
“The ICN has become a crucial instrument for dialogue, cooperation, and convergence within the global antitrust community,” said Assistant Attorney General Delrahim. “The Annual Conference provides us all with an opportunity to reflect on the great progress that has been made in competition policy and enforcement around the world, as well as the challenges that lie ahead.”
On May 15, 2019, Assistant Attorney General Delrahim spoke on a panel celebrating the launch of the ICN CAP. The panel recognized the historic nature of the multilateral framework. The principles outlined by the Multilateral Framework on Procedures, as described by Assistant Attorney General Delrahim in a speech at the Council on Foreign Relations on June 1, 2018, served as a foundation for the CAP. The CAP was adopted by the ICN on April 3, 2019, and it became open for all competition agencies to join as participants on May 1, 2019.
Chairman Simons helped lead the conference’s panel discussion of Merger Review in the 2020s. The Panel explored whether and how digitalization and globalization are likely to change merger review in the 2020s, given their continued influence on the evolution of competition policy. The FTC has for the past three years co-chaired the ICN’s Merger Working Group, which promotes convergence toward best practices in merger process and analysis and seeks to reduce the public and private costs of multijurisdictional merger reviews. This year, the Merger Working Group presented a report on vertical mergers and promoted the use of its Framework for Merger Review Cooperation, developing explanatory material on the types of documents typically exchanged in multijurisdictional merger review to support sound enforcement cooperation.
“Understanding how a market works is crucial to assessing a merger’s competitive impact, and more learning about digital markets can help refine our competition assessments. Yet digital markets do not require significant changes to our existing merger laws or analysis,” said Chairman Joseph Simons. “This is because our antitrust framework has consistently proven that it is sufficiently robust and flexible to fit new markets and new ways of doing business.”
Deputy Assistant Attorney General Roger Alford moderated a panel discussing agency effectiveness through organizational design. The panel was part of the Agency Effectiveness Working Group project on competition agency choices in the design of their enforcement programs.
Randolph Tritell, Director of the FTC’s Office of International Affairs, led the concluding panel, showcasing how diverse competition agencies around the world benefit from implementing all types of ICN work product.
The Unilateral Conduct Working Group presented its project on vertical restraints. The project examined a series of hypothetical vertical restraints and their effect on competition and potential resulting efficiencies.
The Cartel Working Group presented a new chapter on private enforcement for the working group’s Anti-Cartel Enforcement Manual and a report on leniency incentives.
The Advocacy Working Group compiled case studies as part of its Strategy Project, with specific examples of how agencies have developed strategies and assessed their advocacy initiatives. The working group also drafted a report on ICN member competition advocacy initiatives involving digital markets.
Created in October 2001 to increase understanding of competition policy and promote convergence toward sound antitrust enforcement around the world, the ICN, founded by 15 agencies including the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division and the FTC, has grown to 139 member agencies from 126 jurisdictions, supported by a wide network of non-government advisors from around the world.
Attorney General William P. Barr Announces Creation of the State and Local Law Enforcement Coordination SectionRead the Press Release
WASHINGTON – On May 2, 2019, Attorney General William P. Barr approved the creation of the State and Local Law Enforcement Coordination Section (SLEC-S) within the Office of Legislative Affairs. As of June 3, 2019, the SLEC-S will be responsible for ensuring that Department leadership is properly informed of state and local law enforcement’s top priorities, while working to ensure that the Department has an impactful presence within the state and local law enforcement community. SLEC-S will serve as the primary liaison with state and local law enforcement, and all supporting entities.
“State, local, and federal law enforcement officers are all a part of the same team," Attorney General William P. Barr said. "The events of Police Week serve as a powerful reminder that the vast majority of this team serves on the front lines — at the state and local levels. In order to further strengthen the Department of Justice's relationships with our state and local law enforcement partners, I am pleased to announce that the Department has established a State and Local Law Enforcement Coordination Section. This new Section will have primary responsibility for maintaining relationships with law enforcement throughout the country and will ensure that Department leadership maintains an active and ongoing dialogue with our law enforcement partners as we work together to develop policies designed to keep our country safe and secure.”
The SLEC-S will begin by developing a strategic plan for direct engagement between the Department and the state and local law enforcement community. The Section will work to ensure that the Department is represented at all relevant conferences and forums and that there is direct and timely outreach to survivors of fallen officers. The Section will also support Department components on relevant legislative and policy issues affecting local law enforcement partners. The Section will coordinate with the Department’s Intergovernmental and Public Liaison, who will continue to work with state Attorneys General and other state and local elected officials, and will include members from law enforcement components within the Department of Justice.
Greek Ship Management Company, Corporate Vessel Owner, and Chief Engineer Indicted for Falsification of Pollution Records, Obstruction of JusticeRead the Press Release
A federal grand jury in Wilmington, Delaware, returned a four-count indictment today charging Evridiki Navigation Inc., Liquimar Tankers Management Services Inc., and Nikolaos Vastardis with failing to keep accurate pollution control records, falsifying records, and obstruction of justice, the Justice Department announced.
According to the indictment, the charges stem from the falsification of records and other acts designed to conceal from the Coast Guard inspectors impermissible overboard discharges of oily bilge water from the Nigerian-flagged oil tanker, M/T Evridiki. According to the indictment, on or about March 11, 2019, Vastardis, who was the chief engineer for the ship, failed to maintain an accurate oil record book which fully recorded both the discharge overboard of bilge water that had accumulated in machinery spaces, and any failure of the ship’s oil filtering equipment. Additionally, when the ship’s pollution control equipment was inspected by the Coast Guard, Vastardis made false statements concerning how the equipment was operated at sea, and demonstrated how the equipment was operated at sea in a manner designed to trick the equipment into reporting the discharge of oily bilge water at permissible levels.
The vessel’s management company, Liquimar Tankers Management Services; the vessel’s owner, Evridiki Navigation; and Vastardis are all charged with failing to maintain an accurate oil record book as required by the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships, a U.S. law which implements the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships, commonly known as MARPOL. The defendants are also charged with falsification of records, obstruction of justice, and making false statements.
An indictment is merely an accusation and defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.
The case was investigated by the Coast Guard Investigative Service. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Edmund Falgowski of the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Delaware, and Joel La Bissonniere, Trial Attorney with the Department of Justice’s Environmental Crimes Section.
Opening Statement of Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Matt M. Dummermuth of the Office of Justice Programs Before the Senate Committee on Indian AffairsRead the Press Release
Chairman Hoeven, Vice Chairman Udall, and Members of the Committee, thank you for this opportunity to discuss President Trump’s budget request for fiscal year (FY) 2020, particularly the substantial investments he proposes to support public safety in American Indian and Alaska Native communities. My name is Matt Dummermuth, and I am the Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Office of Justice Programs (OJP), the research, statistical, and primary funding arm of the Department of Justice (DOJ).
I appear before you today on behalf of the entire Department. As you know, the Department plays a central role in carrying out federal Indian policy, alongside other agencies such as the Department of the Interior and the Department of Health and Human Services. Under the leadership of Attorney General Barr, DOJ is committed to honoring tribal sovereignty and working with tribal leaders on a government-to-government basis to help ensure public safety in native communities.
This committee hardly needs to be reminded of the serious challenges tribes face in combating violence and administering justice. As the President noted in his recent Missing and Murdered American Indians and Alaska Natives Awareness Day Proclamation, “Too many American Indians and Alaska Natives are the victims of abuse, sexual exploitation, or murder — or are missing from their communities.” Indeed, the issues facing tribal communities are both prevalent and pervasive. According to a landmark study of intimate partner violence funded by our National Institute of Justice (NIJ) and released in 2016, more than four in five American Indian and Alaska Native adults have experienced some form of violence in their lifetime, and more than half of all American Indian and Alaskan Native women experienced sexual violence in their lifetime. That is almost three million people who have experienced stalking, physical or sexual violence, or psychological aggression by intimate partners. It is also worth noting that almost all American Indian and Alaska Native victims reported experiencing violence at the hands of a non-native perpetrator at least once in their lifetime. In addition, reports funded by DOJ have exposed the staggering rates at which American Indian and Alaska Native children and youth experience violence and post-traumatic stress.
As if the sheer scale of violence were not enough, the resources that tribal professionals have at their disposal are often limited. It is an understatement to say that these men and women are often overstretched. Another NIJ report on policing in Indian country found that the typical tribal police department serves an area the size of the state of Delaware with a patrol of no more than three officers. I just had the privilege of visiting several native villages in Alaska, a truly eye-opening experience. I met with tribal leaders and justice system officials, who also showed me around their communities. I learned much about Alaska Native villages and the numerous challenges they face. On May 1, I participated in OJP’s Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) consultation with tribal leaders and representatives, and I can speak firsthand about the lack of resources available to tribal authorities to ensure law and order and respond to victims. Native villagers live in some of the most beautiful locations on earth, but the word “remote” does not begin to describe them. The President’s Budget recognizes the gravity of the problem, and proposes to direct considerable resources to supporting tribes as they develop solutions.
The Department of Justice has an extensive history of supporting tribal public safety and victim assistance. During FY 2018, DOJ’s grant-making offices—OJP, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office), and the Office on Violence Against Women (OVW)—awarded 225 grants totaling more than $113 million to 125 separate tribes under our Coordinated Tribal Assistance Solicitation (CTAS), which is our primary mechanism through which tribes apply for DOJ funding. CTAS enables tribes to apply for grants based on their own public safety needs, not according to some generic criteria that may or may not make sense for tribal applicants. Under CTAS, tribes can search grant opportunities by ten purpose areas—ranging from policing to services for sexual assault victims. They can then submit an application that outlines their public safety goals. We have seen success come from these awards. For example, the Pueblo of Jemez received a grant to start a community outreach and victim assistance program to combat elder abuse, a problem that is affecting a growing number of seniors throughout America. The Jemez program developed an elder code, created a system of elder advocacy services, and launched a public education campaign. This year, we established an additional purpose area to address violent crime in Native lands. The new purpose area (#10) is designed to provide key funding to Tribal justice systems to focus on combating, addressing, and responding to precipitous increases in crime within tribal communities. The goal is to assist tribes to increase their capacity to work with federal, state and local partners to investigate and prosecute serious and violent crimes, including any investigations of missing or murdered tribal members.
In addition to CTAS resources, a total of 154 grants totaling $88 million were awarded as part of OVC’s first Tribal Victim Service Set-Aside program supported by the Crime Victims Fund, a repository of federal criminal fines, fees, and special assessments. The fund includes zero tax dollars. These awards support child and elder victims, domestic violence and sexual assault survivors, victims of human trafficking, families of homicide victims, and people who have been victimized as a result of the opioid crisis. Even more funding—$168 million—will be available under the set-aside this year.
DOJ has also created and invested in innovative training and assistance programs, which will be instrumental to the tribes in developing victim service programs. For instance, programmatic technical assistance is available to help develop the programs proposed by the tribes, and likewise a Financial Management Training Center now offers the tools and training to establish strong accounting systems and other important principles to increase the chance of success for the grantees. This training is designed for individuals responsible for the financial administration of grants awarded from federal programs administered by various bureaus and offices at the Department, and DOJ is offering an online version of the seminars to give tribes the ability to complete federal grants management training, regardless of their location. All of these new programs will help improve the response of tribes to the victims of crime. This year, OJP will continue to support a range of critical training and technical assistance to tribes including regional trainings available for all tribes on ways to prepare for and apply for funding to support their work. In FY 2020, OJP’s Bureau of Justice Assistance is planning to launch new training and technical assistance specifically to support native Alaskan Villages and native corporations.
Much has been said about the levels of crime and violence in Indian country and the Alaska Native villages and the “missing and murdered crisis” within the American Indian and Alaska Native tribal communities. We know the loss, trauma, and need for answers span generations. To that end, NIJ’s National Missing and Unidentified Persons Program, also referred to as NamUs, is addressing the issue of missing and murdered indigenous women and children. In December 2018, NamUs added five tribal data fields to its system to assist all law enforcement and the families of the missing to add tribal detail to the cases that are entered. NamUs also started a Victim Services Unit in March of this year with funding from OVC. This unit will address the needs of all victims and the families of the missing persons that are entered into NamUs, including those in tribal communities. Recognizing that AI/AN cases were underrepresented in NamUs, NIJ and NamUs staff have made significant and targeted efforts to increase awareness over the past two years. We have launched an outreach campaign to tribal law enforcement, leadership, and community members to ensure the communities are aware of the technology and technical assistance, which is available free to all tribal nations.
Additionally, the Department is committed to improving the collection of tribal crime data. We are partnering with the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), Office of Justice Services to conduct the 2019 Census of Tribal Law Enforcement Agencies, which we expect later this year. This is the first tribal law enforcement collection since the passage of the Tribal Law and Order Act (TLOA) in 2010, and will feature information on staffing and workload activities, including how both tribal and BIA police departments respond to domestic violence, opioids matters and human trafficking on tribal lands. We are also pleased to report that we are actively working with over 150 tribes on sex offender registration and notification, and 134 tribes have already substantially implemented the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA), Title I of the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act. These tribes are now added to the comprehensive nationwide network of jurisdictions sharing sex offender registration data and are connected to the National Sex Offender Public Website. We continue to provide extensive training and technical assistance to tribes to implement and maintain their sex offender registration and notification duties and, in FY 2018, OJP’s Office of Sex Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, Apprehending, Registering, and Tracking provided $5.1 million under the Support for Adam Walsh Act Implementation Grant Program to 21 tribes.
These are historic investments in tribal public safety and victim assistance programs, and the President’s Budget for FY 2020 proposes to build on this commitment. The budget requests a total of $523.1 million in tribal public safety resources, including $298 million in grant funding and $152 million for the Federal Bureau of Prisons to support the Native American inmate prison population. This would be an increase over FY 2019 funding.
In a demonstration of the Administration’s commitment to its tribal partners, the President’s FY 2020 Budget requests a set-aside of up to seven percent of OJP’s discretionary funds to support public safety and victim assistance in Indian country. This set-aside, which we estimate will amount to approximately $127.1 million, will provide a flexible and consistent source of grant funding for tribes by providing the resources for tribal efforts to prevent, treat, and address crime and substance abuse. This will be done through efforts such as tribal courts, prosecution, and healing to wellness courts, victim service programs, tribal criminal and civil legal assistance, and tribal probation, jails and reentry programs. The set-aside will also support tribal justice system planning, including activities outlined in TLOA, and critical investments in tribal justice infrastructure through renovation and repurposing of tribal justice facilities. In addition, it would fund tribal youth programs and a tribal youth resource center that provides free training and technical assistance to all federally recognized tribes.
The set-aside could also be used to support the Tribal Access Program (TAP), which allows tribal criminal and non-criminal justice agencies to access national crime databases, enabling them to enter and access protection orders and information about missing or wanted persons, obtain criminal histories, input sex offenders into the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s National Sex Offender Registry, and exchange critical data across the Criminal Justice Information Services systems.
In addition, the FY 2020 President’s Budget also requests an allocation of $115 million from the Crime Victims Fund for the Tribal Victim Service Set-Aside program and other efforts designed to serve American Indian and Alaska Native crime victims.
Turning to DOJ’s other grant-making components, the COPS Office includes two programs designed specifically for tribes—the Tribal Resources Grant Program and the COPS contribution to TAP. The Tribal Resources Grant Program will be supported by funding derived from OJP’s discretionary tribal assistance set-aside in FY 2020. This program, which is available to tribes through the CTAS, provides 100 percent of funding for an officer’s salary and benefits for three years. It also covers costs for equipment and training, as well as efforts to fight methamphetamine and heroin addiction.
In addition, tribes are eligible for funding under the COPS Hiring Program, which provides 75 percent funding for officer salary and benefits for three years. The FY 2020 President’s Budget requests $99 million in funding for this program under OJP’s State and Local Law Enforcement Assistance account. In addition to supporting the hiring of law enforcement officers, the COPS Hiring Program also supports the Collaborative Reform Initiative Technical Assistance Center, or CRI-TAC. This resource provides critical technical assistance to government law enforcement agencies, including tribal agencies. This assistance is tailored to the tribe’s specific needs and is available on a “by-the-field, for-the-field” approach that uses leading experts in a range of topics related to public safety, crime reduction, and community policing. Because different needs require different methods, CRI-TAC uses a variety of approaches, such as training, peer-to-peer consulting, analysis, coaching, and strategic planning.
The FY 2020 President’s Budget for OVW consists of $56 million to support programs and initiatives in Indian country. Of this amount, $40.2 million is for OVW’s Tribal Governments Program, which is designed to enhance the ability of tribes to respond to domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking; enhance victim safety; and develop education and prevention strategies. This amount also includes $6.8 million for the Tribal Coalitions Program, $3.5 million for the Tribal Sexual Assault Services Program, $500,000 for the Indian County Sexual Assault Clearinghouse, $1 million for Research on Violence Against Indian Women, and $4 million for the Tribal Special Domestic Violence Criminal Jurisdiction Program.
Within OVW, tribes are also eligible to apply for a number of other OVW discretionary grant programs, including programs focused on abuse in later life, the needs of victims with disabilities, and challenges faced by rural communities in addressing domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking.
The Department also seeks authority to use prior year OVW appropriations for tribal-specific sex offender and protection order registries to provide funds to tribes through TAP. The Department has concluded that, rather than investing funds in developing new and incomplete tribal-specific registries, the purpose for which these funds were appropriated—protecting tribal communities from perpetrators of domestic and sexual violence—would be better served by facilitating tribes’ ability to enter and obtain information from existing federal databases.
I hope you will agree that these are substantial investments that reflect a strong commitment on the part of this Administration to support our tribal partners. Of course, these budget items are only one element—albeit a significant element—of the Department’s efforts to enhance public safety in American Indian and Alaska Native communities.
We are moving forward with activities to address the crisis of missing persons in Indian country. In my dual role as National AMBER Alert Coordinator, I am devoting resources to fortifying the network of AMBER Alert systems in Indian country, including an AMBER Alert in Indian Country training conference that will be held at the end of July 2019. We continue to hold a regular series of government-to-government consultations and listening sessions with tribes, along with a biennial Indian Nations Conference that brings together hundreds of tribal officials from across the country to be trained on a range of public safety issues. We are helping to combat sex trafficking which can bring victims from American Indian and Alaska Native communities into urban areas where they are often lost and forgotten.
And beyond the Department’s grant-making components, DOJ works through the Office of Tribal Justice and the network of tribal liaisons in the Offices of the United States Attorneys to improve law enforcement functions and reduce crime. The Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys also trains federal, state, local, and tribal attorneys and law enforcement staff on law enforcement issues in Indian country. In addition, the Environment and Natural Resources Division represents the Department of the Interior and other federal agencies on litigation matters related to water rights, reservation boundaries, land-into-trust decisions, and other matters affecting federally recognized tribes and their members.
As I mentioned earlier, I visited a handful of tribes in Alaska of varying sizes, with varying needs, in different parts of the state with different geographic and climate challenges, in addition to having participated in a tribal consultation. The feedback I heard at our consultation, and the conversations I had through my additional meetings, both served to reinvigorate my commitment to finding solutions to address these issues tribes confront and deepened my understanding of the real, on-the-ground, practical challenges facing tribal communities.
The Department of Justice remains committed to working with our tribal partners. With the investments requested in the FY 2020 President’s Budget, I am confident that we will help deliver the resources they need to protect citizens, safeguard their communities, and serve crime victims. We will continue to work hard, along with this committee, on their behalf. Thank you, and I look forward to addressing your questions.
Attorney General William P. Barr to Travel to El Salvador to Advance Key Department of Justice PrioritiesRead the Press Release
Today, the Attorney General will travel to El Salvador to meet with deployed Department of Justice employees, diplomats, and law enforcement officials from the Northern Triangle countries to advance key Department priorities, including interdicting illegal narcotics, dismantling MS-13, the 18th Street Gang and other transnational criminal organizations, and combatting illegal migration and human trafficking. While in El Salvador, the Attorney General will also tour the International Law Enforcement Academy and participate in the Third Ministerial of the Northern Triangle Attorneys General in order to further strengthen our international law enforcement partnerships, which are critical to stopping the flow of drugs, illegal guns, and human trafficking before they can reach our Southern Border.
“International cooperation is the key to countering the scourge of MS-13 and other vicious transnational criminal organizations,” said Attorney General William P. Barr. “We have to eradicate these gangs wherever we find them before they threaten the safety of all of our communities. In order to incapacitate MS-13 and similar groups, we will use all lawful tools within and outside our borders to make sure these criminals face justice. This trip is an important step in furthering this Administration priority.”
Attorney General William P. Barr Announces Appointment of Claire Murray as Principal Deputy Associate Attorney GeneralRead the Press Release
Attorney General William P. Barr issued the following statement:
“All who work with Claire Murray are impressed with her sharp intelligence, thoughtfulness, and work ethic. During her time at Kirkland & Ellis, she rose to become a partner within just two years of joining the firm. She also has a remarkable record of public service, including serving as an Associate White House Counsel, as a clerk for two of today's Supreme Court justices, and in both appellate and line prosecutor roles at the Department of Justice. I want to thank Jesse Panuccio for his hard work over these past two years as Principal Deputy Associate Attorney General, and I am pleased to appoint Claire to succeed him.”
Department of Justice's Antitrust Division Joins Framework on Competition Agency Procedures as Founding MemberRead the Press Release
On May 1, 2019, the Antitrust Division joined the Framework on Competition Agency Procedures as a founding member. This historic multilateral agreement recognizes fundamental principles of transparency and procedural fairness in antitrust enforcement and promotes review mechanisms to ensure that participating agencies abide by these norms. The framework adopted the principles outlined by the Multilateral Framework on Procedures, as described by Assistant Attorney General Makan Delrahim in a speech at the Council on Foreign Relations on June 1, 2018. It was adopted by the International Competition Network (ICN) on April 3, 2019, and it became open for all national, supranational, and customs territory-specific competition agencies, both ICN member and non-member agencies, to join as participants on May 1, 2019.
“I encourage our antitrust enforcement partners around the world to become founding members of this historic multilateral framework on procedures,” said Assistant Attorney General Makan Delrahim of the Antitrust Division. “Broad participation in the new framework will demonstrate our universal commitment to transparency and fairness, and it will strengthen cooperation among and confidence in antitrust enforcement agencies across the globe.”
The Framework on Competition Agency Procedures will come into effect on May 15, 2019, at an inauguration ceremony of the founding members during the ICN annual conference in Cartagena, Colombia.
The ICN, founded by 15 agencies including the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division, was created in October 2001 to increase understanding of competition policy and promote convergence toward sound antitrust enforcement around the world. The ICN has grown to include 138 member agencies from 125 jurisdictions, supported by a wide network of non-governmental advisors from around the world.
The text of the Framework on Competition Agency Procedures can be found here.
New York Broker-Dealer Pleads Guilty to Violating U.S. Antitrust Laws by Rigging Bids for Financial InstrumentsRead the Press Release
Banca IMI Securities Corp. (Banca IMI), a New York broker-dealer, pleaded guilty to an antitrust charge and was sentenced to pay a criminal fine in excess of $2 million for its involvement in a bid-rigging conspiracy for certain financial instruments, the Department of Justice announced today.
Banca IMI admitted, as part of its guilty plea, that from March 2012 until at least August 2014, it conspired with other institutions and individuals to submit rigged bids to borrow pre-release American Depository Receipts (ADRs). Worldwide, thousands of publicly traded companies list their shares of common stock only on foreign stock exchanges. Most U.S. investors are unable to purchase or sell such foreign shares. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, however, permits four U.S. depository banks to create ADRs, which represent foreign ordinary shares and can be traded in the United States. Through the purchase and sale of ADRs, U.S. investors are able to gain exposure to — including the ability to receive dividends from — companies whose common stock is listed only on foreign stock exchanges.
Banca IMI pleaded guilty to conspiring to borrow pre-release ADRs from U.S. depository banks at artificially suppressed rates. During the conspiracy, a U.S. depository bank began using an auction-style process for pre-release ADRs and invited Banca IMI and other broker-dealers to submit competitive bids for rates to borrow ADRs. In response, Banca IMI and its co-conspirators intensified their coordination in an effort to increase artificially their profits under the auction-style process. On at least 30 occasions, Banca IMI reached an agreement with one or more co-conspirators as to the bids they would submit to U.S. depository banks. On many occasions, the conspirators agreed that they all would submit the same bid.
“Today’s charge represents the commitment of the Department of Justice and its law enforcement partners to uncovering and prosecuting cheaters who corrupt our financial and capital markets,” said Assistant Attorney General Makan Delrahim of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division. “Complex financial markets are not beyond the reach of the antitrust laws. The Antitrust Division will aggressively pursue criminals in technically complicated markets, including those that some wrongly presume may be beyond detection or the reach of antitrust enforcement.”
“The FBI is committed to rooting out corruption and fraud against the United States wherever it occurs,” said Assistant Director Robert Johnson of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division. “The guilty plea today is the result of the FBI International Corruption Unit’s persistent and ongoing efforts to protect competition and identify those engaged in anticompetitive, fraudulent conduct. We will continue to pursue antitrust investigations aggressively with our DOJ partners.”
The Washington Criminal II Section of the Antitrust Division and the FBI’s International Corruption Unit are conducting the investigation into bid rigging in the market for pre-release ADRs. Anyone with information in connection with this investigation is urged to call the Antitrust Division’s Washington Criminal II Section at 202-598-4000 or visit www.justice.gov/atr/contact/newcase.html.
Federal Court Permanently Enjoins South Florida Tax Return PreparersRead the Press Release
The United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida entered a permanent injunction against Katiusca “Kathy” Rigaud (aka Kathy Leger), Andy Jean, and Bar Professional Services LLC (Tax Kings & Queens), barring them from preparing federal income tax returns for others, the Justice Department announced today.
The complaint alleges that Kathy Rigaud, Andy Jean, and Tax Kings & Queens — along with another defendant who was not subject to today’s order — prepared nearly 3,000 tax returns between 2013 and 2018, with the vast majority claiming a refund. According to the complaint, the defendants did not consistently identify themselves as the preparer on returns they prepared, as required by law. The complaint further alleges that the defendants’ practices included submitting false Schedules C (Profit or Loss from Business) for fictitious businesses to secure bogus earned income tax credits for their customers; and claiming false employee business expense deductions on Schedules A.
Rigaud, Jean, and Tax King & Queens consented to the permanent ban. The fourth defendant, Janet Morales, has not responded to the complaint.
Return preparer fraud is one of the IRS’ Dirty Dozen Tax Scams and taxpayers seeking a return preparer should remain vigilant. The IRS has information on its website about selecting 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.
Entertainer/Businessman and Malaysian Financier Indicted for Conspiring to Make and Conceal Foreign and Conduit Contributions During 2012 U.S. Presidential ElectionRead the Press Release
A United States entertainer and businessman and a Malaysian financier were charged in a four-count indictment unsealed today in the District of Columbia for conspiring to make and conceal foreign and conduit campaign contributions during the United States presidential election in 2012, announced Assistant Attorney General Brian Benczkowski of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division.
Prakazrel “Pras” Michel, 46, and Low Taek Jho, 37, also known as “Jho Low,” were charged with one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States government and for making foreign and conduit campaign contributions. Michel also was charged with one count of a scheme to conceal material facts and two counts of making a false entry in a record in connection with the conspiracy. Michel appeared today for his arraignment before U.S. Magistrate Judge G. Michael Harvey in the District of Columbia. Low remains at large.
According to the indictment, between June 2012 and November 2012, Low directed the transfer of approximately $21,600,000 from foreign entities and accounts to Michel for the purpose of funneling significant sums of money into the United States presidential election as purportedly legitimate contributions, all while concealing the true source of the money. To facilitate the excessive contributions and conceal their true source, Michel paid approximately $865,000 of the money received from Low to about 20 straw donors, or conduits, so that the straw donors could make donations in their names to a presidential joint fundraising committee. In addition, Michel personally directed more than $1 million of the money received from Low to an independent expenditure committee also involved in the presidential election in 2012.
The indictment also alleges that by funneling campaign contributions through straw donors, Michel caused a presidential joint fundraising committee to submit false reports to the Federal Election Commission (FEC), including a false amended report in June 2013. The committee’s reports were false because they identified the straw donors, rather than Low or Michel, as the true source of the contributions. In addition, the indictment alleges that by contributing more than $1 million of the money he received from Low to an independent expenditure committee, Michel also caused that committee to submit false reports to the FEC, insofar as those reports identified Michel as the source of the contributions when, in fact, it was Low. The indictment further alleges that in June 2015, Michel submitted a false declaration to the FEC in which he claimed that he had no reason to conceal the true source of his contributions to the independent expenditure committee in 2012, even though Michel knew that the true source of that money was Low and that Michel had funneled the foreign money into the election.
Low was indicted previously, along with former banker Ng Chong Hwa, also known as “Roger Ng,” in the Eastern District of New York for conspiring to launder billions of dollars and to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. That case remains pending.
An indictment is merely a charge and defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
The FBI’s International Corruption Squad in New York is investigating the case. Trial Attorneys Sean F. Mulryne and Nicole Lockhart of the Criminal Division’s Public Integrity Section are prosecuting the case.
Department of Justice Opposes Unfair Attorney Fee Arrangement in Class Action Settlement Involving Dial SoapRead the Press Release
The Department of Justice filed a Statement of Interest today arguing that a proposed class action settlement involving hand soap would afford little value to consumers while handsomely compensating attorneys.
Plaintiffs in the case, In re: Dial Complete Marketing & Sales Practices Litig., alleged that The Dial Corp. falsely advertised its “Dial Complete” hand soaps containing triclosan as more effective at killing germs over other brands’ soap. Under a proposed settlement reached between the parties, Dial would pay $2.32 million to class members, with most class members receiving up to $8.10 in compensation for previous purchases of certain soap products. The settlement also provides for injunctive relief that would require Dial to refrain from using triclosan or claiming that its hand wash product “Kills 99% of Germs.”
Under the agreement, class counsel would seek a total of $3.825 million in attorney’s fees without opposition from Dial, including $1.9 million in fees specifically tied to obtaining the injunctive relief. In its Statement of Interest, the United States argues that the injunction would provide no benefit to consumers, given that Dial years ago voluntarily made the same changes to its soap products that are required by the proposed injunctive relief. Moreover, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration banned the use of triclosan in such products in 2016. The case is pending in U.S. District Court for the District of New Hampshire, which must approve any settlement.
“A class action settlement that affords little meaningful consumer benefit while rewarding attorneys with sizable fees is inappropriate,” said Assistant Attorney General Jody Hunt for the Department of Justice’s Civil Division. “Congress intended to prevent these types of unbalanced settlements with the Class Action Fairness Act.”
The Class Action Fairness Act of 2005 provides the Attorney General and state officials an opportunity to review federal class action settlements before district courts grant final approval. The United States recently filed a Statement of Interest in another class action case in the Northern District of Illinois, Cowen et al. v. Lenny & Larry’s. The government argued that the Cowen settlement directed most of the settlement’s value to attorney’s fees and non-class members rather than the consumer plaintiffs. The United States also filed an amicus brief in the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals earlier this year arguing that a class action settlement involving pressure cookers did not provide sufficient relief to consumers.
Trial Attorney Kendrack Lewis of the Civil Division’s Consumer Protection Branch represents the United States in the matter. Additional information about the Consumer Protection Branch and its enforcement efforts may be found at www.justice.gov/civil/consumer-protection-branch.
Colombian Narcotics Kingpin Pleads Guilty for Bribing Former Federal Agent to Dismiss IndictmentRead the Press Release
A Colombian Cali Cartel cocaine trafficker pleaded guilty today for bribing a former Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent to secure the dismissal of a drug trafficking indictment filed against him, announced Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division.
Jose Bayron Piedrahita-Ceballos, 60, of Medellin, Colombia, was extradited from the Republic of Colombia on April 5, 2019, and will be sentenced on July 19, 2019, before U.S. District Judge Robert N. Scola Jr. of the Southern District of Florida.
According to admissions in the plea agreement, Piedrahita-Ceballosoffered and gave things of value to Christopher Ciccione II, 54, a former federal law enforcement agent, in exchange for Ciccione using his official position to cause a drug trafficking indictment against Piedrahita-Ceballos to be dismissed and to obtain official authorization for Piedrahita-Ceballos to enter the United States. At the time of the dismissal, Ciccione was the case agent for Operation Cornerstone, a large-scale Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force case that resulted in indictments of over 100 Colombia-based cocaine traffickers from the Cali Cartel. Piedrahita-Ceballos, an Operation Cornerstone defendant, and Colombian national Juan Carlos Velasco, 51, gave Ciccione approximately $20,000 in cash, dinner, drinks and prostitution during an extended hotel stay in Bogota, Colombia, in exchange for official acts that resulted in the dismissal of the indictment against Piedrahita-Ceballos. Velasco served as the intermediary between Ciccione and Piedrahita-Ceballos. Velasco and Ciccione have previously pleaded guilty for their conduct in this matter. On Feb. 9, 2018, Ciccione was sentenced to 36 months in prison. On Jan. 19, 2018, Velasco was sentenced to 27 months in prison.
In furtherance of this scheme to obstruct justice, Ciccione misled the U.S. Attorney’s Office, HSI management and altered TECS records to represent to decision makers that Piedrahita-Ceballos was “unidentified” and that his case should be dismissed because “all investigative efforts” were “exhausted” all while maintaining contact with Piedrahita-Ceballos. Ciccone also falsified the concurrence of several other federal agents and attempted to parole Piedrahita-Ceballos into the United States through the United States Department of State.
The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control designated Piedrahita as a Specially Designated Narcotics Trafficker pursuant to the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act on May 3, 2016.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Office of Professional Responsibility, Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General and the FBI investigated the case. The Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs, the Office of the Judicial Attaché in Colombia and the Drug Enforcement Administration provided valuable assistance to the investigation. The Colombian Attorney General’s Office also provided invaluable support. Trial Attorney Jennifer A. Clarke of the Criminal Division’s Public Integrity Section is prosecuting the case.
Attorney General William P. Barr Announces Edward O’Callaghan as Acting Deputy Attorney GeneralRead the Press Release
Attorney General William P. Barr issued the following statement:
“Yesterday in the Great Hall at the Department of Justice, we celebrated Rod Rosenstein's 29 years of outstanding service to the Department of Justice, and bid a fond farewell to an exceptional Department leader and friend. Over the last year, Rod has been well-served by his Principal Deputy, Ed O'Callaghan. Ed is a top-notch attorney whose intellect, competence, judgment, and experience are evident in every task he takes on. That is why I have asked him to serve as the Acting Deputy Attorney General until the Senate confirms Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein's successor, Jeffrey Rosen. I am confident that Ed will be an excellent Acting Deputy Attorney General during this interim period."
Virginia Man Convicted of Threatening Employees of the Arab American InstituteRead the Press Release
William Patrick Syring, 61, of Arlington, Virginia, was convicted today of threatening employees of the Arab American Institute (AAI), because of their race and national origin, threatening AAI employees because of their efforts to encourage Arab Americans to participate in political and civic life in the United States, and transmitting threats to AAI employees in interstate commerce. Syring was convicted on all 14 counts in the indictment.
“Threats aimed at individuals because of their race and national origin have no place in our society and violate federal civil rights laws,” said Assistant Attorney General Eric Dreiband. “The Department of Justice will continue to hold criminals accountable who commit such acts of hate so that all individuals in this country can engage in civic life and political discourse.”
Evidence presented at trial established that from 2012 to 2017, Syring sent over 700 emails to AAI employees, culminating in five death threats in 2017. According to court documents, Syring previously pleaded guilty in 2008 to sending threatening emails to AAI employees. Evidence presented at trial showed that Syring used nearly identical language that he admitted were threats in 2008 as he did in 2017.
According to testimony in court, AAI employees were frightened of Syring, because he had sent them death threats in the past and continued to do so over a decade later. Additionally, according to witness testimony, many AAI employees lived in fear that Syring would follow through his threats and physically harm them. They further testified to the toll it took on them personally and their families and loved ones.
Sentencing is set for Aug. 9. The maximum penalties for the convictions is 42 years of imprisonment.
The case was investigated by the FBI Washington Field Office and is being prosecuted by Civil Rights Division Senior Legal Counsel Mark Blumberg and Trial Attorney Nick Reddick.
Justice Department Files Lawsuit Alleging Transperfect Staffing Solutions Discriminated Against Dual U.S. Citizens and Work-Authorized Non-U.S. CitizensRead the Press Release
The Department of Justice announced today that it filed a lawsuit against Chancery Staffing Solutions LLC (Chancery Staffing), a temporary staffing agency headquartered in New York. Chancery Staffing is the successor to TransPerfect Staffing Solutions LLC (TransPerfect Staffing) and continues to do business as both TransPerfect Staffing Solutions and TransPerfect Legal Solutions. The lawsuit alleges that TransPerfect Staffing discriminated against non-U.S. citizens and dual U.S. citizens in violation of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), and that Chancery Staffing is liable for the discrimination as its successor.
“Staffing agencies must be diligent in satisfying their obligation under the INA to avoid citizenship status discrimination against U.S. citizens and protected non-citizens, even when that discrimination is requested by a client,” said Assistant Attorney General Eric Dreiband of the Civil Rights Division. “The Department of Justice is committed to challenging such unlawful and discriminatory hiring practices.”
The lawsuit alleges that from at least April 4, 2017, to at least July 7, 2017, TransPerfect Staffing limited its recruitment and hiring of attorneys for a temporary document review project to U.S. citizens only. Additionally, the lawsuit alleges that from at least May 12, 2017, to July 7, 2017, TransPerfect Staffing further restricted its recruitment and hiring for positions under the project to exclude U.S. citizens who were also citizens of another country. Although it implemented these discriminatory policies at the request of a client, TransPerfect Staffing actively participated in the discriminatory hiring process and remained the employer of the document reviewers assigned to the project, according to the lawsuit.
Under the INA, it is unlawful for employers to discriminate intentionally against U.S. citizens, U.S. nationals, recent lawful permanent residents, asylees and refugees in hiring unless required to comply with a law, regulation, executive order, Attorney General determination, or provision of a federal, state, or local government contract. Absent such a requirement, employers that limit their hiring to U.S. citizens may violate the INA’s anti-discrimination provision.
The United States’ complaint seeks civil penalties, back pay on behalf of the workers, and other remedial relief to correct and prevent discrimination. The United States filed its suit in the Office of the Chief Administrative Hearing Officer, a specialized administrative court that Congress created to resolve such claims.
The Division’s Immigrant and Employee Rights Section (IER) is responsible for enforcing the anti-discrimination provision of the INA. The statute prohibits, among other things, citizenship status and national origin discrimination in hiring, firing, or recruitment or referral for a fee; unfair documentary practices; retaliation; and intimidation.
More information on how employers can avoid unlawful citizenship status discrimination 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.
Austin Man Pleads Guilty to Fraudulent Scheme to Solicit Hundreds of Thousands of Dollars in Contributions to Scam-PacsRead the Press Release
An Austin, Texas, entrepreneur pleaded guilty today for fraudulently soliciting hundreds of thousands of dollars in political contributions through several scam-PACs that he founded and advertised as supporting candidates for the Office of the President of the United States during the 2016 election cycle.
Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and Special Agent in Charge Christopher Combs of the FBI’s San Antonio Division made the announcement.
Kyle Gerald Prall, 40, of Austin, Texas, pleaded guilty to one count of mail fraud before U.S. Magistrate Judge Andrew W. Austin of the Western District of Texas. A sentencing hearing has not yet been scheduled.
“Prall exploited the honest political engagement of countless citizens by representing that his organizations were supporting presidential candidates when in fact he was just stealing contributions,” said Assistant Attorney General Benczkowski. “In addition to cheating people out of their money, fraud committed in connection with our elections corrodes public confidence in our democratic institutions. The Department of Justice is committed to investigating and prosecuting these crimes.”
“Making donations to a political cause, campaign or candidate is an important expression of free speech and a right all Americans should enjoy,” said Special Agent in Charge Combs. “By misappropriating the donations for his own personal use, the defendant not only violated the trust of his victims, he also deprived them of their fundamental right to free speech. The FBI is committed to protecting this right, and holding individuals, like the defendant accountable. Before making donations citizens should be mindful of this unscrupulous fraud scheme and exercise due diligence in researching the legitimacy of an organization.”
According to admissions made in connection with his plea, in 2015 and 2016, Prall created several political committees—including Feel Bern, HC4President and Trump Victory—which he advertised online to solicit contributions purportedly in support of presidential candidates in the 2016 election. Prall advertised that the contributions would be used to support the candidates in various ways, including paying for transportation for voters to the polls; paying for training for volunteers to make phone calls and canvass neighborhoods to support the respective candidates; paying to help voters obtain appropriate identification documents and making contributions directly to one of the candidates and to other organizations supporting his campaign. In reality, Prall did not intend to, and did not, use the contributions for these purposes and instead transferred much of the money to himself through sham LLC accounts and used the other funds to generate additional contributions to his fraudulent political committees. Specifically, Prall admitted that of the $548,428 in contributions, he transferred $205,496 to himself through sham LLCs that he created for the purpose of moving the money, while contributing less than $5,100 to political causes. Additionally, Prall used the political committees’ debit cards to pay for his personal travel and entertainment expenses, such as travel to Jacksonville, Florida and Belize; hotel stays in Miami Beach, Florida, and Austin, Texas; and to pay for food, hookah, alcohol and bottle service, “club dances performed by entertainers,” room service, minibar charges, a deep-tissue massage and a pet-cleaning fee.
As part of his plea, Prall agreed to pay restitution in the amount of $548,428—the total amount he raised—including the forfeiture of the $205,496.68 he transferred to himself through sham LLCs during the scheme.
The FBI’s San Antonio Division is investigating the case. Deputy Chief John D. Keller and Trial Attorney James C. Mann of the Criminal Division’s Public Integrity Section are prosecuting the case.
Attorney General William Barr Meets with Minister of Justice of JapanRead the Press Release
On Friday, May 3, 2019, Attorney General William Barr met with Japanese Minister of Justice Takashi Yamashita at the Justice Department in Washington, DC. The dialogue focused on the nations’ shared commitment to combatting cybercrime and transnational organized crime. The Attorney General and Minister also discussed other areas of law enforcement cooperation between the two countries. The Attorney General welcomed Japan’s recent accession to the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (UNTOC).
Photo credit: U.S. Department of JusticePennsylvania Man Sentenced to Prison for Tax EvasionRead the Press Release
An Aliquippa, Pennsylvania, man was sentenced to 18 months in prison for tax evasion, announced Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Richard E. Zuckerman of the Justice Department’s Tax Division.
According to evidence presented in open court, William Rains failed to timely file his individual income tax returns for tax years 1997, 1999, and 2003-2006. Rains also filed false returns for 2000 and 2001, reporting zero income when he in fact he had earned income in those years. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) assessed over $200,000 in taxes against Rains for all of these years, as well as for tax year 2008.
From July 2005 through December 2016, Rains evaded the payment of his taxes and sought to thwart IRS collection efforts. He concealed his income and assets from the IRS by using multiple bank accounts, entities, a nominee, and a false IRS financial form. He also caused his wife to move money into accounts in her name and to purchase bank checks to prevent the IRS from collecting taxes he owed.
U.S. District Court Judge Donetta W. Ambrose, sitting in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, also ordered Rains to serve three years of supervised release and to pay $207,634 in restitution to the IRS.
Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Zuckerman thanked special agents of IRS-Criminal Investigation, who investigated the case, and Trial Attorneys Shawn Noud and Christopher O’Donnell of the Tax Division, who prosecuted the case.
Department of Justice Issues Guidance on False Claims Act Matters and Updates Justice ManualRead the Press Release
The Civil Division today announced the release of formal guidance to the Department of Justice’s False Claims Act litigators. The False Claims Act provides important remedies for fraud committed against the United States. The guidance announced today explains the manner in which the Department of Justice awards credit to defendants who cooperate with the Department during a False Claims Act investigation. The formal policy, included as of today in the Justice Manual Section 4-4.112, identifies the type of cooperation eligible for credit.
“The Department of Justice has taken important steps to incentivize companies to voluntarily disclose misconduct and cooperate with our investigations; enforcement of the False Claims Act is no exception,” Assistant Attorney General Jody Hunt said. “False Claims Act defendants may merit a more favorable resolution by providing meaningful assistance to the Department of Justice – from voluntary disclosure, which is the most valuable form of cooperation, to various other efforts, including the sharing of information gleaned from an internal investigation and taking remedial steps through new or improved compliance programs.”
Under the policy, cooperation credit in False Claims Act cases may be earned by voluntarily disclosing misconduct unknown to the government, cooperating in an ongoing investigation, or undertaking remedial measures in response to a violation. Even if the government already has initiated an investigation, for example, a company may receive credit for making a voluntary self-disclosure of other misconduct outside the scope of the government’s existing investigation that is unknown to the government. Similarly, a company may earn credit by preserving relevant documents and information beyond existing business practices or legal requirements, identifying individuals who are aware of relevant information or conduct, and facilitating review and evaluation of data or information that requires access to special or proprietary technologies.
Under the policy, the Department of Justice will take into account corrective action that a company has taken in response to a False Claims Act violation. Such remedial measures may include undertaking a thorough analysis of the root cause of the misconduct, appropriately disciplining or replacing those responsible for the misconduct, accepting responsibility for the violation and implementing or improving compliance programs to prevent a recurrence.
Most frequently, cooperation credit will take the form of a reduction in the damages multiplier and civil penalties. If appropriate, the Department may also notify a relevant agency about the company’s voluntary disclosure, cooperation, or remediation so that the agency can take those actions into account in deciding how to apply administrative remedies. And the Department may publicly acknowledge the company’s cooperation.
For the full policy, click here.
Precious Metals Broker in Brooklyn Sentenced to Prison for Tax EvasionRead the Press Release
A resident of Dania Beach, Florida, was sentenced to prison today for evading income tax and aiding and assisting the preparation of false tax returns, announced Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg of the Justice Department’s Tax Division.
Christopher Wolf was sentenced to 24 months in prison by U.S. District Court Judge Raymond J. Dearie. On October 4, 2018, following a trial in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, a federal jury convicted Wolf of two counts of tax evasion and two counts of aiding and assisting the preparation of false tax returns.
According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, in 2010 and 2011, Christopher Wolf operated Rothchild & Associates LLC (“Rothchild”), in Brooklyn, New York. Rothchild was in the business of selling precious metals to investors over the telephone. Although Wolf controlled all aspects of Rothchild’s operations, it was technically owned by a third party. Wolf concealed the income he earned from Rothchild by instructing the third party owner to pay Wolf’s commissions to two shell corporations.
Wolf filed a false 2010 individual income tax return that did not report any of the commissions he earned selling precious metals. For 2011, he did not file an individual tax return. He also caused corporate income tax returns to be filed for the companies where he deposited his commissions, but included phony deductions on those returns to avoid paying the taxes he owed. Wolf’s conduct caused a tax loss of approximately $240,000 to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
In 2000, in an unrelated case, Wolf was convicted of securities fraud, money laundering, and conspiracy to commit wire fraud and was sentenced to prison for over ten years.
In addition to the term of imprisonment imposed, U.S. District Court Judge Dearie ordered Wolf to serve three years of supervised release and to pay $237,550 in restitution.
Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Goldberg thanked special agents of IRS-Criminal Investigation, who conducted the investigation, and Trial Attorneys Sean Green and Mark Kotila of the Tax Division, who prosecuted the case.
Additional information about the Tax Division and its enforcement efforts may be found on the division’s website.
Two Men Charged in Insurance Investment Fraud Scheme that Caused Hundreds of Millions in Victim LossesRead the Press Release
Two former executives were charged in an indictment unsealed today for their alleged participation in an insurance investment scheme that resulted in hundreds of millions of dollars in victim losses.
Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Special Agent in Charge Troy A. Sowers of the FBI’s Knoxville Field Office and Special Agent in Charge Matthew D. Line of IRS Criminal Investigation’s (IRS-CI) Charlotte Field Office made the announcement.
Andrew Scherr, 50, of Livingston, New Jersey, and Robert McGraw, 41, of Long Island City, New York, who were both executives with Southport Lane, L.P. (Southport), a New York private equity investment holding company specializing in managing investment portfolios for insurance companies, were each charged in an indictment filed in the Northern District of Texas with one count of conspiracy to commit crimes by or affecting persons engaged in the business of insurance, one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud affecting a financial institution and five counts of wire fraud affecting a financial institution. McGraw appeared today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Steven M. Gold of the Eastern District of New York.
“According to the indictment unsealed today, Scherr and McGraw diverted hundreds of millions of dollars from insurance companies’ investment portfolios, leaving several companies unable to pay their policyholder claims,” said Assistant Attorney General Benczkowski. “The Criminal Division is committed to holding accountable those who defraud investors, especially those who target companies that rely on those investments to live up to the promises made to their policyholders.”
“Disrupting this corrupt scheme demonstrates the FBI’s commitment to aggressively pursue those engaged in acts of financial fraud,” said Special Agent in Charge Troy A. Sowers. “We commend our partner agencies essential to the investigation and prosecution of those who undermine the public’s trust.”
The indictment alleges that Scherr, McGraw and their co-conspirators defrauded insurance companies by causing them to exchange cash and other liquid, valuable assets for illiquid and fraudulently overvalued securities created by the defendants and their co-conspirators. As alleged in the indictment, Scherr, McGraw and their co-conspirators perpetrated the scheme, in part, by acquiring insurance companies and acting as an investment advisor for insurance companies, thereby gaining access to the management of the investment portfolios of victim insurance companies. Scherr, McGraw and their co-conspirators allegedly used Southport and affiliated entities to create fraudulently overvalued securities and replace assets held by victim insurance companies with these fraudulently overvalued and illiquid securities. The indictment further alleges that as a result of the scheme, victim insurance companies have collectively suffered hundreds of millions of dollars in losses.
An indictment is merely an allegation and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
This case was investigated by the FBI’s Knoxville Field Office and the IRS-CI’s Charlotte Field Office. Deputy Chief Brian Kidd and Trial Attorneys Danny Nguyen and Caitlin Cottingham of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section are prosecuting the case. Trial Attorney Andrew Tyler assisted in the investigation of the case.
The Criminal Division’s Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section and the Securities and Exchange Commission also provided assistance in the investigation of this matter.
The Fraud Section plays a pivotal role in the Department of Justice’s fight against white collar crime around the country.
Over $3 Million Paid to Individuals in Disability Settlement with GreyhoundRead the Press Release
The Department of Justice today announced that payments totaling $2,966,000 were issued to over 2,100 individuals who experienced disability discrimination while traveling or attempting to travel on Greyhound. The payments were part of a broader settlement from 2016 resolving the Department’s complaint that Greyhound Lines Inc., the nation’s largest provider of intercity bus transportation, engaged in a nationwide pattern or practice of violating the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) by failing to provide full and equal transportation services to passengers with disabilities. The alleged violations included failing to maintain accessibility features on its bus fleet such as lifts and securement devices; failing to provide passengers with disabilities assistance boarding and exiting buses at rest stops; and failing to allow customers traveling in wheelchairs to complete their reservations online.
“The Department of Justice is committed to eliminating disability-based discrimination in transportation services,” said Assistant Attorney General Eric Dreiband of the Civil Rights Division. “This settlement ensures equal travel opportunities for those with disabilities through holistic reform.”
The $2,966,000 amount is in addition to $300,000 paid by Greyhound in 2016 to specific individuals identified by the Department, bringing the total distributed to individuals to over $3,000,000. This sum stands in addition to a $75,000 civil penalty paid by Greyhound to the United States. The settlement also mandated a series of systemic reforms, including that Greyhound hire an ADA compliance manager; provide annual in-person ADA training to employees and contractors who interact with the public; provide technical training to all employees and contractors on the proper operation of the accessibility features of Greyhound’s fleet; and report every three months to the Department of Justice on its compliance efforts.
To read the consent decree and complaint, please visit https://www.ada.gov/enforce_current.htm#grey. For more information about the ADA, call the Department’s toll-free ADA Information Line at 800-514-0301 (TDD 800-514-0383) or access the ADA website at www.ada.gov.
Georgia Precious Metals Broker Sentenced to Prison for Willfully Failing to File Tax ReturnsRead the Press Release
An Atlanta precious metals broker was sentenced to 21 months in prison today following his Dec. 12, 2018, conviction by a federal jury on three counts of failing to file income tax returns, announced Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Richard E. Zuckerman of the Justice Department’s Tax Division. Hakim has been in custody since April 12, 2019. He was arrested and jailed after he failed to appear for his original sentencing date.
According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Saleem Hakim was in the business of brokering the sale of precious metals to clients. As a precious metals broker, Hakim received funds from clients, converted a portion of the funds to precious metals, and kept the remainder for his personal use. For the years 2011 through 2013, Hakim retained in excess of $1 million. Despite receiving income in excess of the filing thresholds and knowing his obligation to make and file tax returns, Hakim did not file any income tax returns with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Hakim is a former resident of Smyrna, Georgia, and Troy, Michigan.
In addition to the term of prison imposed, U.S. District Judge Michael L. Brown of the Northern District of Georgia ordered Hakim to serve one year of supervised release and to pay $639,006 in restitution to the IRS and $4,603.28 in costs of prosecution.
Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Zuckerman commended special agents of IRS-Criminal Investigation, who investigated the case, and Trial Attorneys Jeffrey Bender and Kathryn Sparks of the Tax Division, who prosecuted this case.
Additional information about the Tax Division and its enforcement efforts may be found on the division’s website.
Michigan Healthcare Management Company Owner and Operator Plead Guilty to Payroll Tax FraudRead the Press Release
A resident of Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, and a resident of Boca Raton, Florida, each pleaded guilty today in the Eastern District of Michigan to failing to collect, truthfully account for, and pay over payroll taxes announced Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg of the Justice Department’s Tax Division.
According to court documents, Integrated HCS Practice Management LLC (Integrated), was a Southfield, Michigan, company that provided management services to healthcare providers. As the managing partner of Integrated, a partial owner of the business, and an individual who exercised control over the business’s finances, Edward Cespedes was responsible for Integrated’s payroll taxes. Payroll taxes include federal income, Social Security, and Medicare taxes withheld from the wages paid to employees of the business. Joseph DeSanto also had influence over Integrated’s expenditure of funds, and was responsible for the payroll taxes. Despite their responsibilities, Cespedes and DeSanto failed to cause Integrated to timely pay its payroll taxes to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for the third quarter of 2013, the fourth quarter of 2013, and the first quarter of 2014.
Joseph DeSanto also pleaded guilty to one count of failure to file his personal tax return for 2013.
Sentencing is scheduled for Feb. 20, 2020. Both Cespedes and DeSanto face a maximum sentence of five years of imprisonment on the payroll tax charge, and DeSanto faces up to an additional one year of imprisonment on the charge related to his failure to file a tax return.
Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Goldberg commended special agents of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation Division and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, who conducted the investigation, and Tax Division Trial Attorneys Mark McDonald and William Guappone, who are prosecuting the case.
Court Authorizes Service of John Doe Summonses Seeking Information About Finnish Residents Using Bank of America, Charles Schwab, and TD Bank Payment Cards Linked to Non-Finnish Bank AccountsRead the Press Release
A federal court in North Carolina authorized the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to serve John Doe summonses on Bank of America, Charles Schwab, and TD Bank in an order that was unsealed yesterday, the Justice Department announced. The John Doe summonses seek information about persons residing in Finland that have Bank of America, Charles Schwab, or TD Bank payment cards linked to bank accounts located outside of Finland. The summonses are referred to as “John Doe” summonses because the IRS does not know the identity of the persons being investigated.
“The Department of Justice and the IRS are committed to working with the United States’ international treaty partners to identify and stop individuals using hidden offshore accounts to evade tax laws,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Richard E. Zuckerman of the Justice Department’s Tax Division. “The United States does not tolerate offshore tax evasion, nor does it sanction tax evasion committed through U.S. financial institutions.”
“Our continued success in combatting offshore tax noncompliance has been helped by the assistance we receive through the network of tax treaties around the globe,” said IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig. “Yesterday’s effort reflects that the U.S. will return this help by working under the law with tax administrators in other nations to help them in their fight against tax evasion and avoidance. A global economy should not be allowed to serve as a possible vehicle for tax evasion in any country.”
The United States petitioned the United States District Court for the Western District of North Carolina to authorize the summons at the request of the government of Finland under the tax treaty between Finland and the United States. That treaty allows the two countries to cooperate in exchanging information that is necessary for carrying out each country’s tax laws. The IRS summons seeks the identities of Finnish residents who have payment cards linked to bank accounts located outside of Finland so that the Finnish government can determine if those persons have complied with Finnish tax laws. Finland has advised the IRS that, in circumstances where the payment cards are used only at ATMs or in other transactions where authorization is by PIN code, and the cardholder need not identify himself or herself to the merchant, the cardholders cannot be identified from sources in Finland.
The filing does not allege that Bank of America, Charles Schwab, or TD Bank violated any U.S. or Finnish laws with respect to these accounts.
As described in the petition and supporting documents filed by the United States, the request is part of a foreign payment project being conducted by the Finnish Tax Administration (FTA), in which information on the use of payment cards issued by foreign financial institutions is used to identify non‑compliant Finnish taxpayers. Earlier FTA investigations of approximately 120 to 150 Finnish taxpayers who used foreign payment cards in a similar manner have yielded extremely high rates of tax non-compliance, as noted in the United States’ memo in support of the petition, which indicates that it is likely that the John Does sought by the summons are Finnish residents who are failing to report these foreign accounts and associated income.
The court order in this case authorizing this enforcement action is part of ongoing international efforts by the United States and its treaty partners to stop persons from using foreign financial accounts to evade taxes. Courts have previously approved John Doe summonses allowing the IRS to identify individuals using offshore accounts to evade their U.S. obligations, and have also approved John Doe summonses to be used to identify individuals using U.S. financial institutions or accounts to evade foreign tax obligations.
Additional information about the Tax Division and its enforcement efforts may be found on the division’s website.
Ohio Glass Company Owner Pleads Guilty to Not Paying Employment TaxesRead the Press Release
The owner of a Greenville, Ohio, glass company pleaded guilty today to failing to truthfully account for and pay over employment taxes, announced Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Richard E. Zuckerman of the Justice Department’s Tax Division.
Gail Cooper, 64, of Greenville, was the sole owner of Greenville Architectural Glass LLC (GAG) during the years 2007 through 2015. GAG primarily installed glass in commercial and residential buildings for clients in Ohio. GAG paid wages to its employees during the years 2013 through 2015. As the person responsible for GAG’s finances, Cooper was required to withhold federal income taxes and Social Security and Medicare taxes from employees’ wages and pay those amounts to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Cooper was also required to file quarterly employment tax returns with the IRS. Although Cooper caused GAG to withhold taxes from employees’ wages, she neither paid those amounts over to the IRS, nor filed the required quarterly returns for the first quarter of 2013 through the second quarter of 2015. Cooper also failed to pay over to the IRS unemployment taxes.
As part of her plea agreement, Cooper also admitted that she filed false individual income tax returns for the years 2008 – 2010 on which she understated GAG’s gross receipts and overstated its expenses.
Cooper also admitted in plea documents that she willfully failed to file income tax returns for the years 2011 through 2014, which would have reported her income from GAG and other sources. Cooper paid a professional tax return preparer to complete returns for those years, but Cooper never filed them.
U.S. District Judge Thomas M. Rose set sentencing for Aug. 2. Cooper faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Cooper admitted that her conduct caused a loss to the government of more than $500,000, and agreed to pay restitution to the IRS.
Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Zuckerman thanked special agents of IRS Criminal Investigation, who investigated the case, and Trial Attorneys Melissa S. Siskind and Thomas F. Koelbl of the Tax Division, who are prosecuting the case. Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Zuckerman also thanked the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Ohio for their assistance in this matter.
Additional information about the Tax Division and its enforcement efforts may be found on the division’s website at www.justice.gov/tax.