District Not Recorded

WASHINGTON — The Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division issued the following statement today after announcing the closing of its investigation into the proposed Internet search and paid search advertising agreement between Microsoft Corporation and Yahoo! Inc.:

"The Antitrust Division obtained extensive information from Microsoft, Yahoo! and a wide range of market participants. Experience and expertise developed during our 2008 investigation of the proposed Google/Yahoo! search advertising agreement also informed our analysis. After a thorough review of the evidence, the division has determined that the proposed transaction is not likely to substantially lessen competition in the United States, and therefore is not likely to harm the users of Internet search, paid search advertisers, Internet publishers, or distributors of search and paid search advertising technology. In addition, the proposed agreement likely will enable more rapid improvements in the performance of Microsoft’s search and paid search advertising technology than would occur if Microsoft and Yahoo! were to remain separate.

"The proposed transaction will combine the back-end search and paid search advertising technology of both parties. U.S. market participants express support for the transaction and believe that combining the parties’ technology would be likely to increase competition by creating a more viable competitive alternative to Google, the firm that now dominates these markets. Most customers view Google as posing the most significant competitive constraint on both Microsoft and Yahoo!, and the competitive focus of both Microsoft and Yahoo! is predominately on Google and not on each other.

"The search and paid search advertising industry is characterized by an unusual relationship between scale and competitive performance. The transaction will enhance Microsoft’s competitive performance because it will have access to a larger set of queries, which should accelerate the automated learning of Microsoft’s search and paid search algorithms and enhance Microsoft’s ability to serve more relevant search results and paid search listings, particularly with respect to rare or "tail" queries. The increased queries received by the combined operation will further provide Microsoft with a much larger pool of data than it currently has or is likely to obtain without this transaction. This larger data pool may enable more effective testing and thus more rapid innovation of potential new search-related products, changes in the presentation of search results and paid search listings, other changes in the user interface, and changes in the search or paid search algorithms. This enhanced performance, if realized, should exert correspondingly greater competitive pressure in the marketplace.

"Although this particular transaction is not likely to cause harm, the department will continue to be vigilant in our enforcement of the antitrust laws in the search and paid search advertising industry.

"The offices of the attorneys general from California and Washington actively participated in the division’s investigation of the proposed transaction."

The division provides this statement under its policy of issuing statements concerning the closing of investigations in appropriate cases. This statement is limited by the division’s obligation to protect the confidentiality of certain information obtained in its investigations. As in most of its investigations, the division’s evaluation has been highly fact-specific, and many of the relevant underlying facts are not public. Consequently, readers should not draw overly broad conclusions regarding how the division is likely in the future to analyze other collaborations or activities, or transactions involving particular firms. Enforcement decisions are made on a case-by-case basis, and the analysis and conclusions discussed in this statement do not bind the division in any future enforcement actions. Guidance on the division’s policy regarding closing statements is available at: http://www.usdoj.gov/atr/public/guidelines/201888.htm.

WASHINGTON – The Justice Department today announced a settlement agreement with Sunlight Inc., doing business as Beauty Smart, of Durham, N.C., to resolve allegations of a pattern or practice of discrimination in recruitment and hiring on the basis of national origin. The agreement was reached under the anti-discrimination provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), which prohibits workplace discrimination on the basis of citizenship status and national origin.

Under the agreement, the employer must eliminate preferences for workers of Korean origin, ensure equal treatment regardless of national origin in its recruitment and hiring practices, and maintain applicant and other records that will permit the Justice Department to monitor the employer’s compliance with the agreement. In addition, the employer will pay $2,000 in lost wages to an applicant who was allegedly denied the opportunity to apply for a job because of her national origin, as well as a $500 civil penalty to the United States.

"Earning a living is key to achieving the American dream, and all individuals deserve to know they will be free of national origin discrimination as they pursue employment," said Thomas E. Perez, Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights. "The Division is committed to educating employers about how to comply with the anti-discrimination provision but, when the law is broken, we will take decisive action to enforce it."

The anti-discrimination provision of the INA prohibits citizenship status and national origin discrimination in recruitment, hiring and firing; discriminatory documentary practices during the employment eligibility verification (Form I-9) process; and retaliation for filing a charge, assisting in an investigation, or asserting rights under the anti-discrimination provision. The Office of Special Counsel for Immigration Related Unfair Employment Practices (OSC) in the Department’s Civil Rights Division enforces the anti-discrimination provision. Workers who believe they have been the victim of citizenship status or national origin discrimination should contact OSC on its worker hotline at 1-800-255-7688. Employers seeking guidance on how to avoid discriminatory policies and practices may contact OSC at 1-800-255-8155.

WASHINGTON – The Justice Department today announced a settlement agreement with The Children’s House Inc. of Broadview Heights, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland, to provide services for children with asthma as required by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

The Children’s House has agreed to provide required medical assistance to children with asthma whose families seek child care and wish to enroll their children at the center. Previously, the center’s policies required the parents to go to the center to provide asthma treatment to their children, miss routine medication treatments, or forego enrolling their children there.

Parents of a child with asthma complained to the department about a refusal to provide a reasonable modification to The Children’s House’s medication policy that prohibited staff from assisting with asthma medication. The failure to assist with providing the asthma medication at the times instructed by the child’s doctor prevented the child’s attendance and participation in the program.

"Respiratory disabilities should not keep young children from the opportunity to share in the invaluable early childhood learning opportunities offered at quality child care centers," said Assistant Attorney General Thomas E. Perez. "The ADA makes it illegal to discriminate against children with disabilities and their families. This agreement ensures that parents and children will not be denied quality child care based upon their disability."

Under this agreement, The Children’s House Inc. will:

• Ensure that all children with disabilities have an equal opportunity to attend The Children’s House Inc., and to participate in all programs, services or activities provided by The Children’s House Inc.;
• Evaluate, on a case by case basis, the individual needs of children with disabilities wishing to attend The Children’s House Inc. and make reasonable modifications to its policies in order to accommodate children with disabilities;
• Adopt a new medication policy for the administration of asthma medication;
• Provide training about the ADA to the staff at The Children’s House Inc. within sixty days of the effective date of this agreement.

People interested in finding out more about the ADA or the agreement can call the Justice Department's toll-free ADA Information Line at (800) 514-0301 or (800) 514-0383 (TDD), or access its ADA Web site at www.ada.gov.

WASHINGTON – James R. Durr, 55, of Wrightstown, N.J., was indicted by a federal grand jury in Camden, N.J., for violating the Endangered Species Act by taking the federally protected bog turtle and for making false statements to authorities, the Justice Department announced today.

Bog turtles, scientific name Clemmys muhlenbergii, are native to New Jersey and have been designated a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act since 1997, due in large part to habitat loss. Bog turtles reside in part in holes in the ground.

The two count indictment returned yesterday alleges that Durr, who owned and operated at least three properties in New Jersey, was engaged in the business of growing plants and flowers for sale to the florist trade. Specifically, the indictment alleges that in December 2005, Durr acquired a property in North Hanover Township in Burlington County, N.J., that he called Turtle Creek Farm.

The property allegedly included a free flowing perennial stream called Turtle Creek that ran into and out of a wetland area on the property that was documented as occupied habitat for threatened bog turtles. The indictment further alleges that when Durr bought the land, he was informed of the presence and location of the bog turtles and knew that work had been done to enhance the habitat for the bog turtles using funds from a federal Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program. The program provides money to farmers to undertake wildlife habitat improvements on their farms.

Shortly after buying the farm, Durr allegedly began to clear a buffer of trees that framed each side of one portion of Turtle Creek. Durr allegedly was advised while clearing was ongoing that there was concern that the tree removal was going to effect the listed bog turtles down stream due to ensuing deposits of silt and sediment. As a result of Durr’s activities, by November 2006, approximately eight to 12 inches of silt allegedly had eroded from the cleared stream banks and adjoining farm fields and were deposited in core bog turtle habitat. By the following June, approximately two feet of coarse sand and fine gravel had been deposited in places in the stream channel allegedly as a result of Durr’s activities.

Consequently, the indictment alleges that between late December 2005 and the present, Durr knowingly and unlawfully took at least one bog turtle in violation of the Endangered Species Act.

The Endangered Species Act and implementing federal regulations prohibit the taking, without a permit, of any threatened species. "Take" means to harass or harm, among other things. "Harass" means to intentionally or negligently act or fail to act in a way that creates the likelihood of injury to wildlife by significantly disrupting normal behavioral patterns which include breeding, feeding or sheltering. "Harm" means an act which actually kills or injures wildlife including through significant habitat modification or degradation where it actually kills or injures wildlife.

An indictment is merely an accusation, and a defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.

The maximum penalty for a violation of the Endangered Species Act is up to six months in prison and a $25,000 fine. The maximum penalty for making a false statement is up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

The case was investigated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and is being prosecuted by the Justice Department’s Environmental Crimes Section.

Attorney General Eric Holder and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced the successful resolution of the longstanding litigation known as Pigford II. The settlement agreement reached today, which is contingent on appropriation by Congress, will provide a total of $1.25 billion to African American farmers who alleged that they suffered racial discrimination in USDA farm loan programs. The settlement sets up a non-judicial claims process through which individual farmers may demonstrate their entitlement to cash damages awards and debt relief.

Below is a statement from Attorney General Eric Holder:

"Bringing this litigation to a close has been a priority for this Administration.  With the settlement announced today, USDA and the African American farmers who brought this litigation can move on to focus on their future.  The plaintiffs can move forward and have their claims heard - with the federal government standing not as an adversary, but as a partner."

Below is a statement from Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack:

"USDA has made it a top priority to ensure all farmers are treated fairly and equally. We have worked hard to address USDA’s checkered past so we can get to the business of helping farmers succeed. The agreement reached today is an important milestone in putting these discriminatory claims behind us for good and in achieving finality for this group of farmers with longstanding grievances.

"Because this Administration firmly believed that a full and final class-wide settlement was possible, the Administration requested $1.15 billion in the 2010 budget, on top of the $100 million already provided by Congress, to facilitate a settlement. I now urge Congress to provide the funding necessary to ensure that that these farmers and USDA can close this sad chapter and move on.

"As I testified before Congress during my confirmation hearings last year, the USDA under the Obama Administration has made civil rights a top priority, which is why we are working to implement a comprehensive program to take definitive action to move USDA into a new era as a model employer and premier service provider."

In 1999, the USDA entered into a consent agreement with black farmers in which the agency agreed to pay farmers for past discrimination in lending and other USDA programs. Thousands of claims have been adjudicated, but thousands of other claims were not considered on their merits because the affected farmers submitted their claims after the settlement claims deadline.

To address the remaining claims, Congress provided these farmers another avenue for restitution in the 2008 Farm Bill by providing a right to file a claim in federal court. The total amount offered by the federal government in the agreement announced today, $1.25 billion, includes the $100 million appropriated by Congress in Section 14012 of the Farm Bill.

Last May, President Obama announced his plans to include settlement funds for black farmers in the FY 2010 budget to bring closure to their long-standing litigation against the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The settlement is contingent on Congress appropriating the $1.15 billion that the President requested. Following the appropriation, class members may pursue their individual claims through a non-judicial claims process in front of a neutral arbitrator. Claimants who establish their credit-related claims will be entitled to receive up to $50,000 and debt relief. A separate track may provide actual damages of up to $250,000 through a more rigorous process. The actual value of awards may be reduced based on the total amount of funds made available and the number of successful claims.

A moratorium on foreclosures of most claimants’ farms will be in place until after claimants have gone through the claims process or the Secretary is notified that a claim has been denied. The claims process agreed to by the parties may provide payments to successful claimants beginning in the middle of 2011.

Ensuring equitable treatment of all USDA employees and clients is a top priority for Secretary Vilsack. He has issued a clear policy and a comprehensive plan to improve USDA’s record on Civil Rights and made it clear to all employees that discrimination of any form will not be tolerated at USDA.

Some of the actions taken to transform USDA into a new era as a model employer and premier service provider include:

• USDA revamped the program civil rights complaints system to improve the complaint process. For the first time since 1997, USDA now has investigators on staff to do the field work needed to investigate complaints.
• After a competitive bidding process, USDA has hired outside, private firm to do an independent external analysis of the department’s service delivery programs to identify problem areas and fixes. The firm will consider programs at USDA to identify barriers to equal and fair access for all USDA customers.
• In April, USDA suspended all foreclosures in the Farm Service Agency’s loan program for 90 days to provide an opportunity to review loans that could have been related to discriminatory conduct.
• USDA’s Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights has initiated a series of unprecedented civil rights trainings for USDA field leadership teams and required trainings for all political appointees and senior departmental leadership.

To try and resolve internal disputes and conflicts early and to enhance the use of alternative dispute resolution at USDA, the department is also establishing a congressionally mandated Ombudsman office to improve dispute resolution efforts.

An allegedly high-ranking leader of one of Mexico’s largest drug cartels, whose father allegedly heads a faction of the Sinaloa Cartel and is among Mexico’s most powerful drug kingpins, was extradited today from Mexico to face federal narcotics trafficking conspiracy charges in the United States. Jesus Vicente Zambada-Niebla is believed to be one of the most significant Mexican drug defendants extradited from Mexico to the United States since Osiel Cardenas Guillen, the accused leader of the notorious Gulf Cartel, was extradited in 2007. Today’s development is a result of the continuing close cooperation between the United States and Mexico to investigate and prosecute the leaders of international drug-trafficking cartels.

Zambada-Niebla, 34, who spent approximately 11 months in custody in Mexico, arrived in Chicago after Mexican authorities surrendered him earlier today to U.S. law enforcement agents. He is scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday, February 23 at 11:00 a.m. CST before U.S. District Judge Ruben Castillo in U.S. District Court in Chicago.

Zambada-Niebla was among three dozen defendants who were indicted in Chicago in August 2009 as part of the largest international narcotics conspiracy case ever prosecuted in the Northern District of Illinois. He is also under indictment in a separate case pending in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, which is being prosecuted by the Criminal Division’s Narcotic and Dangerous Drug Section. Zambada-Niebla will first face the charges against him in Chicago and then he will face charges in the District of Columbia.

"Through close and sustained cooperation with our partners in Mexico, we are bringing alleged cartel leaders to justice - on both sides of the border," said Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division. "In 2009, Mexico extradited the most defendants ever to the United States in one year, representing our shared commitment and responsibility for disrupting and dismantling these violent and corrosive drug-trafficking organizations."

"We praise Mexico for continuing to extradite Mexican cartel leaders to the United States," said Michele M. Leonhart, Acting Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration. "The Sinaloa Cartel has smuggled multi-ton quantities of cocaine and heroin into our country for decades, using intimidation and murder to build and protect their criminal empire. This extradition clearly illustrates the will of the Mexican Government to continue a strong partnership with DEA to target, disrupt and dismantle the powerful Mexican cartels."

"This is an extremely significant development in the United States’ effort to prosecute international drug importation conspiracies wherever the defendants may be operating," said Patrick J. Fitzgerald, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois. "The indictment alleges that this organization imported many tons of cocaine and quantities of heroin into the United States, and that this defendant played a central role as a high-ranking member of the alleged conspiracy."

Zambada-Niebla was indicted in Chicago together with Joaquin "el Chapo" Guzman-Loera and Zambada-Niebla’s father, Ismael "el Mayo" Zambada-Garcia, both of whom allegedly directed factions of the Sinaloa Cartel. These factions allegedly coordinated narcotics trafficking with each other, with other Sinaloa Cartel factions, and with other affiliated cartels in an alliance commonly known as "the Federation." The Chicago indictment charges crimes that allegedly occurred between 2005 and 2008, while Guzman-Loera, Zambada-Garcia and Arturo Beltran-Leyva were indicted separately in Brooklyn, N.Y., for alleged drug-trafficking activities between 1990 and 2005. Beltran-Leyva was killed in a stand-off with Mexican authorities in December 2009 in Mexico.

The Chicago indictment charges that Zambada-Garcia and Guzman-Loera, together with seven other high-ranking associates, including their respective sons, Zambada-Niebla and Alfredo Guzman-Salazar, coordinated their narcotics trafficking activities to import multi-ton quantities of cocaine from Central and South American countries, including Colombia and Panama, to the interior of Mexico, using various means of transportation. Then, they allegedly smuggled hundreds of kilograms of cocaine at a time, as well as multi-kilograms of heroin, across the U.S. border to Chicago and throughout the United States.

According to the indictment, Guzman-Loera, Zambada-Garcia, and Zambada-Niebla sought to obtain weapons in the United States and discussed using violence against American and/or Mexican government buildings in retaliation for each country’s enforcement of its narcotics laws and to perpetuate their narcotics trafficking activities.

The District of Columbia indictment charges Zambada-Niebla and his co-defendants with conspiracy to import and distribute cocaine from 1992 until Jan. 28, 2003. According to the indictment, the Zambada-Garcia organization received multi-ton quantities of Colombian cocaine through maritime shipping vessels and then used various means, including planes, trucks and cars, to transport the cocaine across the U.S.-Mexico border. The indictment specifically alleges that the Zambada-Garcia organization distributed cocaine to Los Angeles, Chicago and New York, including 1,003 kilograms of cocaine to the New York/New Jersey area, 1,770 kilograms of cocaine to the Chicago area, and 2-3 kilograms of cocaine to the Los Angeles area. The total estimated value of this cocaine, all of which was allegedly distributed between August 2001 and June 2002, is $47.5 million. In all, the District of Columbia indictment alleges that Zambada-Niebla and his co-defendants transported approximately 12,500 kilograms of cocaine from Colombia through Mexico and into the United States.

The DEA led the investigation in Chicago, together with the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation Division and the Chicago Police Department. Also assisting in the overall investigation were the National Drug Intelligence Center (NDIC); the High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) task force; the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Milwaukee and the Milwaukee Police Department; the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of Illinois; the Chicago and Peoria offices of the FBI; the Chicago offices of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the U.S. Marshals Service, the Cook County Sheriff’s Department and other state and local law enforcement agencies. The investigation was coordinated by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Chicago, and with the assistance of agents and analysts of the Special Operations Division (SOD), and attorneys from the Criminal Division’s Narcotic and Dangerous Drug Section (NDDS), which is prosecuting related cases. The Chicago case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Thomas Shakeshaft and Michael Ferrara.

The investigation in the District of Columbia was led by SOD. The District of Columbia case was originally handled by former NDDS Trial Attorney Patrick Hearn and is now being prosecuted by NDDS Trial Attorneys Mary Mogavero and Glenn Alexander.

The Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs provided significant assistance with Zambada-Niebla’s extradition.

The department recognizes and appreciates the significant assistance provided by the Government of Mexico and Mexican law enforcement partners in this extradition.

The charges contained in the indictment are merely accusations and the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.

Willoughby Farr, 46, of West Palm Beach, Fla., has been charged with perpetrating what is known as a cramming scheme, which was designed to place charges on consumers’ telephone bills for collect calls that were not made, the Justice Department and the U.S. Postal Inspector’s Miami Field Office announced today.

 

According to the just unsealed indictment, from April 2003 to December 2005, Farr used three West Palm Beach companies – Nationwide Connections Inc., Access One Communications Inc. and Connect One Communications Inc.– to defraud consumers. Through these companies, Farr allegedly arranged for local telephone companies to falsely bill consumers for collect calls. Because the charges typically appeared on the last page of consumers’ telephone bills, many paid the charges. The indictment charges Farr with six counts of mail fraud and two counts of wire fraud. Each count carries a maximum statutory term of 20 years in prison, a possible fine and restitution.

 

Farr was in prison at the time he is alleged to have committed the scheme charged in the indictment. According to the indictment, he therefore hid his ownership of the firms. He also hid his ownership because other firms had cut off his ability to bill for calls due to consumer complaints and state regulators had sued him for illegitimate billing.

 

“This type of scheme steals from hundreds of thousands of consumers who inadvertently pay toll charges that appear on their phone bills without authorization,” said Assistant Attorney General Tony West. “We will not hesitate to prosecute financial crimes of this nature, but this case stresses the need for consumers to carefully review their telephone bills to make sure fraudulent charges are not included.”

 

In February 2006, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) brought a cramming suit against several firms and individuals, including Farr. That suit resulted in a $34,547,140 judgment against Farr.

 

“We wish to thank the FTC for the civil investigation it conducted, and we commended the efforts of the Postal Inspection Service for its work on the criminal investigation,” said Jeffrey H. Sloman, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida. “This case demonstrates the effectiveness of cooperative law enforcement efforts which can put an end to fraudulent schemes, and then bring wrongdoers to justice.”

 

“This investigation demonstrates the collective tenacity of our U. S. Attorney, the Federal Trade Commission and the Postal Inspection Service to protect the American consumer,” said Inspector in Charge Henry Gutierrez. “The Postal Inspection Service is committed to ensuring that the U. S. Mails are never used to defraud.”

 

An indictment is only an accusation, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

 

Detroit-area resident Muhammad Shahab pleaded guilty today for his role in organizing a Detroit-area home health care fraud scheme, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer of the Criminal Division; U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan Barbara L. McQuade; Special Agent in Charge Andrew G. Arena of the FBI’s Detroit Field Office; and Special Agent in Charge Lamont Pugh III of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General’s (HHS-OIG), Chicago Regional Office.  

Shahab, 50, pleaded guilty today to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud before U.S. District Judge Denise Page Hood of the Eastern District of Michigan.  At sentencing, scheduled for June 17, 2010, Shahab faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

According to information contained in plea documents, Shahab helped finance and establish two Detroit-area home health agencies, Patient Choice Home Healthcare Inc. (Patient Choice), and All American Home Care Inc. (All American).  Shahab admitted that while operating or being associated with both home health agencies, he and his co-conspirators billed Medicare for home health visits that never occurred.   

Shahab admitted that he and his co-conspirators recruited and paid cash kickbacks and other inducements to Medicare beneficiaries, in exchange for the beneficiaries’ Medicare numbers and signatures on documents falsely indicating that they had visited Patient Choice and All American for the purpose of receiving physical or occupational therapy. Shahab admitted that a large number of the beneficiaries were not homebound nor did they need any physical therapy services. 

Shahab also admitted to securing physician referrals for medically unnecessary home health services through the payment of kickbacks to physicians or individuals associated with physicians.  Shahab employed several physical therapists and physical therapy assistants to sign medical documentation necessary to begin billing for home health care services, including initial payments and payments for each visit to a Medicare beneficiary.  Shahab admitted that he knew the physical therapists and physical therapy assistants were not actually conducting a large majority of the visits or treating a large majority of the patients.  Shahab admitted to billing and receiving payment from Medicare for the services not rendered or medically unnecessary services.    

Between approximately August 2007 and October 2009, Shahab and his co-conspirators at Patient Choice and All American submitted approximately $10,856,130 in claims to the Medicare program for physical and occupational therapy services that were never rendered or were medically unnecessary.  

This case was prosecuted by Senior Trial Attorney John K. Neal and Trial Attorney Gejaa T. Gobena of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section.  The case was investigated by the FBI and HHS-OIG.  The case was brought as part of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, supervised by the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Michigan.

Since their inception in March 2007, Strike Force operations in seven districts have obtained indictments of more than 500 individuals who collectively have falsely billed the Medicare program for more than $1 billion. In addition, HHS’s Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, working in conjunction with the HHS-OIG, are taking steps to increase accountability and decrease the presence of fraudulent providers.

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

Former military contractor Terry Hall, 43, of Snellville, Ga., pleaded guilty today to conspiracy to pay more than $3 million in bribes to U.S. Army contracting officials stationed at Camp Arifjan, an Army base in Kuwait, and to money laundering conspiracy, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division.

Terry Hall was indicted on May 6, 2009, along with U.S. Army Major Eddie Pressley, 39, and his wife, Eurica Pressley, 37, both of Harvest, Ala. According to court documents filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama, Hall’s companies received approximately $21 million between 2005 and 2007 in connection with contracts his companies received. To obtain the contracting business and facilitate unlawful payments by other contractors, Hall admitted he made more than $3 million in unlawful payments and provided other valuable items and services to U.S. Army contracting officials stationed at Camp Arifjan, including U.S. Army Major Eddie Pressley, and former Majors John Cockerham, James Momon and Christopher Murray, among others.

According to court documents, Hall owned and operated several companies, including Freedom Consulting and Catering Co., (FCC) and Total Government Allegiance (TGA), which provided goods and services to the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) in connection with Operation Iraqi Freedom. Hall’s companies received a Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA) to deliver bottled water in Iraq and a contract to construct a security fence in Kuwait.

A BPA is an indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity contract by which the DoD agrees to pay a contractor a specified price for a particular good or service. Based on a BPA, the DoD is permitted to order the supplies on an as-needed basis, and the contractor is bound by the price agreed upon in the BPA. The term for this type of order by the DoD is a "call."

The case against Hall arose out of a wide-ranging investigation of corruption at the Camp Arifjan contracting office. To date, eight individuals including Hall have pleaded guilty for their roles in the bribery scheme. On Dec. 2, 2009, former Cockerham was sentenced to 210 months in prison and ordered to pay $9.6 million in restitution. According to court documents, Cockerham arranged for Hall’s companies to receive bottled water calls worth more than $2.6 million, as a result of which Hall paid Cockerham approximately $800,000.

According to court documents, Momon arranged for Hall’s companies to receive bottled water calls worth approximately $6.4 million, as a result of which Hall paid Momon more than $300,000. Momon pleaded guilty on Aug. 13, 2008, to receiving bribes from various contractors at Camp Arifjan, including Hall, and is awaiting sentencing.

Also according to court documents, Murray arranged for Hall to receive contracts to construct security fences at Camp Arifjan, as a result of which Hall paid Murray approximately $30,000. Murray pleaded guilty to receiving bribes from various contractors at Camp Arifjan, including Hall, and making a false statement. He was sentenced on Jan. 8, 2009, to 57 months in prison and ordered to pay $245,000 in restitution.

The case against Eddie Pressley and his wife, Eurica Pressley, is scheduled for trial on April 5, 2010. The indictment alleges that the Pressleys received more than $2.8 million in money and other valuable items from Hall, in exchange for Eddie Pressley’s agreement to take official actions to benefit Hall. Eurica Pressley, at her husband’s request, allegedly arranged for an entity named EGP Business Solutions Inc., (EGP) to be incorporated, opened a bank account in the name of EGP, and opened bank accounts in her name in the United States, Dubai, United Arab Emirates and the Cayman Islands, all in order to receive the bribe payments.

The charge of bribery conspiracy carries a maximum prison sentence of five years and a $250,000 fine. The money laundering conspiracy carries a maximum prison sentence of 20 years and a $250,000 fine. According to the court documents, Hall will forfeit $15,757,000 to the U.S. government. 

The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Peter C. Sprung and Edward J. Loya Jr. of the Criminal Division’s Public Integrity Section. The case is being investigated by special agents of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, the Army Criminal Investigation Command, Defense Criminal Investigative Service, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Internal Revenue Service and the FBI.

The National Procurement Fraud Task Force, created in October 2006 by the Department of Justice, was designed to promote the early detection, identification, prevention and prosecution of procurement fraud associated with the increase in government contracting activity for national security and other government programs.

Dr. Andrew Silva of Sterling, Va., pleaded guilty today to conspiracy to impede the United States and to making a false statement, the Justice Department, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced.

 

Sentencing has been set for May 7, 2010, before U.S. District Judge Liam O’Grady. The defendant was released on his own recognizance. He faces a maximum sentence of ten years in prison and a maximum fine of $500,000.

 

According to court documents, in 1997, Silva inherited an undeclared bank account from his mother at the Zurich, Switzerland, branch of one of the world’s largest international banks. The bank is headquartered in England and also has offices in Zurich, Geneva, and the Eastern District of Virginia . The account was held in the name of a sham Liechtenstein trust. In 1999, Silva met with an attorney who managed the account in Zurich, Switzerland. The Zurich attorney instructed Silva to keep the account “hush,” to not keep any records relating to the account, and to send coded letters if he wished to meet with the attorney. Further, the Zurich attorney advised Silva that if he transported or mailed less than $10,000 in U.S. currency back to the United States, he would not have to declare the funds to the U.S. government upon re-entry to the United States.

 

According to court documents, in September 2009, Silva was informed that the international bank was closing his undeclared Swiss account and that he had until the end of the year to travel to Switzerland to withdraw all funds. He made two trips to Zurich in October and November 2009 and met with the Zurich attorney at his office and a Swiss banker at the private wealth office of the international bank. The Zurich attorney and the Swiss banker refused to wire the money to the United States as it would leave a trail for U.S. law enforcement. Instead, they provided him with $235,000 in U.S. currency. Of that total, Silva received $200,000 in two individually wrapped “bricks” of $100,000 of sequentially numbered, new $100 bills.

 

According to court documents, with the assistance of the Zurich attorney, Silva mailed 26 packages containing over $200,000 in U.S. currency from Switzerland to the United States to himself and another person.

 

According to court documents, for the years 1997 through 2008, Silva made and subscribed false U.S. Individual Income Tax Returns, Forms 1040, that failed to report on the Schedules B attached to the returns that he had an interest in a financial account in a foreign country. Additionally, Silva failed to report the income he earned on his undeclared Swiss account on his tax returns.

 

According to court documents, from 1997 through 2008, Andrew Silva failed to file with the Department of the Treasury a Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts on Form TD F 90-22.1 (FBAR) reporting his interest in his undeclared Swiss account that had an aggregate value of more than $10,000 at any time during a particular year.

 

As part of his plea agreement, Silva agreed to forfeit to the government $211,200 in U.S. currency that law enforcement officials seized from packages that Silva mailed from Switzerland to Silva’s residence in Sterling, Va.

“Today’s plea shows the continued efforts of the Justice Department to investigate and prosecute those citizens who use offshore accounts to hide income and assets,” said John A. DiCicco, Acting Assistant Attorney General of the Justice Department’s Tax Division. “American taxpayers should rest assured that those who do not file accurate tax returns and who utilize offshore accounts to hide money will be investigated, and when appropriate, prosecuted and sent to jail.”

 

“We are capable of thwarting offshore banking schemes because of the increased cooperation among ICE, Postal Service, and the IRS,” said Neil H. MacBride, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. “The tax charges in this case came to light because agents caught Mr. Silva structuring cash to avoid reporting requirements, and that kind of coordination is making it possible for us to discover Americans who conceal their wealth overseas and make them pay for their actions.”

 

“Failing to report the transportation of more than $10,000 into or out of the United States is smuggling,” said Scot R. Rittenberg, Deputy Special Agent in Charge for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Washington, D.C. “ICE continues to work closely with it federal partners to ensure smugglers are held accountable for their crimes.”

 

“The U.S. Postal Inspection Service is dedicated to ensuring those that use the U.S. Postal Service to commit crimes are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” said Daniel S. Cortez, Postal Inspector in Charge of the Washington Division. “We have Postal Inspectors throughout the country who work tirelessly to ensure the mail isn’t used to facilitate criminal activity.”

“At this time of year, when hard-working citizens are sitting down to prepare their tax returns, it is especially disappointing to see the overt steps some individuals will take to hide their taxable funds from the government," said IRS Criminal Investigation Chief Victor S. O. Song. "We are determined at the IRS and Department of Justice to halt international tax evasion, and the facts outlined in today's plea are strong indicators that we can and will find this fraudulent activity."

 

Acting Assistant Attorney General John A. DiCicco commended the criminal agents from ICE, USPIS, and IRS who investigated the case, as well as Assistant U.S. Attorney Gordon Kromberg, Tax Division Senior Litigation Counsel Kevin M. Downing, and Tax Division Trial Attorneys Mark F. Daly and John E. Sullivan, who are prosecuting the case.

 

United States citizens and residents have an obligation to report to the Internal Revenue Service on the Schedule B of a U.S. Individual Income Tax Return, Form 1040, whether that individual had a financial interest in, or signature authority over, a financial account in a foreign country in a particular year by checking “Yes” or “No” in the appropriate box and identifying the country where the account was maintained. United States citizens and residents have an obligation to report all income earned from foreign bank accounts on the tax return.

 

United States citizens and residents who had a financial interest in, or signature authority over, a financial account in a foreign country with an aggregate value of more than $10,000 at any time during a particular year were required to file with the Department of the Treasury a FBAR. The FBAR for the applicable year is due by June 30 of the following year.

 

Individuals who physically transport, mail or ship, or cause to be physically transported, mailed, shipped or received, currency, traveler’s checks, and certain other monetary instruments in an aggregate amount exceeding $10,000 into the United States are required to file a FinCen Form 105, Report of International Transportation of Currency or Monetary Instruments, with the Bureau of Customs and Border Protection (the CMIR).

 

United States law prohibits individuals from structuring mailings of U.S. currency into the United States in amounts less than $10,000 if the purpose of the structuring was to evade the requirement to file a CMIR.

 

WASHINGTON – The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division today announced an agreement with the Latvian Tower Condominium Association Inc. and its former president, Karl Tegtmeyer, to settle allegations of discrimination against families with children. Under the consent decree, which must still be approved in federal court in Omaha, Neb., the defendants must pay $112,500 to victims of discrimination and an additional $15,000 to the government as a civil penalty.

This lawsuit arose as a result of a complaint filed with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) by a couple who attempted to sell their condominium. After an investigation of the complaint, HUD issued a charge of discrimination and the complainants elected to have the case heard in federal court. The lawsuit alleged that the condominium association maintained rules that barred the sale or rental of condominiums to families with children. The lawsuit also alleged that the condominium association and Tegtmeyer’s conduct constituted a pattern or practice of discrimination, and sought a civil penalty as well as monetary damages for any other persons harmed by the defendants’ actions.

"Federal law guarantees families with children the right to equal access to housing. Settlements such as this one help ensure that all families can enjoy that right," said Thomas E. Perez, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division. "The Department of Justice will vigorously pursue violations of the Fair Housing Act."

"This settlement sends a strong message that we will not tolerate discrimination in housing," said Deborah Gilg, U.S. Attorney for the District of Nebraska.

"Housing discriminating against families with children is illegal. Together with the Justice Department, HUD will ensure that neighborhoods are free from discrimination," stated John Trasviña, Assistant Secretary for Fair Housing & Equal Opportunity.

Fighting illegal housing discrimination is a top priority of the Justice Department. The federal Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination in housing on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, familial status, national origin and disability.

More information about the Civil Rights Division and the laws it enforces is available at www.justice.gov/crt/. Persons who believe they have experienced or witnessed unlawful housing discrimination may call the Housing Discrimination Tip Line at 1-800-896-7743, e-mail the Justice Department at [email protected], or contact HUD at 1-800-669-9777. More information about the Fair Housing Act can also be found at www.justice.gov/crt/housing or www.hud.gov/fairhousing.

Associate Attorney General Tom Perrelli announced today that the Justice Department’s grant-making components have created a streamlined approach for American Indian and Alaska Native tribal communities to apply for Fiscal Year (FY) 2010 funding opportunities. The Coordinated Tribal Assistance Solicitation (CTAS) will serve as a single solicitation for existing tribal government-specific grant programs administered by the Office of Justice Programs (OJP), Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) and the Office on Violence Against Women (OVW). This move comes after consultation with tribal leaders, including sessions at the department’s Tribal Nations Listening Session last year.

"This is a direct result of what we heard from tribal leaders at the department's listening session. Tribal leaders have made it clear that a single application would significantly improve their ability to apply and receive critical federal funding, which so many of their communities depend on," said Associate Attorney General Perrelli. "This comprehensive approach is another step in our efforts to work more effectively with tribal communities to improve public safety in those communities."

The Justice Department solicited input from tribal leaders on how to make a change to a single application process that would work most effectively for tribal grant applicants. For the FY2010 grant process, American Indian and Alaska Native tribal communities will submit a single application for all available tribal government-specific grant programs. This coordinated approach will allow the department’s grant-making components to consider the totality of a tribal community’s overall public safety needs. OJP, COPS and OVW will then coordinate in making award decisions to address these needs on a more comprehensive basis. The Department of Justice has begun providing information about the new process to tribal communities this week, with an expected solicitation process launch in mid-March.

Native communities and tribal consortiums may be eligible for other non-tribal government-specific grant-funding opportunities and are encouraged to submit a separate application to any grant programs for which they may be eligible.  OVW’s "Grants to Tribal Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Coalitions" will not be included in the single solicitation and application; OVW will release a separate solicitation and application and eligible applicants must apply separately for this grant program.

Today’s announcement is part of the Justice Department’s ongoing initiative to increase engagement, coordination and action on public safety in tribal communities. 

Coordinated Tribal Assistance Solicitation Fact Sheet

WASHINGTON — An Italian subsidiary of a U.S.-based company has agreed to plead guilty and to pay a $2.29 million criminal fine for participating in a conspiracy to rig bids, fix prices and allocate market shares of marine hose sold in the United States and elsewhere, the Department of Justice announced today.

A one-count felony charge was filed today in U.S. District Court in Houston, against Parker ITR S.r.l., a manufacturer of marine hose, headquartered in Veniano, Italy. Under the terms of the plea agreement, which is subject to court approval, Parker ITR has agreed to pay a criminal fine and to cooperate fully in the Department’s ongoing antitrust investigation. Parker ITR is the fourth company to be charged in the investigation. To date, nine individuals have been convicted for their involvement in the marine hose conspiracy.

Marine hose is a flexible rubber hose used to transfer oil between tankers and storage facilities. The victims of this conspiracy included companies involved in the off-shore extraction and/or transportation of petroleum products, as well as the U.S. Department of Defense. During the conspiracy, the cartel affected prices for hundreds of millions of dollars worth of marine hose and related products sold worldwide.

Parker ITR is charged with participating in the conspiracy from as early as 1999 until as late as May 2, 2007. According to the charge, Parker ITR and its co-conspirators agreed to allocate shares of the marine hose market and to use a price list for marine hose in order to implement the conspiracy. Parker ITR and its co-conspirators agreed not to compete for one another’s customers either by not submitting prices or bids, or by submitting intentionally high prices or bids, to certain customers. As part of the conspiracy, Parker ITR and its co-conspirators provided information received from customers in the United States and elsewhere about upcoming marine hose jobs to a co-conspirator who served as the coordinator of the conspiracy. Parker ITR received marine hose prices for customers in the United States and elsewhere from the coordinator of the conspiracy and then sold the marine hose to those customers at collusive and noncompetitive prices and then concealed the conspiracy through various means, including code names, private email accounts and telephone numbers.

Parker ITR is charged with violating the Sherman Act, which carries a maximum fine of $100 million for corporations. The maximum fine may be increased to twice the gain derived from the crime or twice the loss suffered by the victims of the crime, if either of those amounts is greater than the statutory maximum fine.

Today’s charge is an example of the department’s commitment to protect U.S. taxpayers from public procurement fraud through its creation of the National Procurement Fraud Task Force. The National Procurement Fraud Initiative, announced in October 2006, is designed to promote the early detection, identification, prevention and prosecution of procurement fraud associated with the increase in contracting activity for national security and other government programs.

The investigation is being conducted by the Antitrust Division’s National Criminal Enforcement Section, the Defense Criminal Investigative Service of the Department of Defense’s Office of Inspector General, the U.S. Navy Criminal Investigative Service and the FBI. Law enforcement agencies from multiple foreign jurisdictions are also investigating or assisting in the ongoing matter.

Anyone with information concerning bid rigging or other anticompetitive conduct in the marine products industry is urged to call the National Criminal Enforcement Section of the Antitrust Division at 202-307-6694 or visit http://www.justice.gov/atr/contact/newcase.htm, or the Long Beach, Calif., Resident Agency of the DCIS at 562-256-2501.

Annita Devi Gerald, a Guyanese national, pleaded guilty today to bringing an alien into the United States for commercial gain, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney José Angel Moreno of the Southern District of Texas and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Assistant Secretary John Morton.

Gerald, 52, pleaded guilty today in Houston before U.S. District Court Judge Lynn Hughes. At sentencing, scheduled for May 17, 2010, Gerald faces a mandatory minimum prison sentence of three years, and a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

"Today’s guilty plea puts another alien smuggling organizer out of business," said Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division. "Traveling the globe seeking people willing to pay for illegal entry into the United States, this defendant sought personal riches in exchange for disregarding the immigration laws of our country."

"My office will continue to work closely with the Department of Justice and ICE to pursue international smugglers who engage in elaborate schemes to import undocumented and/or fraudulently documented aliens into the United States through Houston and South Texas," said U.S. Attorney José Angel Moreno of the Southern District of Texas.

"ICE targets organizations that try to compromise the integrity of our immigration system for the sake of profit," said ICE Assistant Secretary John Morton . "The network of ICE offices around the world as well as our partnerships with law enforcement agencies around the globe, enable ICE to shut down these human smuggling operations."

According to plea documents, Gerald provided assistance to undocumented aliens from India in their efforts to illegally enter the United States. Gerald admitted that she and her co-conspirators prepared letters of invitation for several Indian nationals from a trading and agricultural company affiliated with Gerald. These letters falsely proclaimed the Indian nationals were farming experts whose expertise was needed for a project in Belize. The letters were used to assist the aliens in obtaining the Belizean visas that enabled them to board aircraft and transit through numerous countries in route to the United States.

According to plea documents, in July 2009, Gerald escorted two Indian nationals on a series of flights from Singapore to Belize. In addition, Gerald admitted to providing lodging for the aliens in Belize while they awaited additional smuggling arrangements; to obtaining a Mexican immigration stamp for one alien’s passport to facilitate domestic travel in Mexico; and arranging for transportation from Belize to Mexico for one of the aliens.

Upon Gerald’s direction, one of the aliens was smuggled into Mexico and then into the United States, according to court documents. Gerald was arrested in Houston on Nov. 17, 2009, on a criminal complaint charging her with conspiracy to commit alien smuggling, before any of the other aliens could be smuggled into the United States.

The investigation was conducted by ICE’s Office of Investigations in Miami and Houston, with the critical assistance of the ICE Attaché offices in El Salvador, Ecuador, Brazil, Singapore and Panama, as well as the ICE Office of Intelligence in Washington, and the Alien Smuggling Interdiction Unit of Customs and Border Protection in Washington. El Salvadoran authorities, particularly the Direción General de Migración y Extranjería (El Salvador Immigrations) and the Grupo Especial de Investigaciones Nacionales e Internacionales (El Salvador Police-GEINI) also provided invaluable assistance.

The case was prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Jerry Massie and Jessica Morris of the Criminal Division’s Domestic Security Section, with the assistance of Assistant U.S. Attorneys Edward Gallagher and Douglas Davis of the Southern District of Texas.

WASHINGTON – There is insufficient evidence to pursue federal criminal civil rights charges against New York City Police Department (NYPD) officers involved in the fatal shooting of Sean Bell, the Justice Department announced today.

Officials from the department’s Civil Rights Division, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York and the FBI met today with Bell’s family, his fiancée and their representatives to inform them of this decision, as well as with Joseph Guzman and Trent Benefield, friends of Bell who were wounded during the tragic incident.

The department conducted a comprehensive independent investigation of the events surrounding the Nov. 25, 2006, shooting that resulted in Bell’s death. A team of experienced civil rights prosecutors and agents reviewed all of the materials and evidence generated and provided by the Queens County District Attorney’s Office and the NYPD, including witness statements, crime scene evidence, ballistics reports, reconstruction analyses, medical reports, state grand jury proceedings and the state trial record. Federal officials also took additional investigative steps, including interviewing numerous individuals, such as Bell’s friends who witnessed the shooting, and retaining an independent ballistics reconstruction expert to conduct an analysis of significant ballistics evidence and to review the ballistics and reconstruction analyses performed by the NYPD.

Under the applicable federal criminal civil rights laws, prosecutors must establish, beyond a reasonable doubt, that a law enforcement officer willfully deprived an individual of a constitutional right, meaning with the deliberate and specific intent to do something the law forbids. This is the highest standard of intent imposed by law, and is different and higher than the intent standard under the relevant state statutes. Neither accident, mistake, fear, negligence nor bad judgment is sufficient to establish a federal criminal civil rights violation.

After a careful and thorough review, a team of experienced federal prosecutors and FBI agents determined that the evidence was insufficient to prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the law enforcement personnel who fired at Bell, Guzman and Benefield acted willfully. Accordingly, the investigation into this incident has been closed.

The Civil Rights Division, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York and the FBI devoted significant time and resources to complete a thorough analysis of the evidence developed during the investigation.

 

Attorney General Eric Holder today welcomed the confirmation of Judge Susan B. Carbon of Concord, N.H., as the new Director for the Justice Department’s Office on Violence Against Women. Judge Carbon was confirmed by the U.S. Senate last week

“I am pleased to welcome Judge Carbon to the Justice Department and to the Office on Violence Against Women,” said Attorney General Holder. “Bringing greater public awareness and strengthening programs to fight sexual and domestic violence, dating violence and stalking is a top priority for the Department. Judge Carbon will bring strong leadership to this important office and to the Department’s mission to end violence against women."

The Office on Violence Against Women (OVW) provides national leadership in developing the nation's capacity to reduce violence against women through the implementation of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). Created in 1995, OVW administers financial and technical assistance to communities across the country that are developing programs, policies, and practices aimed at ending sexual and domestic violence, dating violence, and stalking. Currently, OVW administers two formula grant programs and 17 discretionary grant programs, which were established under VAWA and subsequent legislation. Since its inception, OVW has awarded nearly $4 billion in grants and cooperative agreements to communities throughout the nation.

In September 2009, the Department of Justice launched a year long commemoration of the 15th anniversary of the signing of the VAWA to raise public awareness of violence against women, and to build and strengthen relationships between and among federal, state, local and Tribal law enforcement, advocacy, courts and victim services communities.

Judge Susan Carbon was first appointed to the bench in 1991, and has served as Supervisory Judge of the New Hampshire Judicial Branch Family Division from 1996 until 2010. She is a member of the Governor’s Commission on Domestic and Sexual Violence and chaired New Hampshire’s Domestic Violence Fatality Review Committee. Judge Carbon also served as President of the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges (NCJFCJ) from 2007 to 2008.

 

WASHINGTON – Ather Ali of Diamond Bar, Calif., pleaded guilty today to conspiracy to defraud the United States, the Justice Department and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced.

In December 2008, Ali and Haroon Amin of Upland, Calif., were indicted by a federal grand jury in Riverside, Calif., on charges of engaging in a scheme to file false returns with the IRS using the names and Social Security numbers of deceased individuals. Amin pleaded guilty on Jan. 25, 2010.

According to the indictment, in 2002 and 2003 Amin and Ali filed at least 250 fraudulent returns, falsely stating that these deceased individuals earned wages from which income tax was withheld. These false returns claimed more than $2 million in income tax refunds. Although the IRS rejected the bulk of these refund claims, a number of refund checks were issued and delivered to addresses controlled by Amin, Ali and their co-conspirators, including various mailboxes opened by Ali. Most of these refund checks then were delivered overseas to be deposited in bank accounts in Armenia and Pakistan.

Ali admitted that he was a knowing participant in this scheme. According to the indictment and statements made at the plea hearing, Ali and his co-conspirators prepared various false tax returns using deceased people’s Social Security numbers and other identification information obtained from the Internet. The returns filed as part of the scheme had fictitious Form W-2 wage and tax statements as attachments, falsely stating that the deceased people earned income from various employers. Ali and his co-conspirators created fake W-2 Forms using employer identification numbers that they had obtained from an acquaintance of Amin’s, who was a certified public accountant. Ali admitted using fake forms of identification to open mailboxes in the names of deceased people, from which he collected a number of these fraudulently obtained tax refund checks.

Judge Robert H. Whaley scheduled Ali’s sentencing for June 22, 2010. Ali faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a maximum fine of $250,000.

John A. DiCicco, Acting Assistant Attorney General of the Justice Department’s Tax Division, commended the efforts of agents from the IRS Criminal Investigation Division in Laguna Niguel, Calif, as well as Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles E. Pell and Tax Division trial attorney Joseph A. Rillotta, who are prosecuting the case.

More information about the Justice Department’s Tax Division and its enforcement efforts is available at http://www.usdoj.gov/tax.

The Justice Department today made public its plan of action, submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), to improve consultation and coordination between the Justice Department and tribal nations, as directed by President Barack Obama’s Memorandum on Tribal Consultation. The Presidential Memorandum, signed on Nov. 5, 2009, at the White House Tribal Nations Conference, directed each federal agency to submit to OMB within 90 days a plan of action to implement President Clinton’s Executive Order 13175 on Consultation and Coordination with Tribal Governments. The Justice Department’s plan was submitted to OMB on January 27, 2010.

The Justice Department’s plan, which is available at: http://justice.gov/opa/documents/exec13175-consultation-policy.pdf, identifies the steps it will take to develop a comprehensive consultation and coordination policy with tribal nations, after robust tribal input. In addition, the department’s submission makes a commitment to:

• expand the role of the Office of Tribal Justice;
• create a Tribal Nations Leadership Council to ensure ongoing communication and collaboration with tribal governments;
• convene consultations between tribal leadership and U.S. Attorneys whose jurisdictions include federally-recognized Indian tribes;
• mandate annual meetings between the department’s grants offices and tribal leadership to discuss grants policies, concerns or funding priorities;
• create a new federal-tribal taskforce to develop strategies and guidance for federal and tribal prosecutions of crimes of violence against women in tribal communities; and
• publish a progress report within 270 days of the Presidential Memorandum evaluating the implementation of these reforms. 

The Justice Department’s plan of action was driven largely by input gathered from the department’s own Tribal Nations Listening Session in late October 2009 and from the department’s annual tribal consultation on violence against women, as well as from written comments submitted by tribal governments, groups and organizations to the Justice Department and tribal consultation conference calls conducted by the Office of Tribal Justice.

The department’s plan to improve consultation and coordination with tribal governments comes a month after Attorney General Eric Holder announced sweeping reforms within the department to improve safety on tribal land. The Attorney General also announced that the Justice Department’s FY 2010 appropriation included an additional $6 million for Indian Country prosecution efforts, enabling the department to bring the federal justice system closer to Indian Country.  For more information, go to: http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2010/January/10-ag-019.html.

Attorney General Eric Holder today announced the formation of a new Department of Justice Task Force on Intellectual Property as part of a Department-wide initiative to confront the growing number of domestic and international intellectual property (IP) crimes.

"The rise in intellectual property crime in the United States and abroad threatens not only our public safety but also our economic wellbeing. The Department of Justice must confront this threat with a strong and coordinated response," said Attorney General Holder. "This Task Force will allow us to identify and implement a multi-faceted strategy with our federal, state and international partners to effectively combat this type of crime."

The Attorney General’s announcement follows a summit meeting convened last December by Vice President Biden, a long-standing champion of U.S. intellectual property rights-holders. At that meeting, which was attended by Attorney General Holder and other cabinet heads, the Vice President discussed the importance of stronger enforcement and supported actions to raise the priority of combating IP theft and improving coordination -- including the establishment of an intellectual property task force at the Department of Justice.

"Theft of intellectual property does significant harm to our economy and endangers the health and safety of our citizens," said Vice President Biden. "This administration is committed to stronger and stricter enforcement of intellectual property rights, and this new task force is a step in the right direction."

The Task Force, to be chaired by the Deputy Attorney General, will focus on strengthening efforts to combat intellectual property crimes through close coordination with state and local law enforcement partners as well as international counterparts. It will also monitor and coordinate overall intellectual property enforcement efforts at the Department, with an increased focus on the international aspects of IP enforcement, including the links between IP crime and international organized crime. Building on previous efforts in the Department to target intellectual property crimes, the Task Force will also serve as an engine of policy development to address the evolving technological and legal landscape of this area of law enforcement.

As part of its mission, the Task Force will work closely with the recently established Office of the Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator (IPEC), housed in the Executive Office of the President and charged with drafting an Administration-wide strategic plan on intellectual property. As part of its mission, the Task Force will assist IPEC in recommending improvements to intellectual property enforcement efforts.

"Americans produce more technologies, more brands, more creative works and more innovation than any other nation on Earth," said Victoria Espinel, the U.S. intellectual property enforcement coordinator. "President Obama is committed to ensuring that the value created by American workers and enjoyed by communities around the world is protected. The Justice Department’s new task force will play a critical role in supporting the Administration's ongoing efforts to protect American intellectual property and the millions of jobs that depend on it."

The Task Force will include representatives from the offices of the Attorney General, the Deputy Attorney General, and the Associate Attorney General; the Criminal Division; the Civil Division; the Antitrust Division; the Office of Legal Policy; the Office of Justice Programs; the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee; the Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys and the FBI.

As part of its broader intellectual property initiative, the Department will also step up policy engagement with foreign law enforcement partners, develop a plan to expand civil IP enforcement efforts, and leverage existing partnerships with federal agencies and independent regulatory authorities such as the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Communications Commission.

WASHINGTON — The Justice Department announced today the settlement of a lawsuit against Riverside County, Calif., alleging violations of the rights of Spanish-speaking voters under the Voting Rights Act.

"The right to vote is the foundation of our democracy, and language barriers should never keep citizens from accessing that right," said Thomas E. Perez, Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. "Today’s agreement removes a procedural impediment to voting that hindered significant numbers of citizens from exercising that right. Riverside County should be congratulated for resolving the issue quickly and in a constructive manner."

The settlement agreement with Riverside County provides for a comprehensive Spanish language assistance program for voters, including trained bilingual election officials to be available at polling places where language assistance is needed. The Justice Department’s complaint alleged that the county failed to provide Spanish-language assistance at the polls to many of its Spanish-speaking voters in recent elections. In addition to the settlement agreement which resolves the claims in the complaint, the parties have agreed to a proposed order that will allow federal observers to monitor election day activities in its polling places.

The Voting Rights Act requires that jurisdictions determined by the Census Bureau to have a substantial population of minority-language citizens, such as Riverside County, provide voting materials and assistance in the minority language as well as in English. Enforcement of the language minority provisions of the Voting Rights Act is a significant priority for the Civil Rights Division.

To file complaints about discriminatory voting practices, voters may call the Voting Section of the Civil Rights Division at 1-800-253-3931. More information about the Voting Rights Act and other federal voting rights laws is available on the Department of Justice website at www.justice.gov/crt/voting/index.htm.

WASHINGTON - Lincoln Fabrics Ltd., a Canadian weaver of ballistic fabrics, and its American subsidiary, have agreed to pay the United States $4 million to settle the United States’ lawsuit against Lincoln for violations of the False Claims Act in connection with their role in the weaving of Zylon fabric used in the manufacture and sale of defective Zylon bullet-proof vests, the Justice Department announced today.

Using Zylon fiber manufactured by Toyobo Corp., Lincoln wove ballistic fabric for the body armor industry. Lincoln’s woven Zylon fabric was used in the manufacture of Zylon bullet-proof vests sold by several companies, including Second Chance Body Armor Inc., First Choice Armor Inc. and Point Blank Body Armor Inc. These vests were purchased by the United States, and by various state, local, and/or tribal law enforcement agencies, who were partially reimbursed by the United States.

The United States alleged that the Zylon in these vests lost its ballistic capability quickly, especially when exposed to heat and humidity. The United States further alleged that Lincoln was aware of the defective nature of the Zylon by at least December 2001, but continued to sell Zylon for use in ballistic armor until August 2005, when the National Institute of Justice issued a report that Zylon degraded quickly in ballistic applications. At that time, all American body armor manufacturers stopped using Zylon in body armor.

In October 2009, the United States filed suit against Lincoln for violations of the False Claims Act and related claims. The settlement announced today resolves this lawsuit.

"Companies that knowingly sell the government defective bulletproof vests not only commit fraud, they put the lives of our law enforcement women and men at risk," said Tony West, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division of the Department of Justice. "We will pursue vigorously allegations that these or any other companies manufactured flawed vests, knew about their problems, yet sold them anyway."

This settlement is part of a larger investigation of the body armor industry’s use of Zylon in body armor. As part of today’s agreement, Lincoln has pledged its cooperation in the Government’s on-going investigation. The United States previously has settled with six other participants in the Zylon body armor industry for over $54 million. Additionally, the United States has pending lawsuits against Toyobo Co., Honeywell Inc., Second Chance Body Armor, Inc. and First Choice Armor Inc.

Today’s settlement with Lincoln was the result of an ongoing investigation by the Justice Department’s Civil Division, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, the General Services Administration Office of the Inspector General, the Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, the Defense Criminal Investigative Service, the U.S. Army Criminal Investigative Command, the Air Force Office of Special Investigations, the Department of Energy Office of the Inspector General, the U.S. Agency for International Development Office of the Inspector General and the Defense Contracting Audit Agency.

This settlement is part of the government’s emphasis on combating fraud. One of the most powerful tools in that effort is the False Claims Act. The Justice Department’s total recoveries in False Claims Act cases since January 2009 have topped $3 billion.

A Virginia resident pleaded guilty today in connection with his role in a conspiracy to pay bribes to former Panamanian government officials, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division; U.S. Attorney Neil H. MacBride of the Eastern District of Virginia; John Perren, Acting Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office; Jennifer Smith Love, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Richmond Field Office; and John P. Torres, Special Agent in Charge of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Washington, D.C., office.

John W. Warwick, 64, of Virginia Beach, Va., pleaded guilty before U.S. District Court Judge Henry E. Hudson in Richmond, Va., to a one-count indictment charging him with conspiring to make corrupt payments to foreign government officials for the purpose of securing business for Ports Engineering Consultants Corporation (PECC) in violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). Warwick was indicted on Dec. 15, 2009. PECC, a company incorporated under the laws of Panama, was affiliated with an engineering firm based in Virginia Beach. According to the indictment, PECC was created so that Warwick, co-conspirator Charles Jumet, the engineering firm and others could corruptly obtain certain maritime contracts from the Panamanian government.

According to court documents, Warwick and Jumet participated in a conspiracy to pay money secretly to Panamanian government officials for awarding contracts to PECC to maintain lighthouses and buoys along Panama’s waterway. In December 1997, the Panamanian government awarded PECC a no-bid 20-year concession to perform these duties. Upon receipt of the concession, Warwick, Jumet and others authorized corrupt payments to be made to the Panamanian government officials.

In connection with his guilty plea, Warwick admitted that at least from 1997 through approximately July 2003, he, Jumet and others conspired to make corrupt payments totaling more than $200,000 to the former administrator and deputy administrator of the Panama Maritime Authority and to a former, high-ranking elected executive official of the Republic of Panama.

As part of his plea agreement, Warwick has agreed to forfeit $331,000, which represents the proceeds of this crime. At sentencing, scheduled for May 14, 2010, at 10:30 a.m. before Judge Hudson, Warwick faces a maximum of five years in prison and a fine of the greater of $250,000 or twice the gain or loss.

Jumet pleaded guilty on Nov. 13, 2009, to a two-count criminal information charging him with conspiring to make corrupt payments to foreign government officials for the purpose of securing business for PECC, in violation of the FCPA, and making a false statement. Jumet is scheduled to be sentenced on March 26, 2010.

The case was prosecuted by Trial Attorney Rina Tucker Harris of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael S. Dry of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. The case was investigated by the FBI’s Washington and Richmond Field Offices, as well as by ICE.

WASHINGTON – A federal grand jury in Trenton, N.J., has charged Vincent Johnson of Brick, N.J., with threatening employees of five civil rights organizations that work to improve opportunities for and challenge discrimination against Latinos in the United States, announced Thomas E. Perez, Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, and Paul J. Fishman, U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey.

The 14-count indictment, returned by the grand jury on Feb. 4, 2010, alleges that between November 2006 and February 2009, Johnson, using the internet username "Devilfish579", repeatedly sent threatening e-mail communications to employees of the LatinoJustice Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund; the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund; the National Council of La Raza; the League of United Latin American Citizens; and the National Coalition of Latino Clergy and Christian Leaders. The indictment further alleges that Johnson intended to place the victims in fear of bodily injury and that Johnson acted because the victims were aiding and encouraging persons of Latino descent to participate without discrimination in activities provided by the federal and state governments.

According to the indictment, among multiple e-mails Johnson sent, in November 2006, he wrote "[d]o you have a last will and testament? If not, better get one real soon." Additionally, in January 2007, Johnson sent two e-mails to the victims, stating "[o]ur guns are loaded and we will take you out as well whether by the courts or by true fire power" and "[i]f the idiots in the organizations which this e-mail is being copied to can’t fathom the serious nature of their actions, then they will be on the hit list just like any illegal alien...actually, they are already on the list." In February 2007, he wrote "I am giving you fair warning that your presence and position is being tracked...you are dead meat...along with anyone else in your organization." In September 2007, he sent two e-mails, in which he wrote "my preference would be to buy more ammunition to deal with the growing chaos created by the pro-illegal alien groups. RIP [names] who are not the friends of our democracy" and "[a]fter reading the article below can you give me simply one good reason why someone should not put a bullet between your eyes for your actions that are promoting lawlessness in this country?"

The indictment charges Johnson with five counts of transmitting threatening communications in interstate commerce and four counts of using a computer service to place a person in reasonable fear of death or serious bodily injury, commonly known as cyberstalking, each of which carries a statutory maximum penalty of five years in prison and a fine of $250,000. Johnson is also charged with five counts of interfering with the exercise of civil rights, each of which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a fine of $250,000.

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

The case was investigated by the Washington Field Office of the FBI.  The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Benjamin J. Hawk of the Civil Rights Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney in Charge Thomas Eicher of the District of New Jersey.

Balli Aviation Ltd., a subsidiary of the United Kingdom-based Balli Group PLC, pleaded guilty today in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to a two-count criminal information in connection with its illegal export of commercial Boeing 747 aircraft from the United States to Iran, announced David Kris, Assistant Attorney General for National Security; Channing D. Phillips, U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia; Thomas Madigan, Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Export Enforcement; and Adam J. Szubin, Director of the Department of Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control.

Under the plea agreement, Balli Aviation Ltd. agreed to pay a $2 million criminal fine and be placed on corporate probation for five years. The $2 million fine, combined with a related $15 million civil settlement among Balli Group PLC, Balli Aviation Ltd., the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), and the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), that was also announced today, represents one of the largest fines for an export violation in BIS history. Under the terms of the related civil settlement, Balli Group PLC and Balli Aviation Ltd. have agreed to pay a civil penalty of $15 million of which $2 million will be suspended if there are no further export control violations. In addition, Balli Aviation Ltd. and Balli Group PLC are denied export privileges for five years, although this penalty will be suspended provided that neither Balli Aviation nor Balli Group commits any export violations and pays the civil penalty.  Under the terms of the settlement, Balli Group PLC and Balli Aviation, Ltd. will also have to submit the results of an independent audit of its export compliance program to BIS and OFAC for each of the next five years.

According to count one of the information filed with the court, beginning in at least October 2007, through July 2008, Balli Aviation Ltd. conspired to export three Boeing 747 aircraft from the United States to Iran without first having obtained the required export license from BIS or authorization from OFAC, in violation of the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) and the Iranian Transactions Regulations. More particularly, the information states that Balli Aviation Ltd., through its subsidiaries, the Blue Sky Companies, purchased U.S.-origin aircraft with financing obtained from an Iranian airline and caused these aircraft to be exported to Iran without obtaining the required U.S. government licenses. Further, Balli Aviation Ltd. entered into lease arrangements that permitted the Iranian airline to use the U.S.-origin aircraft for flights in and out of Iran.

Count two of the information states that Balli Aviation Ltd. violated a Temporary Denial Order (TDO) issued by BIS on March 17, 2008, that prohibited the company from conducting any transaction involving any item subject to the EAR. Starting in or about March 2008 and continuing through about August 2008, Balli Aviation Ltd. willfully violated the TDO by carrying on negotiations with others concerning buying, receiving, using, selling and delivering U.S.-origin aircraft which went to the Export Administration Regulations.

"As this case demonstrates, corporations that conduct business with Iran in violation of U.S. export laws and sanctions face serious consequences," said David Kris, Assistant Attorney General for National Security. "The many agents, analysts and attorneys who worked on this successful investigation and prosecution deserve special thanks for their efforts."

"These charges reflect the commitment of the United States to vigorously enforce our laws against corporations that illegally seek to acquire U.S. aircraft from the U.S. on behalf of Iranian customers," said Channing Phillips, Acting U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia. "Those who seek to profit by violating and circumventing U.S. trade laws should take heed of today’s guilty plea by Balli Aviation."

"The significant fine is a direct consequence of the level of deception used to mislead investigators," said Thomas Madigan, Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Export Enforcement. "The case agents worked through a complex corporate maze to obtain the facts and bring the violators to justice."

"Today’s case should serve as further warning of Iran’s continued efforts to circumvent sanctions and obtain U.S. technology. Together with our colleagues from the Justice and Commerce departments, OFAC will continue to aggressively pursue both domestic and foreign entities that seek to violate U.S. sanctions programs by exporting goods to Iran from the United States." said Adam J. Szubin, Director, Office of Foreign Assets Control.

In announcing the plea, Assistant Attorney General Kris, Acting U.S. Attorney Phillips, Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary Madigan and OFAC Director Szubin commended Assistant Director for Operations John Sonderman, Special Agent in Charge Rick Shimon, Special Agent Joseph Varga, and Chief Counsel Attorney Gregory Michelsen, all of the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security. They also thanked Trial Attorney Jonathan C. Poling of the Counterespionage Section of the Justice Department’s National Security Division, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Anthony Asuncion of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, who are prosecuting this matter.

WASHINGTON - A resident of India pleaded guilty today to conspiracy and aggravated identity theft charges arising from an international fraud scheme to "hack" into online brokerage accounts in the United States and use those accounts to manipulate stock prices, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Deborah K.R. Gilg of the District of Nebraska.

Jaisankar Marimuthu, 35, a native of Chennai, India, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, securities fraud, computer fraud and aggravated identity theft, and to one count of aggravated identity theft before U.S. District Magistrate Judge F.A. Gossett III in Omaha, Neb. Marimuthu, who was extradited for trial following his arrest in Hong Kong, faces up to seven years in prison, a maximum fine of $500,000 and three years of supervised release following his prison term. Sentencing has been set for April 26, 2010, before U.S. District Court Judge Laurie Smith Camp.

According to the indictment, Marimuthu was part of a conspiracy operated out of Thailand and India from February 2006 through December 2006 in which the prices of thinly-traded securities were fraudulently inflated by hacking into brokerage accounts in the United States and then illegally using the accounts to make large unauthorized purchases of securities in the name of unsuspecting customers. After the price of the securities had been artificially increased or "pumped up" through the bogus trading, Marimuthu admitted that the conspirators’ own holdings of the securities would be sold at a profit. At least 95 customers and nine brokerage firms in the United States have been identified as victims.

Co-defendant Thirugnanam Ramanathan, 37, pleaded guilty on June 2, 2008, to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, securities fraud, computer fraud and aggravated identity theft.  Following his arrest in Hong Kong, Ramanathan was extradited on May 25, 2007, to the United States. He was sentenced to two years in prison by Judge Camp, and has since been returned to India upon completion of his sentence. Co-defendant Chockalingham Ramanathan, 36, remains charged on one count of conspiracy, eight counts of computer fraud, six counts of wire fraud, two counts of securities fraud and six counts of aggravated identity theft. Chockalingham Ramanathan remains at large.

The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Richard D. Green of the Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section; Senior Litigation Counsel Jack Patrick and Trial Attorney Ryan Faulconer of the Fraud Section; and Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Norris in the District of Nebraska. This case was investigated by the FBI in Omaha.

WASHINGTON – The Justice Department today announced that it will monitor the Feb.6, 2010, municipal primary election in the city of New Orleans to ensure compliance with the anti-discrimination requirements of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The Act prohibits discrimination in the election process on the basis of race, color or membership in a minority language group. Attorneys from the department’s Civil Rights Division will coordinate the federal activities and maintain contact with local election officials.

Each year, the Justice Department deploys hundreds of federal observers from the Office of Personnel Management, as well as departmental staff, to monitor elections across the country. To file complaints about discriminatory voting practices, including acts of harassment or intimidation, voters may call the Voting Section of the Civil Rights Division at 1-800-253-3931.

Visit http://www.justice.gov/crt/voting/index.htm for more information about the Voting Rights Act and other federal voting laws.

WASHINGTON – Former co-owners of a New Jersey-based computer services provider were each sentenced to 27 months in jail for participating in a conspiracy to defraud the federal E-Rate program, the Department of Justice announced today.

Benjamin Rowner and Jay H. Soled, former owners of DeltaNet Inc., were also each sentenced to pay $271,716 in restitution, jointly and severally, to the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC). They were sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Blanche M. Manning in Chicago. Rowner and Soled pleaded guilty on July 10, 2008, to one count each of criminal conspiracy. According to court documents, Rowner and Soled, together with their co-conspirator, Leonard Douglas "Doug" LaDuron, conspired to defraud the E-Rate program by submitting false and misleading statements and concealing material facts from the USAC, a non-profit corporation. In some instances, these false statements were submitted by wire transmission, e-mail and U.S. mail. The department said that the conspiracy, which began in 1999 and ran at least until 2003, affected at least 13 schools across the country.

Rowner and Soled’s co-conspirator, LaDuron, former owner of Kansas area companies Serious ISP Inc., Myco Technologies Inc. and Elephantine Corporation, pleaded guilty in the U.S. District Court in Kansas City, Kan., on June 29, 2009, to one count of conspiracy to defraud the E-Rate program and one count of making a false statement to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. LaDuron was sentenced on Dec. 16, 2009, to serve 57 months in jail and to pay $238,607 in restitution.

The E-Rate program was created by Congress in the Telecommunications Act of 1996 and is administered by the USAC, under the auspices of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The program provides subsidies to economically disadvantaged schools and libraries. Depending on the financial needs of applicant schools, the program pays 10 to 90 percent of the cost for Internet access and telecommunications services, as well as internal computer and communications networks.

Today’s sentencing is a result of an investigation conducted by the Antitrust Division’s Chicago Field Office, the FBI and the FCC with assistance from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Kansas. Anyone with information concerning violations of the E-Rate program or other related anticompetitive conduct is urged to call the Antitrust Division’s Chicago Field Office at 312-353-7530 or visit http://www.justice.gov/atr/contact/newcase.htm.

David Kris, Assistant Attorney General for National Security, Jeffrey H. Sloman, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Michael Johnson, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Department of Commerce, Office of Export Enforcement, Anthony V. Mangione, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Office of Investigations, and James M. Foster, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Department of State, Diplomatic Security Service, announced that defendant Yi-Lan Chen, aka "Kevin Chen," 40, a Taiwan passport holder, was arrested on Feb. 3, 2010, on charges of illegally exporting commodities for Iran’s missile program.

More specifically, the complaint charges defendant Chen with exporting and attempting to export U.S. commodities to Iran in violation of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) and the United States Iran Embargo (the Embargo).  The Embargo prohibits the exportation from the United States to Iran of any goods, technology, or services, with limited exceptions, unless authorized by the Department of Treasury, Office of Foreign Assets Controls (OFAC).  The Embargo is enforced through the IEEPA.

According to the affidavit filed in support of the criminal complaint, Chen facilitated the purchase and export of various dual use goods from the U.S. to Iran by way of Taiwan and Hong Kong.  "Dual use" goods are goods and technologies that have commercial application, but also could make a significant contribution to the military or nuclear potential of other nations and could be detrimental to the foreign policy or national security of the United States. 

U.S. Attorney Jeffrey H. Sloman stated, "Keeping our nation safe is the number one priority of the Department of Justice. To that end, we will vigorously investigate and prosecute individuals who export items to prohibited entities such as the Islamic Republic of Iran. Iran has been designated a state sponsor of terrorism and remains subject to United States, United Nations and European Union economic sanctions and export controls because of its continued involvement in terrorism and its nuclear weapons ambitions.  The dual use items allegedly exported in this case could easily be used in missile development and other military components.  Such conduct poses a serious threat to our national security, and will not be tolerated."

"Today's arrest is the result of ongoing cooperation between government agencies to combat the illegal transshipment of U.S.-origin items to Iran," said Michael Johnson, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Department of Commerce's Miami Office of Export Enforcement.  "We will continue to work together to pursue willful violators no matter where they set up their networks and protect our national security."

"This investigation is another fine example of how effective these law enforcement partnerships can be at ensuring that the sale and distribution of dual-use technology is done lawfully," said Anthony V. Mangione, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Office of Investigations in Miami. "This case will send a message to those individuals who attempt to profit by illegally supplying improper dual-use technology to other countries.  ICE will continue to aggressively pursue those who violate U.S. export laws."

The complaint alleges that Chen caused dual use goods to be exported from the U.S., including P200 Turbine Engines and spare parts, MIL-S-8516 Sealing Compound, Glass to Metal Pin Seals, and Circular Hermetic Connectors (Model MIL-C-81703).  P200 Turbine Engines are designed for use as model airplane engines but can also be used to operate unmanned aerial vehicles and military target drones. MIL-S-8516 Sealing Compound is an accelerated, synthetic, rubber sealing compound used for sealing low-voltage electrical connectors, wiring and other electrical equipment against moisture and corrosion.  This particular sealant is designed to military specifications and has numerous applications in military, aerospace, and automotive industries.  It is also considered a hazardous material for shipping purposes. 

Glass to Metal Pin Seals are commonly used to seal a conductor pin in a metal feed thru in an electrical device.  These have many applications, such as vacuum components, sensor or transducer housings, feedthroughs for harsh environments and battery headers.  The pin seals exported by Chen were designed with the nickel alloy known as "Alloy 52" and have dual applications in aerospace industries, thermal imaging devices, chemical agent monitors, and weapons systems.  Circular Hermetic Connectors are designed to facilitate the flow of electrical current across two devices and can be mechanically coupled to, or uncoupled from, another connection.  These connectors are designed to military specifications and have aerospace, defense, industrial and petrochemical applications.

As alleged in the complaint affidavit, federal agents learned of Chen’s efforts to obtain and export U.S. goods and commodities after Chen attempted to export detonators through a California company using unsatisfactory information in documents regarding Chen’s ultimate customers.  The investigation revealed that Chen’s ultimate customers for the dual use exports listed in the complaint are all in Iran.

The investigation also revealed that Chen’s customers included buyers for Electro SANAM Industries.  According to www.iranwatch.org, part of the Wisconsin Project on Nuclear Arms Control, Electro SANAM Industries is a known front company for Aerospace Industries Organization ("AIO") in Iran and has been linked to Iranian ballistic missile programs.  AIO conducts research and development on ballistic missiles and is a leading industrial and military subsidiary of the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of the Armed Forces Logistics of Iran.  In addition, Electro SANAM Company is listed in annex IV of U.N Security Council Resolution 1803, dated March 3, 2008, for links to nuclear proliferation activities. 

The complaint also alleges that another customer for receipt of the dual goods listed in the complaint is the owner of the Noavaran Sooyab Sanat Co. in Tehran, Iran.  Sooyab Sanat Co. was founded in 1989 as an instrumentation division of Jahad Engineering Research Center.  Jahad Engineering Research Center is one of many names used by the Engineering Research Center for the Construction Crusade (Jihad-e Sazandegi), located in Tehran, Iran, which has been linked to chemical research and development facilities.  According to www.iranwatch.org, part of the Wisconsin Project on Nuclear Arms Control, in 2006, Jahad Engineering Research Center has been listed as an entity of concern by the British government regarding the procurement of weapons of mass destruction.

According to the complaint affidavit, customers in Iran sent orders by e-mail to Chen for specific U.S.-manufactured goods.  Chen then requested quotes, usually by e-mail, from U.S. businesses and made arrangements for the sale and shipment of the goods to one of several freight forwarders in Hong Kong and Taiwan.  Once in Hong Kong or Taiwan, the goods were then shipped to Iran.

If convicted, Chen faces a statutory maximum sentence of up to 20 years in prison, and possible fines of up to $1 million.  Chen was arrested in Guam on the outstanding arrest warrant from the Southern District of Florida.   This morning, Chen appeared before a Magistrate Judge in Guam for his initial appearance.  At the initial appearance, Chen waived removal, was taken into custody and was ordered to appear in the Southern District of Florida.  No date has been set for Chen’s first appearance in the Southern District of Florida.

Mr. Sloman commended the U.S. Department of Commerce, Office of Export Enforcement, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Office of Investigations, and the U.S. Department of State, Diplomatic Security Service, for their work on this investigation.  Mr. Sloman also thanked the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) for their assistance in this matter.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Melissa Damian.

A complaint is only an accusation, and a defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

The Justice Department today announced that the National Football League Players Association (NFLPA) has joined its year-long campaign to commemorate the 15 year anniversary of President Bill Clinton signing the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) into law.  The NFLPA has "Joined the List," a group of more than 100 celebrities including actors, musicians and athletes, who have lent their names to raise awareness with their fans, through Web and fan sites, and social networking profiles. 

In addition to the NFLPA, 16 players – including New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees and Indianapolis Colts linebacker Gary Brackett, both of whom will play in the Super Bowl on Sunday – have lent their names to this initiative. 

Today, the NFLPA also announced its partnership with the Family Violence Prevention Fund (FVPF), a grantee of the Justice Department’s Office on Violence Against Women (OVW), on their "Callout Card" contest as part of their That’s Not Cool teen initiative. The contest is designed to engage youth and invites teens to create "callout cards" that can be used to raise awareness of teen dating abuse.  The contest’s grand prize winner will receive a trip to Washington, D.C., to attend the NFL PLAYERS Gala, and will have a chance to walk the red carpet and meet with top NFL stars.  Four runners-up will receive autographed NFL memorabilia, such as a jersey or helmet.  Ten honorable mention winners will receive That’s Not Cool t-shirts and NFLPA hats.  The contest, for teenagers ranging in age from 13 to 18, continues through March 15.  For more information, go to: www.thatsnotcool.com/contest.

This initiative is especially focused on the use of new technology to harass and abuse.  One in four teens in a relationship say they have been harassed or put down by their partner through their cell phone and texting, and more than 60 percent of teens have been pressured to engage in "sexting." 

To commemorate the 15th anniversary of VAWA, the Department of Justice is working to raise public awareness on issues around violence against women, to build and renew coalitions among federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement and victim services communities, and to end stalking, sexual assault, domestic and dating violence for men, women and children across the country.  A list of celebrities who have "Joined the List" is below:

Aaron Eckhar - Actor
Alexis Bledel - Actress
Amanda Beard - Olympic Gold-Medal Swimmer
Amber Heard - Actress
Amy Poehler - Actress, Comedienne
Ashley Judd - Actress
Barbara Walters - Journalist, Writer, Television Hostess
Brian White - Actor
Chamique Holdsclaw - Atlanta Dream, WNBA
Chrisette Michele - Singer-songwriter
Christina Ricci – Actress
Cristian De la Fuente – Actor
Cuba Gooding, Jr. - Actor
Curtis Granderson - New York Yankees, MLB
Cynthia Cooper - Former American basketball player, Former NCAA and WNBA Coach, WNBA Hall of Fame Inductee
Debbie Allen - Actress, Choreographer, Director, Producer
Diane Keaton - Actress, Director, Producer
Dominique Dawes - Olympic Gold Medal Gymnast
Ellen DeGeneres - Talk Show Hostess, Comedienne, Actress
Elisabeth Hasselbeck -Television Hostess
Emily Blunt - Actress
Emmy Rossum- Actress, Singer-songwriter
Erin Brockovich - Lawyer
Eva Mendes - Actress
Faith Hill - Singer, Actress
Fiona Apple - Singer-songwriter
Garcelle Beauvais-Nilon - Actress
Ginuwine - Singer
Idris Elba - Actor
Irene Bedard - Actress
Jaime Pressly - Actress
James Carville - Political Advisor
Jason Bateman - Actor
Jenna Fischer - Actress, Writer
Jennifer Love Hewitt - Actress, singer-songwriter
Joe Torre - Manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers, Founder of the Joe Torre Safe at Home Foundation
Joey Fatone - Singer
John Lithgow - Actor
Joy Behar - Actress, Comedienne, Writer, Television Hostess
Judy Blume - Author
Kevin Spacey - Actor
Kristina Guerrero - Television Hostess
Kyra Sedgwick - Actress
Linda Fairstein - Author
Leeza Gibbons - Talk Show Host
Leslie Morgan Steiner - Author
Lisa Leslie - Los Angeles Sparks, WNBA, Olympic Gold Medal Basketball Player
LisaRaye McCoy-Misick - Actress
Marcus Johnson -Musician
Mariska Hargitay - Actress, Founder and President of the Joyful Heart Foundation
Martina McBride - Singer-Songwriter
Matt Dillon - Actor
MC Lyte - Emcee-Songwriter, Actress
Melissa Joan Hart - Actress
Meryl Streep - Actress
Michael Bolton - Singer
Michelle Pfeiffer - Actress
Michelle Williams - Actress
Mira Sorvino - Actress
Nastia Liukin - Olympic Gold Medal Gymnast
The NFL Players Association, including:

Adalius Thomas - New England Patriots, NFL
Brandon Moore - New York Jets, NFL
Darrell Green - Washington Redskins, NFL (Retired)
Drew Brees - New Orleans Saints, NFL
Erik Coleman - Atlanta Falcons, NFL
Gary Brackett - Indianapolis Colts, NFL
George Wilson - Buffalo Bills, NFL
Hank Fraley - Cleveland Browns, NFL
Jay Feely - New York Jets, NFL
Jerricho Cotchery - New York Jets, NFL
Kareem McKenzie - New York Giants, NFL
LaDainian Tomlinson - San Diego Chargers, NFL
Muhsin Muhammad - Carolina Panthers, NFL
Nate Kaeding - San Diego Chargers, NFL
Quintin Mikell - Philadelphia Eagles, NFL
Shaun O’Hara - New York Giants, NFL
Steve Hutchinson - Minnesota Vikings, NFL
Tony Dungy – Former Coach for the Indianapolis Colts, Author

The National Hockey League (NHL)
Nia Long - Actress, Director
Nicole Kidman - Actress
Omar Epps - Actor
Patti LaBelle - Singer, Songwriter, Actress
Paula Zahn - Newscaster
Phylicia Rashad - Actress
Rebecca Romijn - Actress, Model
Ricky Martin - Singer
Robin Givens - Actress
Rosie Perez - Actress, Dancer, Choreographer
S. Epatha Merkerson - Actress
Salma Hayek - Actress, Director, Producer
Sally Field - Actress, Producer, Director, Screenwriter
Sam Jones III - Actor
Scarlett Johansson - Actress, Singer-songwriter
Sherri Shepherd - Television Hostess, Actress, Comedienne
Steve Buscemi – Actor, Director
Stockard Channing - Actress
Susan Sarandon - Actress
Teresa Weatherspoon - Los Angeles Sparks, WNBA (Retired), Coach of Louisiana Tech Women’s Basketball
Tom Arnold - Actor
Tony Hawk – Skateboarder
U.S. National Women’s Soccer Team
Vivica A. Fox - Actress
Washington Mystics
Whoopi Goldberg - Television Hostess, Actress, Comedienne
Wynton Marsalis - Musician
Zoe Saldana – Actress

 

WASHINGTON – The Department of Justice today advised the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York that despite the substantial progress reflected in the proposed amended settlement agreement in The Authors Guild Inc. et al. v. Google Inc., class certification, copyright and antitrust issues remain. The department also said that the United States remains committed to working with the parties on issues concerning the scope and content of the settlement.

In its statement of interest filed with the court today, the department stated, "Although the United States believes the parties have approached this effort in good faith and the amended settlement agreement is more circumscribed in its sweep than the original proposed settlement, the amended settlement agreement suffers from the same core problem as the original agreement: it is an attempt to use the class action mechanism to implement forward-looking business arrangements that go far beyond the dispute before the court in this litigation."

On Sept. 18, 2009, the department submitted views to the court on the original proposed settlement agreement. At that time, the department proposed that the parties consider changes to the agreement that might help address the United States’ concerns, including imposing limitations on the most open-ended provisions for future licensing, eliminating potential conflicts among class members, providing additional protections for unknown rights holders, addressing the concerns of foreign authors and publishers, eliminating the joint-pricing mechanisms among publishers and authors, and providing a mechanism by which Google’s competitors can gain comparable access.

In today’s filing, the department recognized that the parties made substantial progress on a number of these issues. For example, the proposed amended settlement agreement eliminates certain open-ended provisions that would have allowed Google to engage in certain unspecified future uses, appoints a fiduciary to protect rightsholders of unclaimed works, reduces the number of foreign works in the settlement class, and eliminates the most-favored nation provision that would have guaranteed Google optimal license terms into the future. However, the changes do not fully resolve the United States’ concerns. The department also said that the amended settlement agreement still confers significant and possibly anticompetitive advantages on Google as a single entity, thereby enabling the company to be the only competitor in the digital marketplace with the rights to distribute and otherwise exploit a vast array of works in multiple formats.

The department continues to believe that a properly structured settlement agreement in this case offers the potential for important societal benefits. The department stated that it is committed to continuing to work with the parties and other stakeholders to help develop solutions through which copyright holders could allow for digital use of their works by Google and others, whether through legislative or market-based activities.

The settlement agreement between Google and the authors and publishers aims to resolve copyright infringement claims brought against Google by The Authors Guild and five major publishers in 2005 arising from Google’s efforts to digitally scan books contained in several libraries and to make them searchable on the Internet. The district court’s hearing on the proposed amended settlement agreement is scheduled to take place on Feb. 18, 2010.

WASHINGTON — The Justice Department announced today that it has reached a settlement in its lawsuit against MasTec Advanced Technologies on behalf of Eugene C. Burress, a U.S. Army Reserve member, alleging that MasTec willfully violated the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 (USERRA).

The settlement, embodied in a consent decree that must still be approved in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia, calls for MasTec to provide Burress with $5,760 in backpay and interest.

The Justice Department’s complaint, filed in November 2009, alleges that in January 2008, Burress, then a field technician supervisor at MasTec’s Martinsburg, W.Va., office, was called to active duty in the U.S. Army and notified his supervisor of his upcoming military service. His supervisor previously had informed Burress that the site manager position at the office would be vacant soon and offered the position to Burress when it became available. Burress accepted. However, in October 2008, while Burress was engaged in military service, MasTec promoted another MasTec employee to site manager. Burress filed a complaint with the Labor Department’s Veterans’ Employment and Training Service, which investigated and attempted to resolve Burress’s USERRA complaint before referring it to the Justice Department for litigation.

"Members of our military make great sacrifices on behalf of our nation. Upon their return from active duty, they have the right to know they will not be denied a promotion because of their service," said Thomas E. Perez, Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights.

USERRA prohibits civilian employers from denying servicemembers promotions because of their membership in or obligations to perform service in the U.S. military, and also requires that servicemembers who leave their jobs to serve in the U.S. military be timely reemployed by their civilian employers in the same position, or in a comparable position to the position that they would have held had they not left to serve in the military.

The Civil Rights Division is committed to the vigorous enforcement of servicemembers’ rights under USERRA. Additional information about USERRA can be found on the Justice Department Web site at www.servicemembers.gov and www.justice.gov/crt/emp, as well as on the Labor Department’s website at www.dol.gov/vets/programs/userra/main.htm.

WASHINGTON - Jack Barouh of Golden Beach, Fla., pleaded guilty today to filing a false tax return, the Justice Department and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced. Sentencing has been set for April 16, 2010, before U.S. District Judge Adalberto Jordan in Miami. The defendant remains free on a $1 million bail pending sentencing. He faces a maximum sentence of three years in prison.

According to court documents and statements made in court, Barouh admitted to filing a false tax return for 2007 in which he failed to report that he had an interest in or a signature authority over financial accounts at UBS AG, one of Switzerland’s largest banks. He also failed to report income earned on his UBS Swiss bank accounts. The UBS accounts were opened in the names of Domilou S.A., a nominee Panamanian corporation, and Similen Investments Limited, a nominee British Virgin Island corporation. For years 2002 through 2007, the tax loss associated with the Domilou and Similen accounts at UBS is approximately $736,269.

In addition to the Domilou and Similen accounts, the defendant owned and controlled several additional offshore bank accounts located at banks other than UBS, including accounts in Switzerland and Hong Kong.

According to court documents, the defendant owned and operated several businesses that manufactured and sold watches. Beginning in 1976, the defendant skimmed income from his watch businesses and deposited the proceeds into his undeclared UBS bank accounts. The defendant also deposited unreported sales commissions into the accounts.

According to court documents, beginning in 2007, the defendant attempted to withdraw his funds from Switzerland and repatriate all of the money into the United States. However, a Swiss attorney persuaded the defendant to transfer the money from Switzerland to a newly created bank account in Hong Kong in the name of a nominee Hong Kong corporation. The Swiss attorney then told the defendant to pay himself an annual "consulting fee" until all of the funds were brought into the United States. The Swiss attorney knew the defendant was not going to perform any consulting work.

As part of his plea agreement, the defendant agreed to pay a 50 percent penalty for the one year with the highest balance in his offshore accounts in order to resolve his civil liability for failing to file Reports of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts, Forms TD F 90-22.1. The highest balance of all of the assets the defendant owned and controlled offshore was approximately $10,017,613. The defendant also must pay any additional taxes, interest and penalties he may owe.

"Today’s guilty plea is the latest success in our crackdown on illegal offshore tax evasion," said John A. DiCicco, Acting Assistant Attorney General of the Justice Department’s Tax Division. "The Justice Department and U.S. Attorneys’ Offices will continue our investigations and prosecutions of individuals who utilize offshore accounts in Switzerland and elsewhere."

"Skimming from one’s business and placing the assets in a secret offshore bank account is a classic example of tax evasion," said Jeffrey H. Sloman, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida. "With tax day looming, today’s guilty plea is a reminder that those who violate the tax laws will be held accountable." 

"Hiding money in foreign bank accounts to evade paying taxes is a crime," said Victor S. O. Song, Chief, IRS Criminal Investigation. "The IRS will continue our efforts to bring non-compliant taxpayers into the tax system either through the voluntary disclosure program or criminal prosecution."

Acting Assistant Attorney General John DiCicco and U.S. Attorney Jeffrey H. Sloman commended the investigative efforts of the IRS agents involved in this case, as well as Senior Litigation Counsel Kevin M. Downing and Trial Attorney Mark F. Daly of the Tax Division, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey A. Neiman, who are prosecuting the case.

In February 2009, UBS entered into a deferred prosecution agreement pursuant to which the bank admitted to helping U.S. taxpayers hide accounts from the IRS. As part of their agreement, UBS provided the United States government with the identities of, and account information for, certain United States customers of UBS’s cross-border business. Jack Barouh is the seventh former client of UBS to plead guilty to a tax felony.

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

More information about the Justice Department’s Tax Division and its enforcement efforts is available at http://www.usdoj.gov/tax/.

Miami-Dade County resident Dulce Briceño was sentenced today to 63 months in prison for her role in a $2.3 million Medicare fraud scheme, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer of the Criminal Division; U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan Barbara L. McQuade; Special Agent in Charge Andrew G. Arena of the FBI’s Detroit Field Office; and Special Agent in Charge Lamont Pugh III of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Inspector General’s (HHS-OIG), Chicago Regional Office.

U.S. District Judge Ursula Ungaro in the Southern District of Florida also ordered Briceño to pay $1.8 million in restitution. Briceño was originally charged by indictment in the Eastern District of Michigan, but after her arrest in Miami, she consented to have her case transferred to the Southern District of Florida for her plea and sentencing.

Briceño pleaded guilty on Oct. 9, 2009, at which time she admitted that in approximately September 2006, she agreed with the owners of X-Press Center to manage the clinic on a day-to-day basis in exchange for a percentage of the profits the clinic generated. Briceño also admitted that during the time the clinic was open, the clinic routinely billed the Medicare program for services that were medically unnecessary or were never provided. Briceño admitted that she and her co-conspirators at the clinic had purchased only a small fraction of the medications that the clinic billed the Medicare program for providing.

Briceño admitted that Medicare beneficiaries were not referred to X-Press Center by their primary care physicians, or for any other legitimate medical purpose, but rather were recruited to come to the clinic through the payment of kickbacks. In exchange for those kickbacks, Briceño admitted that the Medicare beneficiaries would visit the clinic and sign documents indicating that they had received the services billed to Medicare. Kickbacks paid to Medicare beneficiaries at the clinic, according to plea documents, came in the form of cash and prescriptions for narcotic drugs.

Briceño also admitted that between approximately September 2006 and March 2007, she and her co-conspirators at X-Press Center caused the submission of approximately $2.3 million in false and fraudulent claims to the Medicare program for services purportedly provided at X-Press Center. Medicare paid approximately $1.8 million on those claims.

The case was prosecuted by Senior Trial Attorney John K. Neal and Trial Attorney Benjamin D. Singer of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section. The case was investigated by the FBI and HHS-OIG. The case was brought as part of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, supervised by the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Michigan.

Since their inception in March 2007, Strike Force operations in seven districts have obtained indictments of more than 500 individuals who collectively have falsely billed the Medicare program for more than $1 billion. In addition, HHS’s Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, working in conjunction with the HHS-OIG, are taking steps to increase accountability and decrease the presence of fraudulent providers.

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

WASHINGTON—Travis Dardenne and Jeffery Brown of Plaquemine, La., were both sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Baton Rouge, La., to pay a $2,000 fine and serve one year of probation for violations of the Lacey Act for knowingly attempting to acquire an American alligator in violation of the federal Endangered Species Act and Louisiana law, the Justice Department announced.

Additionally, during their probation, both Dardenne and Brown are prohibited from hunting or guiding anywhere in the world.

On Sept. 8, 2006, Dardenne, a licensed alligator hunter, and Brown, a licensed alligator helper, guided an out-of-state alligator sport hunter to an area for which Dardenne and Brown did not have appropriate state authorization to hunt. The sport hunter killed a trophy-sized alligator in the unapproved area.

Louisiana strictly regulates the hunting of alligators in the wild. Licensed alligator hunters, like Dardenne, are required to have hide tags for each alligator killed. Each tag specifies an area where alligator hunting is to occur. Licensed alligator helpers, like Brown, do not receive hide tags but they hunt with licensed alligator hunters and are expected to know what the licensed alligator hunter’s hide-tags provide. It is illegal to kill an alligator in an area for which the licensed hunter does not have hide tags. 

In addition to being listed as a threatened species on the United States’ list of Threatened and Endangered Species, the American alligator also is listed as a crocodilian species on Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). To better regulate trade in crocodilian species, the parties to CITES agreed to a program of requiring a uniquely numbered tag to be inserted into the skin of each animal immediately after it is killed. The tag is to remain with the skin as it travels in interstate or international commerce until it is manufactured into a final consumer product. The Secretary of the Interior issued special rules for American alligators that implement the CITES tagging program and regulate the harvest of alligators within the United States.

The case was prosecuted by the Justice Department’s Environmental Crimes Section with assistance from the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Middle District of Louisiana. The case was investigated by the Law Enforcement Division of the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries and the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Office of Law Enforcement.

Thomas S. Pendleton, 66, was sentenced today by Chief U.S. District Judge Gregory M. Sleet in Wilmington, Del., to the statutory maximum of 30 years in prison and a lifetime of supervised release for traveling to Germany to have sex with a minor, announced Assistant Attorney General of the Criminal Division Lanny A. Breuer and U.S. Attorney David C. Weiss for the District of Delaware. Pendleton was also sentenced today to a concurrent term of 10 years in prison for failing to register as a sex offender, in violation of the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006.

In September 2009, a federal jury in Wilmington found Pendleton guilty following a three-day trial of violating the Prosecutorial Remedies and Other Tools to End the Exploitation of Children Today (PROTECT) Act of 2003, which makes it a crime for U.S. citizens to travel abroad and commit illicit sexual acts with minors. Evidence introduced at trial established that Pendleton traveled from Philadelphia to Germany in November 2005, where he met his victim, a 14-year-old boy, who at the time was living in an orphanage. According to evidence presented at trial, during the next several months, Pendleton cultivated a friendship with the victim and made arrangements to go biking with him in May 2006, just after the victim turned 15. Testimony at trial established that, while on the bike trip, the victim woke up to find Pendleton fondling him. The victim and a witness from the camp site where the crime occurred traveled to the United States to testify at the trial.

Pendleton had been previously convicted by a German court of "sexual abuse of persons incapable of resistance," stemming from this incident. The defendant remained in German custody until Jan. 21, 2008, when he was deported to the United States. On July 24, 2008, Pendleton charged by a federal grand jury in the District of Delaware for violating the PROTECT Act.

Pendleton was also convicted in April 2009, in a separate trial for failing to register as a sex offender. According to information presented at the sentencing hearing, Pendleton has three prior convictions for sexually molesting or assaulting children aged nine through 13-years-old in two U.S. states and in Latvia, in addition to his conviction in Germany. Pendleton was convicted in 1981 of fourth degree criminal contact in a Michigan state court in a case involving the molestation of an 11-year-old, while Pendleton was serving as a church camp counselor at the victim’s church.

According to information also presented at the sentencing hearing, Pendleton was convicted in New Jersey state court in 1992 of sexual assault, attempted aggravated sexual assault of a minor and endangering the welfare of a child in a case involving sexual abuse of a 12-year-old boy on biking trips in Virginia and New Jersey. Pendleton received a seven year sentence for that offense. The jury heard testimony from the now 32-year-old victim of that prior offense at the September 2009-trial for the sex tourism charge.

Approximately three years after his release from New Jersey prison, Pendleton was convicted in the Republic of Latvia of sexually abusing a 9-year-old child and a 13-year-old child between June and November 2001, and was sentenced to three and a half years in prison. He was released from Latvian prison and deported back to the United States on March 20, 2005.

He has been in federal custody since March 10, 2008, when the U.S. Marshals Service arrested him on the failure to register charge.

In sentencing the defendant, the court cited Pendleton’s history of sexually abusing children, his failure to accept responsibility for his crimes, and the fact that the defendant’s past prison sentences had failed to deter him. Chief Judge Sleet found that this sentence would protect children from "further acts of depravity" perpetrated by the defendant.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Ilana Eisenstein of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Delaware and Trial Attorney Jennifer Toritto Leonardo of the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS). These cases were investigated by special agents from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and by deputy marshals of the U.S. Marshals Service. A computer forensic specialist from CEOS’s High Tech Investigative Unit performed an analysis of a computer and other digital media seized from the defendant.

 

WASHINGTON — Atlanta real estate firms Coldwell Banker Joe T. Lane Realty Inc., Coldwell Banker Bullard Realty Company Inc. and Rodney Lee Foreman, one of their former real estate agents, have agreed to pay $160,000 to settle allegations that they illegally steered prospective homebuyers toward and away from certain neighborhoods based on race and color, the Justice Department announced today.

The agreement, subject to approval by a federal court in Atlanta, resolves the Justice Department’s Jan. 25, 2009, lawsuit which originated from a complaint filed by the National Fair Housing Alliance (NFHA) with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Testing conducted by NFHA of Coldwell Banker Joe T. Lane Realty Inc. in 2003 and 2004 revealed that Foreman had steered white testers towards areas that are predominately white and away from areas that are predominately African-American because of race or color, in violation of the Fair Housing Act.

According to the complaint, before showing the tester any homes, Foreman told the tester that he did not know where to take the tester because he could not tell from talking on the telephone whether the tester was white. Foreman said words to the effect that "I didn’t know if you were a Caucasian or not over the phone." After an investigation, HUD found reasonable cause to believe that unlawful discrimination had occurred and referred the matter to the Justice Department.

"People have the right to make fully informed housing choices. Unlawful steering by real estate agents frustrates this right and perpetuates segregated communities," said Thomas E. Perez, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division. "The work undertaken by NFHA and HUD is critical to our efforts to eliminate such discrimination. Real estate agents nationwide should take note that the Department of Justice works vigilantly to combat this type of discrimination."

"This case demonstrates that racial steering is not a relic of the past. Effective civil rights law enforcement, including testing, can and must put an end to housing discrimination," said John Trasviña, HUD’s Assistant Secretary for Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity.

Fighting illegal housing discrimination is a top priority of the Justice Department. The Federal Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination in housing on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, familial status, national origin and disability.

More information about the Civil Rights Division and the laws it enforces is available at http://www.justice.gov/crt. Persons who believe they have experienced or witnessed unlawful housing discrimination may call the Housing Discrimination Tip Line at 1-800-896-7743, e-mail the Justice Department at [email protected], or contact HUD at 1-800-669-9777. More information about the Fair Housing Act can also be found at http://www.justice.gov/crt/housing/fairhousing/ or www.hud.gov/fairhousing.

Attorney General Eric Holder sent a letter today to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. An identical copy was sent to Senators Bond, Coburn, Collins, Cornyn, Graham, Grassley, Hatch, Kyl, McCain and Sessions, each of whom had written the Attorney General requesting information on the detention and interrogation of Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab.

 

 

A copy of the letter is available here .

 

WASHINGTON—Wayne D. Breitag of Aberdeen, S.D., was sentenced in federal court in Aberdeen yesterday to pay a $20,000 fine and serve six months of home confinement for smuggling the hide of a leopard into the United States in violation of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), the Justice Department announced today.

The leopard was hunted and killed in South Africa illegally and then smuggled into Zimbabwe to obtain a false CITES-permit for shipment to the United States.

Breitag was also sentenced to serve three years of supervised release during which time he cannot hunt or accompany anyone on a hunt and must forfeit the hide. He was convicted by a jury on Oct. 30, 2009, for violations of the Lacey Act, the federal wildlife statute that makes CITES enforceable.

Leopards (Panthera pardus) are listed on Appendix I of CITES. CITES requires that prior to the transport of any part of an Appendix I species from one country to another, an export permit from the country of origin (or a re-export certificate), and an import permit from the country to which the specimen will be shipped, must be obtained and accompany the shipment. The CITES authorities in South Africa set a yearly quota on the number of export permits issued by that country for Appendix I species, such as leopards. These permits are only issued for leopards which have been killed with a valid hunting permit.

Breitag was found guilty of traveling to South Africa in August 2002 to hunt leopards while guided by a South African outfitter named Jan Groenewald Swart doing business as "Trophy Hunting Safaris." Breitag shot and killed a leopard at that time.

Swart arranged to have the hide smuggled from South Africa into Zimbabwe, where he purchased a fraudulent CITES export permit for the leopard hide. Breitag then submitted applications to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) falsely claiming that he hunted and killed the leopard in Zimbabwe. On Nov. 5, 2004, USFWS inspectors seized a shipment of five leopard hides and three leopard skulls at the Denver International Airport, which included the hide of the leopard that Breitag killed illegally in South Africa in 2002.

On May 21, 2007, Jan Groenewald Swart pleaded guilty to smuggling charges in the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado for his role in the illegal hunts. Swart served an 18-month prison sentence, has since been released and deported.

The investigation of this case was lead by the USFWS. The case was prosecuted by the Justice Department’s Environmental Crimes Section and the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices for the District of South Dakota and Colorado.

WASHINGTON – Isidro Hinojosa Benavides, 77, a U.S. citizen extradited from Argentina, pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., to engaging in illicit sexual conduct in foreign places, announced Assistant Attorney General of the Criminal Division Lanny A. Breuer and U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Channing D. Phillips.

Benavides was indicted in 2005 for traveling to the Republic of Chile and engaging in sexual conduct with a female child. Benavides has been held in custody without bond since his extradition from Argentina in 2009.

During the plea hearing, Benavides admitted to maintaining several residences in Santiago, Chile. Benavides admitted that he met the 12-year-old victim in 2002 when he was 70-years-old. He admitted he invited her on numerous occasions to his various residences and supplied her and other young girls with food, drinks and glue to inhale. Benavides admitted to fondling the 12-year-old victim, showing her pornographic images and movies, and having her engage in sexual activity with him. Afterwards, Benavides admitted he gave the victim between $5 and $10 dollars. Benavides admitted that he abused the victim until she was 13-years-old.

Sentencing is scheduled for April 14, 2010.

The prosecution was handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Angela Schmidt of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, former Criminal Division Trial Attorney Myesha Braden and Michael Yoon of the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section. The Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs provided significant assistance in this matter. The case was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Chilean Policia de Investigation.

WASHINGTON – The Justice Department announced today that it has reached a settlement agreement with the Alameda County, Calif., Sheriff’s Office, under which it will provide sign language interpreters and other auxiliary aids and services to arrestees, detainees, suspects, victims, witnesses, complainants and visitors who are deaf, hard of hearing or deaf-blind at two jails. The agreement covers Santa Rita Jail and Glynn E. Dyer Jail in Dublin, Calif., and Oakland, Calif., respectively.

"Effective communication in law enforcement is critical to ensure all parties have equal access to the information regarding their rights," said Thomas E. Perez, Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. "This agreement requires Alameda County’s law enforcement officers to take the steps necessary to effectively communicate with individuals who are deaf-blind in their community."

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires "public entities," such as the sheriff’s office, to ensure effective communication with qualified individuals with disabilities. Under this agreement, a person who is deaf or hard of hearing will be able to benefit from the same services as every other arrestee, detainee, suspect, victim, witness, complainant and visitor. In tactile interpreting (also known as deaf-blind interpreting) persons who are deaf-blind place their hands over the hands of the interpreter, in order to read signs through touch and movement.

The agreement requires the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office to:

• Establish nondiscriminatory policies for providing effective communication for people with communication disabilities, including the provision of sign language interpreters;
• Post a notice of the policy in its waiting rooms;
• Train staff on the policies; and
• Ensure that appropriate auxiliary aids and services, including qualified interpreters, and specifically tactile interpreters, are made available to all individuals who are deaf, hard of hearing, or deaf-blind.

The Justice Department's investigation of the sheriff’s office was in response to a complaint filed by a man who is deaf and blind, after the office failed to provide him with a tactile interpreter when the man was arrested and during his two-day incarceration. In his complaint, he alleged that a tactile interpreter was never provided to him during his incarceration when it was necessary to achieve effective communication with him.

More information about the ADA or this agreement is available at the Justice Department’s toll-free ADA Information Line at 1-800-514-0301 or 1-800-514-0383 (TTY) and at www.ada.gov.

Deputy Associate Attorney General Karol V. Mason, Acting Director for the Office on Violence Against Women (OVW) Catherine Pierce, and actress and advocate Mariska Hargitay addressed nearly 300 attendees today at theServices-Training-Officers-Prosecutors (STOP) Conference in San Francisco. The four-day conference, which began Sunday, brings together STOP grant administrators representing the offices of the governor, attorney general, or other state criminal justice agency from every state government and territory in the nation. Also in attendance are domestic violence and sexual assault coalition representatives from every state and territory.

"The Justice Department is committed to working with federal, state, local and tribal partners to ensure that all communities – particularly those that have been chronically neglected – are given the resources and support they need," said Deputy Associate Attorney General Mason. "We need your help to not only raise awareness, but to truly make change. Each community must take an active role in defining their response to violence against women."

"In the past 15 years since the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) was signed into law, countless lives have been saved, the voices of survivors have been heard, and families have been protected. But there is still much more to be done. We have federal resources and we have a strong commitment from this administration, but that is not enough. We need to work together to bring about a significant shift in our culture," said Acting Director Pierce.

"I have seen survivors find their way back to lives of possibility, hope and joy, and I am so proud to be part of a movement that will change the way we talk about and behave around these epidemics," said Hargitay, best known for her role on NBC’s Law and Order: Special Victim’s Unit, and president and founder of the Joyful Heart Foundation. "Through your work, you strengthen the possibility of healing for a survivor because you are acknowledging, responding to, and giving your all to do something about the violence and injustice they have suffered. That is why I am so moved by your collective commitment: because it has the power to heal."

The Justice Department announced Monday that President Obama’s FY2011 budget request provides $461 million for OVW to provide communities with resources to combat sexual assault and violence against women. This includes $30 million for the Sexual Assault Services Program and $50 million for the Legal Assistance for Victims Program. An additional $100 million is also allocated within the Crime Victims Fund, which is administered through the Department’s Office for Victims of Crime, to specifically aid victims of violence against women.

STOP grant administrators serve as the liaison between OVW and the states, oversee the administration of STOP funding and provide statewide leadership on violence against women intervention efforts. The STOP formula grant program, the largest single funding stream administered by OVW, promotes a coordinated, multidisciplinary approach to enhancing advocacy and improving the criminal justice system’s response to violent crimes against women. It encourages the development and improvement of effective law enforcement and prosecution strategies to address violent crimes against women and of advocacy and services in cases involving violent crimes against women.

The Justice Department has launched a year-long commemoration of the 15th anniversary of VAWA, working to raise public awareness on issues around violence against women, to build and renew coalitions among federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement and victim services communities, and to end stalking, sexual assault, domestic and dating violence for men, women and children across the country. As part of this effort, the department has encouraged the more than 100 celebrity allies, including Hargitay, who have lent their names in support of the department’s "Join the List" initiative to raise awareness with their fans, through Web and fan sites, and social networking profiles.

 

WASHINGTON – Atricure Inc., a medical device manufacturer, has agreed to pay the United States $3.76 million to resolve civil claims in connection with the alleged promotion of its surgical ablation devices, the Justice Department announced today. Surgical ablation devices use focused energy to create controlled lesions or scar tissue on a patient’s heart or other organs.

The settlement resolves allegations that the West Chester, Ohio-based company marketed its medical devices to treat atrial fibrillation (the most common cardiac arrhythmia or abnormal heart rhythm), a use that is not approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Atricure also allegedly promoted expensive heart surgery using the company’s devices when less invasive alternatives were appropriate, advised hospitals to up-code surgical procedures using the company’s devices to inflate Medicare reimbursement, and paid kickbacks to health care providers to use its devices. The United States asserted that by engaging in this conduct, Atricure knowingly violated the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act and caused the submission of false and fraudulent claims in violation of the False Claims Act.

"This settlement reflects our commitment to enforce the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act and protect Medicare from the improper marketing practices of Atricure and other medical device manufacturers," said Tony West, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division of the Department of Justice. "We will continue to work with our partners at the Department of Health and Human Services Inspector General’s Office and the FDA Office of Chief Counsel to preserve the integrity of our public health programs."

The allegations were made against Atricure in a lawsuit filed under the qui tam or whistleblower provisions of the False Claims Act, which permit private citizens, called "relators," to bring lawsuits on behalf of the United States and receive a portion of the proceeds of any settlement or judgment. The relator will receive a total of $625,000 as the statutory share of the current settlement.

"The misuse of medical devices has the potential of exposing patients to dangerous procedures and taxpayers to payment of unwarranted claims against Medicare," said Tim Johnson, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Texas. "This settlement demonstrates the government’s commitment to maintaining safe and affordable health care for its citizens."

Assistant Attorney General West noted that the settlement with Atricure resulted from a coordinated effort by the Justice Department’s Civil Division, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas, the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General, and the FDA Office of Chief Counsel.

This settlement is part of the government’s emphasis on combating health care fraud. One of the most powerful tools in that effort is the False Claims Act, which the Justice Department has used to recover approximately $2.2 billion since January 2009 in cases involving fraud against federal health care programs. The Justice Department’s total recoveries in False Claims Act cases since January 2009 have topped $3 billion.

WASHINGTON – A federal jury has convicted an Arlington, Texas, husband and wife, Emmanuel and Ngozi Nnaji, of engaging in a nine-year scheme to compel the labor of a Nigerian victim as their domestic servant, the Justice Department announced today. The jury found the defendants guilty of conspiracy, forced labor, document servitude, alien harboring and false statements. Ngozi and Emmanuel Nnaji each face a maximum sentence of up to 55 years in prison.

According to the evidence at trial, Emmanuel Nnaji and Ngozi Nnaji enticed a widowed Nigerian mother of six to come to the United States to be their domestic servant by falsely promising a salary and support for her children, who she was struggling to support.

" Holding other human beings in servitude against their will is a violation of human rights that will not be tolerated in our free society, " stated Thomas E. Perez, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division. " This prosecution demonstrates our commitment to combating human trafficking in all its forms, vindicating the rights of trafficking victims and bringing human traffickers to justice. "

 

James T. Jacks, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas, said, "We are pleased that this North Texas jury was able to return such a swift verdict, validating the hard work of the Civil Rights Division and the Federal Bureau of Investigation."

 

FBI, Dallas Division Special Agent in Charge Robert Casey said, "The crimes proven in this case underscore the importance of enforcing the nation's Civil Rights laws, and the FBI is firmly committed to that enforcement. The FBI's pursuit of this investigation should send a clear message to those who would hold another human being in criminal servitude."

 

The defendants procured fraudulent immigration documents, confiscated the victim’s documents, harbored her in their home, compelled her to work long hours with no days off for little or no pay, used a scheme to isolate her and restrict her communications, withheld her documents and pay, and refused her requests to return home or be paid. The defendants also failed to provide support for the victim’s six children in Nigeria, limited and monitored contact with her family in Nigeria, isolated her from normal society in the United States, and refused to allow her to regularly attend church. According to the evidence at trial, Emmanuel Nnaji sexually assaulted the victim and made her fearful to call the police.

This case was investigated by the FBI and prosecuted by Trial Attorney Susan L. French and Michael J. Frank of the Civil Rights Division’s Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit.

 

New agreements regarding extradition and mutual legal assistance between the European Union (EU) and the United States enter into force today, the Department of Justice announced.  The agreements represent a milestone in cooperation on criminal matters between the EU, along with its Member States, and the United States.  The agreements will further strengthen common efforts in the fight against terrorism and transnational crime by enabling the use of modern tools of cooperation between U.S. and EU Member States’ authorities.

 

The negotiations for the agreements were initiated following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks as a means to improve the cooperation in criminal matters between the EU Member States and the United States.  In addition to the two overarching agreements with the EU, the United States and each of the EU Member States have either entered into new agreements or adopted changes to current extradition and mutual legal assistance agreements to meet the new requirements.  In total, 56 new treaties were negotiated, and the U.S. Senate gave advice and consent to them in fall 2008.  After EU Member States completed their ratifications, Attorney General Eric Holder and the Swedish Minister of Justice Beatrice Ask, representing the Swedish Presidency of the EU, exchanged the instruments of ratification on behalf of the United States and the EU, respectively, at the U.S. and EU Justice and Home Affairs Ministerial meeting in Washington on Oct. 28, 2009. The agreements, by their terms, enter into force today.

 

The agreement on extradition, among other things: replaces lists of offenses that are deemed extraditable with a modern dual criminality standard; contains measures to streamline the exchange of information and transmission of documents; sets rules for determining priority in competing requests for surrender of a fugitive; and contains a provision allowing extradition to be conditioned on non-application of the death penalty.   

 

The agreement on mutual legal assistance enhances and modernizes law enforcement and judicial cooperation by, among other things allowing prompt identification of financial account information in criminal investigations; permitting the acquisition of evidence, including testimony, by means of video conferencing; and authorizing the participation of U.S. criminal investigators and prosecutors in joint investigative teams in the EU.

 

WASHINGTON - Six alleged members or associates of the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas (ABT) have been indicted and arrested for their alleged roles in the 2007 murder of two people in Nacogdoches County, Texas, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney John M. Bales of the Eastern District of Texas. 

The indictment, returned by the federal grand jury on Jan. 21, 2010, and unsealed today, charges the six defendants with violent crimes in aid of racketeering activity.  These activities include conspiracy to commit murder and murder.  Additional charges of carrying a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence and accessory after the fact in the murders were also filed against several individuals.

According to the indictment, the ABT is a powerful race-based state-wide organization that operates inside and outside of state and federal prisons throughout Texas and the United States.  The ABT was established in the early 1980’s within the Texas prison system.  It modeled itself after and adopted many of the precepts and writings of the Aryan Brotherhood, a California-based prison gang that was formed in the California prison system during the 1960’s.  According to the indictment, previously the ABT was primarily concerned with the protection of white inmates and white supremacy/separatism.  Over time, the ABT has expanded its focus more towards a criminal enterprise to include illegal activities for profit.

The ABT enforces its rules and promotes discipline among its members, prospects and associates through murder, attempted murder, conspiracy to murder, assault, robbery and threats against those who violate the rules or pose a threat to the enterprise.  Members, and oftentimes associates, are required to follow the orders of higher-ranking members, often referred to as a “direct orders.”

The indictment alleges that a member of the Aryan Brotherhood, David Clyde Mitchamore Jr., aka “Super Dave,” and his girlfriend, Christie Rochelle Brown, were murdered by Charles Cameron Frazier, aka “Mojo,” and Brent Nicholas Stalsby, aka “Twist,” because Mitchamore failed to repay an outstanding debt he allegedly owed to Carl Richard Carver, an alleged general in the Aryan Brotherhood.   The indictment alleges that after Mitchamore was killed, Frazier and Stalsby murdered Brown because they did not want to leave any witnesses to Mitchamore’s killing.  The bodies of Mitchamore and Brown were discovered in Nacogdoches County on Aug. 10, 2007.

The following individuals were taken into custody today without incident. 

• Carl Richard Carver, aka “C.C.”, 43, of Lufkin, Texas, is charged with conspiracy to commit murder and murder;
• Charles Cameron Frazier, aka “Mojo”, 28, of Nacogdoches, Texas, is charged with conspiracy to commit murder, two counts of murder, two counts of carrying a firearm during a crime of violence and being a felon in possession of a firearm;
• Brent Nicholas Stalsby, aka “Twist”, 29, of Lufkin, is charged with conspiracy to commit murder, two counts of murder, two counts of carrying a firearm during a crime of violence and being a felon in possession of a firearm;
• Terry Lynn Stalsby, aka “Peaches”, 28, of Lufkin, is charged with two counts of accessory after the fact;
• April Nicole Flanagan, 30, of Lufkin, is charged with conspiracy to commit murder, murder and accessory after the fact;
• Carrie Christine Wood, 37, of Lufkin, is charged with conspiracy to commit murder, and murder.

Carver, Frazier and Brent Stalsby appeared today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Keith Giblin.  Wood, Flanagan and Terry Stalsby will make their initial appearances tomorrow before Judge Giblin.  The punishment range for these offenses includes life in prison or the death penalty.

The case is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Texas – Lufkin Office and the Criminal Division’s Gang Unit, in full cooperation with the Nacogdoches County District Attorney’s Office. This case is being investigated by the FBI; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration; the National Gang Targeting, Enforcement & Coordination Center (Gang-TECC); the National Gang Intelligence Center; the Nacogdoches Sheriff's Department; the Nacogdoches Police Department; the Angelina County, Texas, Sheriff's Department; the Lufkin Police Department; the Texas Department of Public Safety; and the Texas Rangers.

An indictment is not evidence of guilt.  All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

A California man was found guilty on Jan. 29, 2010, of one count of possessing and three counts of receiving child pornography, Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner of the Eastern District of California announced today. Elden Ray Cibart, 60, was found guilty by Senior U.S. District Court Judge William B. Shubb after an eight-day bench trial.

Evidence presented at trial showed that Cibart had been downloading and saving child pornographic images and videos from Internet news groups to his computers since before 2001.  On Jan.18, 2006, officers from the Redding, Calif., Police Department went to Cibart’s home to investigate allegations that Cibart was involved in such activity. According to trial evidence, Cibart allowed the police officers to search one of his computers and they found child pornography. Forensic evidence offered at trial revealed that in addition to possessing images on Jan. 18, 2006, Cibart had downloaded pornographic video files to his computer hard drive on three separate days just before law enforcement officers visited his house.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Laurel White of the Eastern District of California and Trial Attorney Mi Yung C. Park of the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS). The case was investigated by the Redding Police Department, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and CEOS’s High Technology Investigative Unit.

The owners and operators of a Los Angeles-area durable medical equipment (DME) company were sentenced to prison today in connection with an approximately $1 million power wheelchair fraud scheme, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division; George S. Cardona, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California; Steven Martinez, Assistant Director In Charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office; and Glenn R. Ferry, Special Agent-in-Charge for the Los Angeles Region of the Office of Inspector General (OIG) for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

Gevork Kartashyan, 45, and Eliza Shubaralyan, 42, were each sentenced to serve two years in prison by U.S. District Judge Stephen V. Wilson of the Central District of California. In addition, Kartashyan and Shubaralyan were ordered to serve three years of supervised release following their prison terms and to pay $400,000 in restitution, jointly and severally.

Kartashyan and Shubaralyan, who are married, were convicted at a July 2009 trial in federal court in Los Angeles. Kartashyan was found guilty of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and health care fraud, and Shubaralyan was found guilty of health care fraud. At trial, the evidence showed that Kartashyan and Shubaralyan, through their company CHH Medical Supply, billed Medicare $949,859 and were paid $597,750 as a result of the billing. According to evidence presented at trial, virtually all the billing was for medically unnecessary power wheelchairs and wheelchair accessories.

At trial, elderly Medicare beneficiaries testified about how they were recruited into the scheme. According to testimony, the beneficiaries were taken to Los Angeles-area medical clinics, where they turned over their Medicare numbers and other personal identifying information. Some beneficiaries testified that they were promised vitamins, diabetic shoes and other items that they never received, in return for providing their beneficiary numbers. According to evidence presented at trial, these clinics were in the business of generating fraudulent power wheelchair prescriptions that could be sold to DME company owners, who then billed Medicare for the wheelchairs. Many of the beneficiaries did not know they were getting a power wheelchair until it was delivered by CHH Medical Supply. All of the beneficiaries testified that they did not need or use the power wheelchairs.

Five physicians testified at trial that they never authorized or approved the power wheelchair prescriptions written under their names. Three of these physicians testified that they never worked at the clinics listed on the phony prescription pads.

According to testimony at trial, Kartashyan regularly purchased power wheelchair prescriptions. The evidence also showed that after the power wheelchairs were delivered, Kartashyan generated phony forms stating that the beneficiaries’ homes were appropriate for the use of a power wheelchair, even though no home assessment was conducted.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant Chief John S. (Jay) Darden and Trial Attorney Jonathan T. Baum of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section. The case was brought as part of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, supervised by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California and the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section, with investigatory assistance from the FBI, HHS-OIG and the California Department of Justice, Bureau of Medi-Cal Fraud and Elder Abuse. Since their inception in March 2007, Strike Force operations in seven districts have obtained indictments of more than 500 individuals who collectively have falsely billed the Medicare program for more than $1 billion. In addition, HHS’s Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, working in conjunction with the HHS-OIG, are taking steps to increase accountability and decrease the presence of fraudulent providers.

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

WASHINGTON – Attorney General Eric Holder announced today that President Obama’s Fiscal Year (FY) 2011 budget proposal totals $29.2 billion for the Department of Justice (DOJ) to increase support for the department’s national security and traditional law enforcement missions, renewed focus on economic crime and financial fraud, while strengthening state, local and tribal public safety efforts.  The request represents a 5.4 percent increase in budget authority and an increase of 2,880 positions over the FY 2010 enacted appropriation. 

“The President’s budget request demonstrates a strong commitment to protect America and ensure the safety, security and rights of its citizens.  The budget provides the department with the means necessary to protect our national security, bolster our traditional missions, and prevent and reduce crime in tandem with our state, local, tribal and community partners,” said Attorney General Holder.  “We have an obligation to protect our country in smart, reliable ways at every level, be it federal, state, local or tribal.  We will be aggressive in our fight against global terrorism while maintaining our collective vigilance in fighting crime and enforcing civil rights and the rule of law."

The $29.2 billion budget request funds base operations and activities for all DOJ components and includes program enhancements totaling $2 billion.  The program increases address President Obama’s and Attorney General Holder’s key priorities.  The budget provides critical funding for the department’s essential national security and counterintelligence programs, as well as support for its vigorous efforts to prevent, investigate and prosecute financial, mortgage and health care fraud, and its prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven strategy to combat the Mexican drug cartels and protection of the southwest border.  The budget also provides funding for an expansion of the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) hiring program and resources for the department’s efforts to ensure that prison and detention programs are adequately funded and effective prisoner re-entry programs are provided.
 
FY 2011 program increases and key priorities include:

• $300.6 million increase to strengthen national security and counter the threat of terrorism;
• $234.6 million increase to defend the interests of the United States, including fighting financial fraud;
• $121.9 million increase to reduce violent crime and drug trafficking;
• $722.5 million increase to assist state, local and tribal law enforcement, including the Adam Walsh Act;
• $19.8 million increase to protect civil rights and vulnerable populations;
• $15 million increase to combat international organized crime;
• $527.5 million increase to maintain prisons, detention and parole services and judicial and courthouse security;
• $11 million increase to enforce immigration laws; and
• $448.8 million in total resources to ensure public safety in Indian Country.

Strengthen National Security and Counter the Threat of Terrorism

The FY 2011 Budget requests a $300.6 million increase, including 440 new positions (126 agents and 15 attorneys), to strengthen national security and counter the threat of terrorism.  This represents a five percent increase in counterterrorism funding and a nine percent increase in intelligence resources over the FY 2010 levels.  Overall, the FY 2011 budget request dedicates 15 percent of the department’s total discretionary budget authority to national security efforts.  These funds are needed to allow the department to identify, track and defeat terrorists operating in the United States and overseas, and to fortify our intelligence analysis capabilities.

Continued advances in high speed telecommunications, computers and other technologies are creating new opportunities for terrorists and criminals.  New vulnerabilities and challenges in law enforcement, including the need to ensure cyber security, require substantial investment in technology and human capital.  This request will enable the department to address emerging threats and maintain the security of the nation. 

For more information, view the Strengthen National Security and Counter the Threat of Terrorism Fact Sheet at http://www.justice.gov/jmd/2011factsheets/

Defend the Interests of the United States including Aggressive Pursuit of Financial Fraud and other Economic Crimes

The FY 2011 Budget requests a $234.6 million increase, including 708 new positions (143 agents and 157 attorneys), to restore confidence in our markets, protect the federal treasury and defend the interests of the U.S. Government.  This includes an additional $96.8 million for economic fraud enforcement, which is a 23 percent increase over the FY 2010 level.  This increase will continue the department’s efforts to aggressively pursue traditional law enforcement and litigation activities ranging from mortgage fraud, corporate fraud and other economic crimes, to other mission-critical activities that support the overall functioning and efficiency of the department.

In addition, the Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) budget requests a $60.2 million increase specifically for DOJ components involved in the investigation and litigation of health care fraud cases.  This increase will further the efforts of the Health Care Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Action Team (HEAT) initiative, which was announced last year by Attorney General Holder and HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.  

The department’s improved ability to collect debts, enforce tax laws and prosecute fraud will likely have high rates of return on the federal government’s investment of resources through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.  This request will enable the department to help protect American savers and investors, the national financial market, and the U.S. Treasury.

For more information, view the Restore Confidence in our Markets, Protect the Federal Fisc, and Defend the Interests of the United States Fact Sheet at http://www.justice.gov/jmd/2011factsheets/

Reduce Violent Crime and Drug Trafficking

The FY 2011 Budget requests a $121.9 million increase, including 60 new positions (28 agents and 6 attorneys), to reduce the threat, incidence and prevalence of violent crime and drug trafficking.  Approximately $5 billion, or 17 percent, of the department’s total budget is dedicated to target these growing problems, including $1 billion for federal law enforcement to help address violent crime and $4 billion for federal drug enforcement and prosecution efforts.  In addition, resources to assist DOJ’s state, local and tribal law enforcement partners combat violent crime and drugs are requested within the department’s grant programs.

This increase includes funding for several programs to protect the southwest border, including a significant expansion of and investment in the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force Program, which is the centerpiece of the department’s drug enforcement and counternarcotics efforts.  It also includes funding for Project Gunrunner, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ (ATF) southwest border firearms trafficking enforcement program; expanded operational capability at the Drug Enforcement Agency’s (DEA) El Paso Intelligence Center; improved intelligence exploitation ability along the southwest border and expanded drug enforcement operations in Mexico.

For more information, view the Reduce the Threat, Incidence and Prevalence of Violent Crime and Drug Trafficking Fact Sheet at http://www.justice.gov/jmd/2011factsheets/

Assist State, Local and Tribal Law Enforcement, including the Adam Walsh Act

The FY 2011 Budget requests a $722.5 million increase for state, local and tribal law enforcement assistance, bringing total program funding to $3.4 billion, which represents 12 percent of the department’s total budget authority.  These funds will allow the department to substantially increase support to state, local and tribal police agencies that fight violent crime, combat violence against women and support victim programs.  While a decrease of $188 million (five percent) is presented for state, local and tribal assistance compared to the FY 2010 enacted funding level, the FY 2011 Budget does not maintain funding for earmarks, as they bypass the competitive and formula grant processes designed to ensure that those states, communities and organizations most in need of assistance will receive it.  Without $487 million in FY 2010 earmarks, state, local and tribal law enforcement assistance represents a 10 percent increase ($300 million) above the FY 2010 funding level.

The department’s request includes an additional $302 million for the COPS hiring program, bringing total program funding to $600 million.  These funds, in the form of competitive grants, will enable state and local police agencies to increase the number of officers available for targeted patrol and other proven strategies designed to prevent and reduce crime. 

The department requests a total of $461 million for the Office on Violence Against Women in order to provide communities with resources to combat sexual assault and violence against women.  This request includes a total of $30 million for the Sexual Assault Services Program and a total of $50 million for the Legal Assistance for Victims Program.

The department requests a total of $2.2 billion for the Office of Justice Programs.  This request includes $40 million for a new Byrne Criminal Justice Innovation Program; $10 million for a smart policing initiative; $10 million to promote smart probation initiatives; $20 million to continue implementation of the Adam Walsh Act of 2006, which established national standards for sex offender registration and notification; $37 million to assist children exposed to violence; and over $25 million, as well as a three percent grant set-aside ($55.8 million), to expand criminal justice research and statistical data gathering efforts.

For more information, view the Assist State, Local and Tribal Law Enforcement Fact Sheet at http://www.justice.gov/jmd/2011factsheets/

Protect Civil Rights and Vulnerable Populations

The FY 2011 Budget requests a $19.8 million increase, including 99 new positions (4 agents and 43 attorneys), to protect civil rights and vulnerable populations.  This increase will allow the department to strengthen its focus on enforcing fair lending and housing laws, preventing employment discrimination, protecting voting rights, and prosecuting hate crimes.  It will also expand resources for protecting children from exploitation, tracking convicted sex offenders, recovering missing and abducted children, and combating sex tourism.

This request will enable the department to reinforce its work in protecting civil rights and vulnerable populations by investigating and litigating cases of discrimination, supporting community outreach programs and training efforts, and providing guidance to state, local and tribal agencies.

For more information, view the Protecting Civil Rights and Vulnerable Populations Fact Sheet at http://www.justice.gov/jmd/2011factsheets/

Combat International Organized Crime

The FY 2011 Budget requests a $15 million increase, including 18 new positions (3 agents and 7 attorneys), to combat international organized crime through continued implementation of the International Organized Crime Strategy.  The Law Enforcement Strategy to Combat International Organized Crime was implemented by the Attorney General’s Organized Crime Council in April 2008 to modernize law enforcement’s approach to international organized crime.  This request supports a unified strategy to dismantle international criminal organizations that have become exponentially more sophisticated.

This request will enable the department to combat the many threats posed by international organized crime entities, including cyber and intellectual property crimes and efforts to manipulate our financial, securities and commodities markets.

For more information, view the Combat International Organized Crime Fact Sheet at http://www.justice.gov/jmd/2011factsheets/

Maintain Prisons and Judicial Security

The FY 2011 Budget requests a $527.5 million increase to maintain prison, detention and parole functions, as well as to provide judicial and courthouse security.  This request includes increases for the Bureau of Prisons (BOP), the Office of the Federal Detention Trustee (OFDT), the U.S. Parole Commission (USPC) and the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS). 

This increase will enable these agencies to continue to confine offenders in the controlled environments of prisons and contract- or community-based facilities.  It also funds self-improvement opportunities for offenders to help them become law-abiding citizens as well as increased funding for Second Chance Act initiatives and re-entry programs to reduce recidivism.   Second Chance Act initiatives include expanded transitional housing, BOP inmate correctional programs, and the District of Columbia Recidivism Reduction and Re-entry Enhancement, a new program the USPC will implement in FY 2011.

This request will enable the department to maintain and strengthen its focus on the traditional missions of law enforcement, the judicial process and federal prison and detention systems.  Overall, the FY 2011 Budget requests $9 billion of the Department’s total budget authority for these efforts.

For more information, view the Maintain Prisons, Detention, Parole and Judicial and Courthouse Security Fact Sheet at http://www.justice.gov/jmd/2011factsheets/

Enforce Immigration Laws

The FY 2011 Budget requests an $11 million increase, including 125 new positions (31 attorneys), to enforce immigration laws, primarily through the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR).  This increase will fund 21 immigration judge teams and 10 Board of Immigration Appeals attorneys, which will allow EOIR to keep pace with the caseload emanating from the Department of Homeland Security.  These resources are necessary to ensure that the nation’s approach to immigration enforcement is reasonable, effective and humane.

For more information, view the Enforce Immigration Laws Fact Sheet at http://www.justice.gov/jmd/2011factsheets/

Ensure Public Safety in Indian Country

The FY 2011 President’s Budget requests $448.8 million in total resources for public safety initiatives for tribal communities.  New investments include significant grant resources for addressing a broad range of criminal justice issues and additional FBI agents and forensic support to help tribal communities combat illegal drug use, trafficking and violent crime.  There are over 56 million acres of Indian Country and more than 560 federally-recognized Indian tribes.  The Major Crimes Act provides federal criminal jurisdiction over certain specified major crimes if the offender is Indian, while tribal courts retain jurisdiction for conduct that might constitute a lesser offense.  Thus, federal investigation and prosecution of felonies in Indian Country cannot be deferred to a local jurisdiction and therefore federal law enforcement is both the first and only avenue of protection for the victims of these crimes.
 
For more information, view the Indian Country Public Safety Initiatives Information Sheet at http://www.justice.gov/jmd/2011factsheets/

Attorney General Eric Holder today announced the appointment of three new U.S. Attorneys to serve on the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee (AGAC): Sanford Coats of the Western District of Oklahoma; Steven M. Dettelbach of the Northern District of Ohio; and Jim Letten of the Eastern District of Louisiana.

 

“I welcome the addition of these U.S. Attorneys to the AGAC, which plays a critical role in the department. I will rely heavily on them as we work to further the department’s efforts to reduce violent crime and gang violence, promote civil rights, ensure fairness in the marketplace and above all, preserve our national security,” said Attorney General Holder.

 

The AGAC, chaired by U.S. Attorney for the District of Minnesota B. Todd Jones, was created in 1973. The committee, which reports to the Attorney General through the Deputy Attorney General, represents the voice of the U.S. Attorneys and provides advice and counsel to the Attorney General on policy, management and operational issues impacting the Offices of the U.S. Attorneys.

A brief bio on each appointee is below:

 

Sanford Coats was presidentially appointed U.S. for the Western District of Oklahoma on Dec. 30, 2009. Prior to his appointment he served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Oklahoma (2004-2009); Assistant U.S. Attorney on detail for the Eastern District of Louisiana (2007), and an associate attorney with Fellers, Snider, Blankenship, Bailey & Tippens (1999-2003).

 

Steven Dettelbach was presidentially appointed U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio on Sept. 17, 2009. He previously served as a partner with Baker & Hostetler LLP (2006-2009); Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio (2003-2006); Counsel to the Committee on the Judiciary, U.S. Senate (2001-2003); Assistant U.S. Attorney (1997-1999) and Deputy Chief for the Southern Division, (1997-2001), District of Maryland; trial attorney (1992-1996) and Acting Deputy Chief (1996-1997), Civil Rights Division, Department of Justice; and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney, District of Columbia (1993). Dettelbach serves as Chair of the AGAC’s Civil Rights Subcommittee.

 

Jim Letten was presidentially appointed U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Louisiana in 2005 by then-President George W. Bush. He was the court appointed U.S. Attorney from August 2001-2005, and Attorney General appointed from April - August 2001. Letten served as First Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Louisiana (1994-2001), and Assistant U.S. Attorney and Chief of the Organized Crime Strike Force Unit (1990-1994). In 2005, Letten was awarded the 2005 U.S. Attorney General’s Medallion for Distinguished Service recognizing his leadership following the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. Letten serves on the AGAC’s Terrorism and National Security Subcommittee, Violent and Organized Crime Subcommittee and Environmental Issues Working Group.

 

The full Committee is listed below:

B. Todd Jones, U.S. Attorney, District of Minnesota, Chair

Paul J. Fishman, U.S. Attorney, District of New Jersey, Vice Chair

Preet Bharara, U.S. Attorney, Southern District of New York

Dennis Burke, U.S. Attorney, District of Arizona

Sanford C. Coats, U.S. Attorney, Western District of Oklahoma

Steven M. Dettelbach, U.S. Attorney, Northern District of Ohio

Jenny Durkan, U.S. Attorney, Western District of Washington

Patrick J. Fitzgerald, U.S. Attorney, Northern District of Illinois

Jim Letten, U.S. Attorney, Eastern District of Louisiana

Neil H. MacBride, U.S. Attorney, Eastern District of Virginia

Peter F. Neronha, U.S. Attorney, District of Rhode Island

Joyce White Vance, U.S. Attorney, Northern District of Alabama

Channing D. Phillips, Acting U.S. Attorney, ex officio, District of Columbia

John S. Davis, Criminal Chief, Eastern District of Virginia

Gretchen Witt, Civil Chief, District of New Hampshire

 

WASHINGTON – The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division today announced that it has filed a motion for immediate relief to protect individuals confined in seven state-run psychiatric hospitals in Georgia from the imminent and serious threat of harm to their lives, health and safety. The motion, filed late yesterday, seeks appointment of a monitor who will set binding targets and timetables for reducing the number of residents at the hospitals and expanding appropriate community based services.

A year ago, the state of Georgia and the Justice Department entered into an agreement to ensure that individuals in the hospitals were served in the most appropriate integrated settings and that unlawful conditions in the hospitals were remedied. The agreement was filed in United States v. Georgia, and the parties asked U.S. District Judge Charles A. Pannell Jr. to approve the agreement. However, the court has not yet approved the agreement.

The Justice Department has been monitoring conditions in the hospitals and has found that the facilities continue to be dangerous and that hundreds of individuals who could and should be served in the community remain institutionalized and continue to be exposed to dangerous conditions. Georgia continues to fail to serve patients in the most integrated setting appropriate to their needs, and preventable deaths, suicides and assaults continue to occur with alarming frequency in the hospitals.

"States responsible for the care of individuals living in state run facilities have a duty to protect them from harm. Individuals in Georgia’s hospitals are being subjected to a widespread pattern of violence and are not being protected from preventable deaths," said Thomas E. Perez, Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Civil Rights Division. "We need quick action to protect these individuals."

More than a decade ago, in Olmstead v. L.C., the Supreme Court found that Georgia Regional Hospital in Atlanta was impermissibly segregating two individuals with disabilities in that hospital when they could have been served in more integrated settings. The Supreme Court ordered states to serve individuals with disabilities in the most integrated settings appropriate to their needs. In the same hospital involved in that landmark case, and the other six run by Georgia, the state continues to impermissibly segregate hundreds of individuals.

In addition to the unlawful segregation, individuals in the hospitals are exposed to egregious harm. Some examples include:

• In 2009, the state failed to adequately supervise an individual who had killed previously. The individual assaulted and killed another individual in the hospital.
• In 2008, hospital staff failed to intervene in a fight between individuals. One of the individuals was knocked unconscious and died a few days later from blunt force trauma to the head.
• In 2009, staff failed to adequately supervise an individual who raped another individual.
• In 2009, an individual committed suicide by tipping his bed up and hanging himself from the upended bed. The Justice Department’s experts had repeatedly warned hospital staff during on-site visits of the dangers posed by these beds that were not bolted to the floor.
• This month, the state failed to adequately supervise an individual who expressed suicidal thoughts the day before she committed suicide.

The seven hospitals include East Central Regional Hospital, Georgia Regional Hospital at Savannah, Georgia Regional Hospital at Atlanta, Southwestern State Hospital, Central State Hospital, West Central Georgia Regional Hospital and Northwest Georgia Regional Hospital.

The Civil Rights Division is authorized to conduct investigations under the Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act (CRIPA) and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). CRIPA authorizes the Attorney General to investigate conditions of confinement in certain institutions owned or operated by, or on behalf of, state and local governments. In addition to psychiatric hospitals, these institutions include nursing homes, residential facilities serving persons with developmental disabilities, jails, prisons and juvenile correctional facilities. CRIPA’s focus is on systemic deficiencies rather than individual, isolated problems. The ADA authorizes the Attorney General to investigate whether a state is serving individuals in the most integrated settings appropriate to their needs. Please visit http://www.justice.gov/crt to learn more about CRIPA, the ADA and other laws enforced by the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division.

The motion for immediate relief was filed by Mary Bohan, Timothy Mygatt, Robert Koch and Emily Gunston, Trial Attorneys in the Special Litigation Section of the Civil Rights Division.