U.S. Department of Justice
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Recent News About U.S. Department of Justice
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Justice Department announces update in San Antonio smuggling case
U.S. Attorney Jaime Esparza for the Western District of Texas held a joint press conference with Joint Task Force Alpha Co-Directors Ian Hanna and Jim Hepburn to discuss a significant arrest in the case regarding the 2022 human smuggling incident that resulted in the death of 53 men, women, and children, along with 11 injured. Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri, head of the Criminal Division, provided remarks. -
Tennessee man pleads guilty to Clean Water Act violation
On Aug. 20, Christopher Domermuth, 49, and Domermuth Environmental Services LLC (DES), based in Knoxville, Tennessee, both pleaded guilty to violating the Clean Water Act by knowingly discharging pollutants into a navigable waterway without a permit. Sentencing has been set for Dec. 12 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee at Knoxville. -
Seven charged in alleged $20M embezzlement scheme involving Boilermakers Union
A federal grand jury in Kansas has indicted seven individuals, including five current and former high-ranking officers of the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, Iron Ship Builders, Blacksmiths, Forgers and Helpers (Boilermakers Union), for their alleged involvement in a $20 million embezzlement scheme spanning 15 years. -
Major operation dismantles human smuggling network linked to Texas mass casualty event
On Wednesday, extensive coordination between the Justice Department and its domestic and international partners resulted in a major enforcement operation that dismantled a human smuggling network based in Guatemala. In June 2022, this network smuggled people into the United States on a journey that ended with the deaths of 53 migrants in a tractor-trailer in San Antonio, Texas. Twenty-one of the deceased migrants were Guatemalan. -
Three men plead guilty in multimillion-dollar tax refund scheme
Christopher Johnson of Orlando, Florida, and Jasen Harvey of Tampa, Florida, pleaded guilty yesterday to conspiring to defraud the United States by promoting a tax fraud scheme called the “Note Program.” -
OIP announces new FOIA training dates for fiscal year 2025
The Office of Information Policy (OIP) has announced new dates for FOIA training sessions for the first half of Fiscal Year 2025. As part of its mandate to promote agency compliance with the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), OIP offers various training opportunities throughout the year aimed at agency FOIA professionals and individuals with FOIA responsibilities. -
Justice Department announces assessment of Charlottesville Police under collaborative reform initiative
The Justice Department’s Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office) announced an organizational assessment of the Charlottesville, Virginia, Police Department through its Collaborative Reform Initiative. Over the next year, the Charlottesville Police Department will collaborate with the COPS Office Collaborative Reform Initiative team to focus on community policing/problem solving, crime analysis/crime prevention, employee wellness, training, development and retention, resource analysis/strategic planning, and accountability, oversight and evaluation. -
Latvian national extradited over illegal export scheme involving advanced aircraft technology
Oleg Chistyakov, also known as Olegs Čitsjakovs, 55, of Latvia, made his initial appearance in a federal court in Kansas City, Kansas, today after being extradited from Latvia. Chistyakov is the third defendant in this case to face charges in connection with a years-long conspiracy to sell sophisticated avionics equipment to Russian companies, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and subsequent U.S. economic countermeasures against Russia. -
New York man charged with operating as illegal Chinese government agent
Yuanjun Tang, 67, a naturalized citizen of the United States and resident of Queens, New York, was charged by criminal complaint with acting and conspiring to act in the United States as an unregistered agent of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and making materially false statements to the FBI. Tang was arrested today in Flushing, Queens, and will be presented this afternoon. -
Justice Department launches civil rights probe into Tennessee correctional center
Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke announced today that the U.S. Justice Department is initiating a civil investigation into conditions at Trousdale Turner Correctional Center in Hartsville, Tennessee. The facility, operated by CoreCivic on behalf of the Tennessee Department of Correction, will be scrutinized for potential violations of constitutional rights under the Civil Rights for Institutionalized Persons Act. -
Seven convicted for obstructing access at Michigan reproductive clinics
A federal jury convicted seven defendants today of federal civil rights offenses stemming from their blockade of a reproductive health care clinic in Sterling Heights, Michigan, on August 27, 2020. The defendants were each found guilty of a felony conspiracy against rights and a Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act offense. Two defendants faced additional convictions for a second FACE Act offense related to another blockade at a clinic in Saginaw, Michigan. -
Justice Department investigates conditions at Tennessee's largest correctional facility
The Justice Department announced today the initiation of an investigation into conditions at Trousdale Turner Correctional Center, a Tennessee Department of Correction facility managed by CoreCivic. Located approximately an hour outside Nashville, Trousdale Turner is Tennessee’s largest correctional facility. -
Venezuelan national pleads guilty in scheme evading US sanctions on state oil company
George Semerene Quintero, 60, of Venezuela, pleaded guilty today to conspiring to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) for his role in a scheme to evade U.S. sanctions imposed on Petróleos de Venezuela S.A. (PDVSA), a Venezuelan state-owned oil company. -
Maryland payroll company owner sentenced for tax crimes and embezzlement
A Maryland woman was sentenced today to one year and one day in prison for not paying employment taxes to the IRS and embezzling from an employee benefit plan. -
Nationwide home healthcare provider settles False Claims Act allegations with $3.85M payment
Intrepid U.S.A. Inc., headquartered in Dallas, and its subsidiaries have agreed to pay $3,850,000 to resolve allegations of violating the False Claims Act. The allegations concern claims submitted to Medicare for home healthcare services and hospice care for patients who did not qualify for these benefits. The settlement is based on Intrepid’s ability to pay. -
Justice Department to monitor Alaska's primary election for compliance with voting rights
The Justice Department announced today that it will monitor compliance with federal voting rights laws in certain jurisdictions in the State of Alaska for the Aug. 20 primary election. The department will assign federal observers to Bethel Census Area, Dillingham Census Area, Kusilvak Census Area, Nome Census Area, and North Slope Borough, Alaska. The federal observers, permitted by court order, will monitor for compliance with the language requirements of Section 203 of the Voting Rights Act, including the provision of election assistance in Yup’ik dialects. -
Justice Department secures agreement on voter access for Native Americans
The Justice Department has secured an agreement with Bennett County, South Dakota, and county officials to resolve claims that the county has failed to make its registration and early voting opportunities equally open to Native American voters as required by Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. -
Former Congressman George Santos pleads guilty to multiple fraud charges
Former U.S. Representative George Anthony Devolder Santos pleaded guilty today to committing wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. -
Ten more states join DOJ's antitrust suit against Live Nation-Ticketmaster
Today, the Attorneys General of Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nebraska, New Mexico, South Dakota, Utah and Vermont joined a civil antitrust lawsuit filed by the Justice Department, 29 other states and the District of Columbia against Live Nation-Ticketmaster for monopolization and other unlawful conduct in violation of Sections 1 and 2 of the Sherman Act. -
Missouri woman charged with defrauding Elvis Presley's family
A Missouri woman was arrested this morning on federal charges in connection with an alleged scheme to defraud Elvis Presley’s family of millions of dollars and steal the family’s ownership interest in Graceland, the former home of Elvis Presley, located in Memphis, Tennessee.