LEGAL NEWSLINE

Attorney General Josh Kaul announced today that the Wisconsin Department of Justice (DOJ) has secured a judgment against two Florida-based companies and their owners for a business certificate scam targeting thousands of Wisconsin businesses. The judgment mandates that the defendants pay over $3.5 million, including more than $600,000 in refunds to affected businesses.

Attorney General Kwame Raoul today urged timeshare owners attempting to sell their properties to be vigilant against resale scams. Scammers often pose as escrow agents or representatives of brokerage firms, travel agencies, or title companies, making unsolicited contact with timeshare property owners and pressuring them into paying substantial upfront costs and fake processing fees for sales that never materialize.

Attorney General Mayes calls for updated environmental impact study on Pinyon Plain Mine

The Attorney General’s Office announced that Jason Benn, 35, of Derby, Vermont, was arraigned today on one felony count of luring a child and one felony count of possession of child sexual abuse material. Mr. Benn is alleged to have engaged in sexually explicit conversations with a 13-year-old child. That child disclosed the conversations to a third party, who then made a report to law enforcement. VT-ICAC also received a CyberTipline report from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children relating to a suspect uploading a file of child sexual abuse material to...

The 8th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the district court decision in United States v. Robert Wolter on Tuesday, August 13.

LANSING – On Friday, Cameron Alvarez, 34, of Livonia, pled guilty to two counts of First-Degree Criminal Sexual Conduct in the 9th Circuit Court in Kalamazoo. This cold-case prosecution was part of the Kalamazoo County Sexual Assault Kit Initiative (SAKI), announced Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel. Alvarez was charged in 2022 for a sexual assault committed in January 2010 on the campus of Western Michigan University (WMU). According to the plea agreement, Alvarez is expected to serve 12 to 25 years’ incarceration and will be subject to lifetime electronic monitoring...

The deadline for counties and local municipalities to register for payments from the $1.2 billion national Kroger settlement has been extended to Wednesday, September 11, 2024. Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel urges local governments that have not yet enrolled in the settlement to complete and submit their participation paperwork by this new deadline. Local Michigan governments and the state will receive approximately $42 million from this settlement over an 11-year period to aid in their efforts to combat the opioid crisis.

New York Attorney General Letitia James has led a coalition of 22 attorneys general in advocating for state and federal laws that regulate gun sales. The coalition filed an amicus brief in U.S. v. Steven Perez, arguing that federal laws preventing individuals from transporting or receiving firearms from outside their state of residence, except through a federally licensed firearms dealer, are crucial for public safety. The brief, submitted to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, asserts that regulations on firearms dealers help reduce violent crime and...

The Justice Department’s U.S. Trustee Program (USTP) recently obtained a judgment of nearly $105,000 and a permanent injunction against bankruptcy petition preparers whose conduct led to a consumer losing his home of over 20 years to foreclosure.

Attorney General Merrick B. Garland recently delivered remarks at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Idaho, highlighting the collaborative efforts between federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies in combating violent crime.

Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill’s Cyber Crime Unit arrested a Slidell teen on August 13, 2024.

A Tulsa-area contractor faces 17 counts of felony embezzlement and one count of engaging in a pattern of criminal offenses following an investigation by Attorney General Gentner Drummond’s Consumer Protection Unit.

Attorney General Merrick B. Garland delivered remarks at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Wyoming on August 13, 2024. In his address, Garland expressed gratitude to federal, state, and local law enforcement partners for their collaborative efforts in combating violent crime.

Attorney General Griffin Clears Owners of Fort Smith Property Near Ebbing Air National Guard Base

Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen has led a coalition of attorneys general in challenging the Biden-Harris administration’s voter registration initiative. The coalition argues that Executive Order 14019, signed by President Biden in 2021, unlawfully directs federal agencies to engage in voter registration activities using funds allocated by Congress.

Today, with gratitude to the diligent efforts of Louisiana Department of Public Safety & Corrections Secretary James M. LeBlanc and his staff, Louisiana Supreme Court Chief Justice John L. Weimer circulated a “bench book” to every Louisiana state judge with jurisdiction in criminal cases as a resource in sentencing decisions. Chief Justice Weimer stated, “Because most incarcerated offenders will eventually be released, sentencing requirements during incarceration should be tailored—as much as possible—to reducing the likelihood of committing crimes after incarceration. The...

New York Attorney General Letitia James, along with the attorneys general of Connecticut and New Jersey, has secured $4.5 million from Enzo Biochem, Inc. (Enzo) for failing to adequately safeguard patient health information. Enzo, a biotechnology company providing diagnostic testing in laboratories across New York, Connecticut, and New Jersey, was found by the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) to have poor data security practices. These deficiencies led to a ransomware attack compromising the personal and private information of approximately 2.4 million patients, including...

New York Attorney General Letitia James announced the indictment and arrest of Frank Whittaker, 56, of Kingston, NY, and his daughter Christine Ellsworth, 38, of Accord, NY. They are accused of stealing over $280,000 from an elderly victim in Ulster County. The pair allegedly gained the trust of the then-92-year-old victim by providing lawn maintenance and household assistance before accessing her checkbook and finances. Whittaker was appointed as a Power of Attorney (POA) over the victim’s finances, enabling him and Ellsworth to misappropriate her life savings.

Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti, along with attorneys general from 14 other states, submitted a comment letter to the Department of the Treasury, emphasizing the need for fair and unbiased regulation of artificial intelligence (AI) in the financial services sector. The letter urges the Department to focus solely on risks to financial reliability and consumer protection rather than politicizing AI regulation or blocking state laws.

Chicago – Attorney General Kwame Raoul announced today that a suburban Cook County man was sentenced to prison for his role in the drug-induced homicide of a Carol Stream man who died after overdosing on fentanyl and heroin.