News and reports from the Department of Justice.

Justice News

Justice
A Kentucky man was arrested today and charged with federal hate crime and firearms offenses for threatening a Palestinian American man with a loaded gun.
Justice

Nigerian national sentenced for role in defrauding elderly U.S. victims

A Nigerian national was sentenced today to 85 months in prison for his role in a transnational inheritance fraud scheme. With today’s sentencing, each of the six defendants connected with this matter has been sentenced.
Justice

Former CEO pleads guilty to $14 million payroll tax fraud scheme

A New Hampshire man pleaded guilty today to not paying more than $14 million in employment taxes and not filing personal tax returns.
Justice

Anchorage doctor and husband charged with healthcare fraud exceeding $10 million

A federal grand jury in Alaska has indicted an Anchorage doctor and her husband on charges of health care fraud and tax evasion.
Justice

Kentucky man pleads guilty to shooting at Louisville mayor

A Kentucky man pleaded guilty today to firing gunshots at current Louisville, Kentucky, Mayor Craig Greenberg during Greenberg’s 2022 campaign.
Justice

Justice Department and FTC extend public comment period on serial acquisitions

The Justice Department’s Antitrust Division and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) have extended the deadline for public comments on serial acquisitions and roll-up strategies that may harm competition by 60 days. The joint request for information (RFI) aims to gather insights into how corporate actors, including private equity-owned businesses, grow larger—and potentially dominant—through acquisitions of several smaller firms in the same or related business sectors or industries. The new deadline for submitting comments is September 20.
Justice

Kentucky pain management physician convicted for unlawful opioid prescriptions

A federal judge convicted a medical doctor and former member of the Kentucky Board of Medical Licensure (KBML) today for unlawfully distributing opioids.
Justice

Nevada man sentenced to 65 years for sextorting minors

A Nevada man was sentenced today to 65 years in prison, followed by lifetime supervised release, for sexually exploiting multiple minors and advertising and distributing child sexual abuse material (CSAM) that he coerced these minors into producing.
Justice

FOIA.gov updates tool for easier access to law enforcement records

FOIA.gov, the government’s central resource for information about the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), now includes additional functionality to help users locate commonly requested law enforcement and related records. The FOIA.gov Search Tool was updated to add a “Law Enforcement records” pre-defined user journey that helps the public more quickly locate commonly requested information. This user journey supplements the existing journeys that help users identify agencies with some of the most common types of requested records, including Immigration/Travel records, Tax...
Justice

DaVita agrees to $34M settlement over alleged illegal kickbacks

DaVita Inc., headquartered in Denver, Colorado, has agreed to pay $34,487,390 to resolve allegations that it violated the False Claims Act by paying kickbacks to induce referrals to DaVita Rx, a former subsidiary providing pharmacy services for dialysis patients. The company is also accused of paying kickbacks to nephrologists and vascular access physicians to induce patient referrals to its dialysis centers.
Justice

Justice Department files lawsuit against Illinois landlord for alleged tenant harassment

The Justice Department filed a lawsuit today against Michael J. DeWitte of Washington, Illinois, for allegedly sexually harassing female tenants and housing applicants in violation of the Fair Housing Act. DeWitte has managed residential rental properties in Peoria, Illinois, and other central Illinois counties since at least 2002.
Justice

Justice Department sues Southwest Key over allegations of child abuse

The Justice Department has filed a lawsuit against Southwest Key Programs Inc. (Southwest Key), a Texas-based nonprofit that provides housing to unaccompanied children encountered at the southern U.S. border. The lawsuit alleges that Southwest Key, through its employees, engaged in a pattern or practice of sexual abuse and harassment of unaccompanied children in violation of the Fair Housing Act.
Justice

California man sentenced for selling counterfeit electronics to Defense Logistics Agency

A California man was sentenced to three years and six months in prison for defrauding the Department of Defense’s (DoD) Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) by selling over $3.5 million worth of counterfeit or misrepresented fan assemblies.
Justice

Alabama man pleads guilty to violating Iran sanctions

Ray Hunt, also known as Abdolrahman Hantoosh, Rahman Hantoosh, and Rahman Natooshas, 70, of Owens Cross Roads, Alabama, pleaded guilty today to conspiracy to export U.S.-origin goods to the Islamic Republic of Iran in violation of trade sanctions.
Justice

Justice Department officials highlight US efforts at UN forum

Acting Associate Attorney General Benjamin C. Mizer and Director Rachel Rossi of the Office for Access to Justice participated in the United Nations (UN) High Level Political Forum in New York this past week as part of the official U.S. delegation. The forum, a platform for reviewing progress on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, focused on UN Sustainable Development Goal 16 (SDG 16), which aims to establish peaceful and inclusive societies, provide access to justice for all, and build effective institutions.
Justice

Transnational human trafficker indicted and sanctioned; arrested in Mexico

An indictment was unsealed yesterday containing criminal charges against the alleged leader of a human smuggling organization responsible for unlawfully bringing thousands of migrants into the United States. Along with the organization, the defendant, who was arrested in Mexico at the request of the United States, has also been designated for financial sanctions by the U.S. Department of the Treasury. These developments were made possible through extensive bilateral coordination and cooperation efforts between U.S. and Mexican law enforcement authorities.
Justice

Foreign nationals plead guilty for roles in global lockbit ransomware attacks

Two foreign nationals pleaded guilty today to participating in the LockBit ransomware group, which has been one of the most prolific ransomware variants globally. They admitted to deploying LockBit attacks against victims in the United States and worldwide.
Justice

Former Las Vegas official charged with defrauding charity funds

A federal grand jury has indicted a former Las Vegas city councilwoman and current Nye County, Nevada, justice of the peace for allegedly defrauding donors to a charity intended to memorialize police officers who died in the line of duty.
Justice

Justice Department reports success on updated student-loan bankruptcy discharge process

The Justice Department, in close coordination with the Department of Education, announced today the continued success of a process instituted in November 2022 for handling cases where individuals seek to discharge their federal student loans in bankruptcy. Data tracking the effectiveness of the process over the last year and a half show that it is achieving its goal of providing a more transparent, equitable, and streamlined mechanism for borrowers to request a discharge of their student loans in consumer bankruptcy cases. The process has resulted in increasing numbers of...
Justice

Russian national sentenced for illicit procurement network involving US-made military-grade electronics

Maxim Marchenko, 52, was sentenced today to three years in prison followed by three years of supervised release for his role in procuring dual-use, military-grade OLED micro-displays for Russian end users.
Your news, delivered.
Subscribe and personalize your weekly Newswire round-up.