News and reports from the Department of Justice.

Insight Global LLC, headquartered in Atlanta, has agreed to pay $2.7 million to resolve allegations that it violated the False Claims Act by failing to implement adequate cybersecurity measures to protect health information obtained during COVID-19 contact tracing.According to Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian M. Boynton, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division, "The resolution announced today reflects our continuing commitment to ensure that government contractors fulfill their cybersecurity obligations. Failure to do so can compromise sensitive...

"A Pennsylvania man was sentenced yesterday to 14 years and seven months in prison for possessing deepfake child sexual abuse material (CSAM) depicting numerous child celebrities. According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, on two separate occasions, James Smelko, 57, of Pittsburgh, possessed and accessed pictures that digitally superimposed the faces of child actors onto nude bodies and bodies engaged in sex acts. Smelko possessed the pictures at his home in Pittsburgh. After law enforcement discovered the pictures during a search of Smelko’s computer, he...

The Justice Department’s Antitrust Division, Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Department of Health and Human Services have announced an extension of the comment period for the Request for Information on Consolidation in Health Care Markets (RFI) by 30 days. The new deadline for submitting comments is now June 5.According to the announcement, the extension aims to gather more insights into how health care mergers, acquisitions, and other transactions could potentially impact competition in the industry. The agencies are particularly interested in understanding how such...

A former Oregon Department of Human Services caregiver, Zakary Glover, 30, has been sentenced to 25 years in prison and five years of supervised release for sexually assaulting a woman with developmental disabilities who was under his care.Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division condemned Glover's actions, stating, “This defendant engaged in deplorable acts of sexual misconduct and targeted a victim with severe developmental disabilities who was entrusted to his care and could not defend herself."U.S. Attorney Natalie...

A California man, Shane Brightpath Mike, has pleaded guilty to failing to pay over employment taxes withheld from the wages of his company’s employees. Mike, who owned and was the president and chief operating officer of Excel Behavioral Services Inc., a business in Campbell, California, provided home care to persons with disabilities.According to court documents and statements made in court, Mike failed to pay over $1 million in withheld taxes to the IRS for the fourth quarter of 2014 through the third quarter of 2015. It was revealed that Mike also used Excel’s funds to...

Three members of the Hoover Criminal Gang have been convicted for their roles in the murder of a suspected rival gang member, announced federal authorities. Markell Young, Octavius Ferguson, and Jordan Powell, all from Gibson County, Tennessee, were found guilty by a federal jury in connection to the violent crime.The murder took place on Jan. 31, 2017, in Humboldt, Tennessee, when the defendants targeted a suspected member of the rival Gangster Disciples gang. Young ordered Ferguson, Powell, and two other co-defendants to carry out the murder by indiscriminately shooting...

Former defense contractor John Murray Rowe Jr. has pleaded guilty to charges of attempted espionage, admitting to attempting to deliver national defense information to a foreign government. According to court documents, Rowe, who held various national security clearances and worked on sensitive defense projects, disclosed classified information to an undercover FBI agent posing as a Russian government agent.During a meeting with the undercover agent, Rowe revealed specific operating details of electronic countermeasure systems used by U.S. military fighter jets. In...

The Justice Department has reached a settlement agreement with Sunrise Senior Living Management Inc., the operator of Sunrise at Fox Hill in Bethesda, Maryland, to address allegations of employment discrimination. Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke emphasized the department's commitment to upholding the law regarding discrimination based on citizenship, immigration status, or national origin, stating, "The Justice Department will continue to hold employers accountable for unlawfully discriminating against workers because of citizenship, immigration status or national...

An indictment was unsealed yesterday charging Roger Ver, an early investor in bitcoins, with mail fraud, tax evasion, and filing false tax returns. Ver, formerly of Santa Clara, California, owned MemoryDealers.com Inc. and Agilestar.com Inc., two companies that sold computer and networking equipment. He also avidly promoted bitcoins, earning him the moniker "Bitcoin Jesus."Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada for the Central District of California announced the charges. The...

A California businessman from Beverly Hills, Haim Jerry Kohen, has pleaded guilty to evading over $1 million in federal and state taxes. Kohen, who owned a business dealing in used clothing, admitted to underreporting or not reporting income on his tax returns for more than a decade. His evasion tactics included diverting cash payments from customers and not reporting rental income from properties he owned.According to court documents, Kohen diverted cash payments received from a significant customer, keeping the money for himself instead of depositing it into his...

Former Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) attorney Mark Black, 50, of Arlington, Virginia, has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for his involvement in sexually exploiting numerous children. According to court documents, Black was part of online groups dedicated to persuading prepubescent girls to engage in sexually explicit conduct. Black and his co-conspirators recorded these acts and shared the videos among themselves. In one instance, Black induced a minor to engage in sexually explicit conduct on a live-streaming application while another minor was...

The incarcerated people’s communications services (IPCS) market is currently under the control of a small group of companies. The U.S. Justice Department's Antitrust Division has submitted comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), advocating for new rules that would introduce more competition into this market.

Martin Estrada, U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California, has pledged to persist in holding "those who traffic in dangerous narcotics" accountable as illegal drugs continue to ravage U.S. communities. Estrada made this commitment in a Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) press release on April 25.

The Institute for Justice (IJ) has expressed its condemnation of the city of Navasota, Texas, and its municipal court for issuing a fine and an arrest warrant for Kaylee Morgan, a resident of Grimes County who failed to return library books on time. The non-profit public interest law firm labelled the actions as "grossly inappropriate and unconstitutional."

Two Russian nationalists have pleaded guilty to conspiracy to violate the Export Control Reform Act (ECRA) through a scheme to export controlled aviation technology to Russia. Over $4.5 million in unlawful transactions were conducted between the defendants, in addition to selling sensitive aircraft parts to Russian companies.