U.S. Department of Justice
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Recent News About U.S. Department of Justice
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A federal jury in Pensacola, Florida, convicted a former U.S. Army soldier yesterday for the murder of a pregnant, 19-year-old fellow soldier on a U.S. Army base in Germany more than 22 years ago. According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, on Nov. 3, 2001, Shannon L. Wilkerson, 43, beat and strangled Amanda Gonzales to death in her barracks room at Fliegerhorst Kaserne, then a U.S. Army base in Hanau, Germany. Wilkerson was a member of the U.S. Armed Forces at the time of the offense but was later discharged.
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The U.S. Justice Department unsealed charges today against a Russian national for his alleged role as the creator, developer, and administrator of the LockBit ransomware group from LockBit's appearance in January 2020 through the present, a period during which LockBit was at times the most prolific ransomware group in the world.
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The U.S. Justice Department has charged a Russian national with creating and running the LockBit ransomware group, which has targeted over 2,000 victims and extorted more than $100 million in ransom payments. Dimitry Yuryevich Khoroshev, also known as LockBitSupp, faces a 26-count indictment in the District of New Jersey.
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Five federal departments have come together to reaffirm their shared commitment to uphold civil rights laws and advance environmental justice in communities across the United States. The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, along with officials from the Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Transportation, Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Homeland Security, and Department of Housing and Urban Development, jointly expressed their dedication to this important cause.Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s...
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The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri has issued a permanent injunction against Aric Elliot Schreiner and his company, Columbia CPA Group LLC, prohibiting them from engaging in any activities related to promoting tax schemes involving charitable remainder annuity trusts (CRATs). Additionally, Schreiner has been ordered to forfeit $400,000 in ill-gotten gains from the scheme. The court's decision comes after the United States sued Schreiner, Columbia CPA Group, and five other defendants to halt the promotion of the CRAT scheme.According to the United...
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Attorney General Merrick B. Garland delivered heartfelt remarks at the memorial service of Deputy U.S. Marshal Tommy Weeks Jr., paying tribute to his life and legacy. Garland expressed his admiration for Mrs. Weeks' strength and resilience, highlighting her unwavering support for the U.S. Marshals Service and the Justice Department in the face of tragedy.Garland acknowledged the profound impact of Weeks' dedication to his family and his colleagues, describing him as a dependable, passionate, and humorous individual. He shared anecdotes that showcased Weeks' commitment to...
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The Justice Department today marked the second anniversary of its Comprehensive Environmental Justice Enforcement Strategy (CEJES) and Office of Environmental Justice (OEJ). The Justice Department will be incorporating those efforts into developing an Environmental Justice Strategic Plan, as directed by the President’s Executive Order “Revitalizing Our Nation’s Commitment to Environmental Justice for All.” The new strategic plan will further address environmental justice and help develop and capture the Justice Department's vision, goals, priority actions, and metrics to...
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Former Tennessee Department of Corrections (TDOC) tactical officer, Javian Griffin, 38, has been sentenced to 48 months in prison and three years of supervised release for using excessive force against an inmate and writing a false report to cover it up. Griffin pleaded guilty to the offense on Oct. 11, 2023.Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division stated, “The defendant pledged to protect and serve but instead he abused his authority as a corrections officer, violently punching a man in the head and breaking his jaw. The...
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Baptist Health System Inc. (Baptist Health) in Florida has agreed to pay $1.5 million to settle allegations of violating the False Claims Act by offering improper discounts to patients. The United States alleged that Baptist Health subsidiaries provided discounts without regard to financial need, potentially in exchange for referrals or purchases of services.In response to the settlement, Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian M. Boynton stated, "The department will continue to rely on the False Claims Act to address the use of prohibited remuneration to induce...
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Houston, TX - An indictment unsealed in the Southern District of Texas has charged U.S. Congressman Enrique Roberto “Henry” Cuellar and his wife, Imelda Cuellar, with involvement in bribery, unlawful foreign influence, and money laundering schemes. The couple, residents of Laredo, Texas, appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Dena Palermo in Houston.According to court documents, the Cuellars allegedly accepted about $600,000 in bribes from two foreign entities, an oil and gas company owned by the Government of Azerbaijan and a bank in Mexico City. These funds were...
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Endo Health Solutions Inc. (EHSI) faced a significant legal outcome today as they were ordered to pay $1.536 billion in criminal fines and forfeiture for their involvement in distributing misbranded opioid medication. This marks the second-largest set of criminal financial penalties ever imposed on a pharmaceutical company for violations of the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act.EHSI pleaded guilty to introducing misbranded drugs into interstate commerce, acknowledging their deceptive marketing tactics related to the opioid medication Opana ER. The company marketed the...
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The Justice Department has taken legal action against the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) for religious discrimination. The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, accuses TDCJ of violating Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by denying an employee's religious accommodation request.Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division emphasized, "Employers cannot require employees to forfeit their religious beliefs or improperly question the sincerity of those beliefs." She...
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A federal jury in Beckley, West Virginia, convicted Christopher Jason Smyth for failing to pay taxes withheld from employees' wages at his ambulance service and for obstructing the IRS.According to evidence presented at trial, Smyth operated Stat EMS LLC in Pineville, West Virginia, from 2012 through part of 2017. Smyth caused Stat EMS to be founded in the name of a nominee owner but continued to operate the business in the same manner as before.Smyth was responsible for withholding Social Security, Medicare, and income taxes from employees' wages and paying them to the...
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Attorney General Merrick B. Garland has acknowledged Missing or Murdered Indigenous Persons Awareness Day by emphasizing the importance of addressing the crisis affecting American Indian and Alaska Native communities. Garland announced intensified efforts aimed at tackling the issues of missing or murdered Indigenous persons (MMIP), human trafficking, and other significant public safety challenges.Garland highlighted the disproportionate impact of the fentanyl crisis on Native Americans, exacerbating levels of violence and addiction within already vulnerable communities....
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Attorney General Merrick B. Garland emphasized the importance of addressing the crisis of Missing or Murdered Indigenous Persons (MMIP) by stating, “There is still so much more to do in the face of persistently high levels of violence that Tribal communities have endured for generations, and that women and girls, particularly, have endured.”FBI Director Christopher Wray affirmed the FBI's commitment to addressing the violence affecting Tribal communities, stating, “We will continue to prioritize our support of victims and will steadfastly pursue investigations into the...
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The Justice Department has taken legal action against Dieuseul Jean-Louis, also known as DJL Multiservices, by filing a civil injunction suit to prevent him from preparing federal tax returns for others. The complaint, lodged in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, accuses Jean-Louis of engaging in fraudulent activities related to tax preparation from 2019 to 2023.According to the complaint, Jean-Louis intentionally misrepresented customers' tax liabilities and exaggerated their refunds through various deceptive methods. This included falsifying...
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A Russian national, Alexander Vinnik, has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering in connection with his involvement in operating the cryptocurrency exchange BTC-e from 2011 to 2017. Vinnik, who was one of the operators of BTC-e, oversaw a platform that processed over $9 billion in transactions and catered to more than one million users globally, including a significant number of customers in the United States.Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco highlighted the significance of this case, stating, “Today’s result shows how the Justice Department, working...
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A Maryland man, Andra Shirone Thompson, has pleaded guilty to charges of defrauding Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act loan programs and commercial equipment financing companies. Thompson admitted to his involvement in a scheme that involved submitting fraudulent applications for Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDLs) and Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans for companies he controlled, resulting in a fraudulent gain of $716,375.Furthermore, Thompson was part of a conspiracy that defrauded equipment financing companies by submitting false...
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An Ohio physician, Thomas Romano, 74, of Wheeling, West Virginia, has been sentenced to seven years in prison for unlawfully distributing opioids from his clinic. The sentence comes after Romano was found guilty of 24 counts of unlawfully distributing controlled substances in violation of the Controlled Substances Act.The court documents revealed that Romano's pain management clinic in Martin’s Ferry, Ohio, was a hub where individuals traveled long distances to obtain prescriptions for opioids and other controlled substances. The prescriptions issued by Romano greatly...
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Hahn Air Lines GmbH, a privately owned company based in Germany, and its Minneapolis-based subsidiary Hahn Air USA Inc. (collectively Hahn Air) have agreed to pay $26.8 million to resolve allegations that Hahn Air violated the False Claims Act by knowingly failing to remit to the United States certain travel fees that Hahn Air collected from commercial airline passengers flying into or within the United States.According to Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian M. Boynton, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division, "Companies that benefit from air travel...