New York Paralegal

HUNTSVILLE—A Rainbow City woman pleaded guilty today to health care fraud totaling more than $330,000 for illegal prescription reimbursements she received while working as a pharmacy technician at a discount department store in East Gadsden, U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance and FBI Special Agent in Charge Patrick Maley announced. CHARLOTTE TURLEY, 52, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge C. Lynwood Smith Jr. to four counts of health care fraud and agreed to forfeit at least $331,118 to the government as proceeds of illegal activity. A federal grand jury indicted TURLEY on the fraud charges in April.

BALTIMORE, MD—U.S. District Judge J. Frederick Motz sentenced Timothy Reed, age 45, of Beltsville, Maryland, today to 51 months in prison followed by five years of supervised release for mail fraud arising from the fraudulent purchase of 25 properties in Maryland, the District of Columbia, and Virginia using false mortgage and settlement documents. Judge Motz also ordered that Reed pay $4,196,967 in restitution. The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Special Agent in Charge Richard A. McFeely of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; Postal Inspector in Charge Daniel S. Cortez of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service - Washington Division; Montgomery County State’s Attorney John McCarthy and his Economic Crimes Unit; and Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey Irvine of the United States Secret Service - Washington Field Office.

FORT SMITH, Ark. - Five Arkansas residents were sentenced Friday for conspiring to harbor, transport and employ illegal aliens, following an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agents. Leoncio Amador-Villanueva, 42, was sentenced 18 months in prison and Jose Amador-Villanueva, 39, both of Alma, Ark., was sentenced to 12 months; Juan Amador-Villanueva, 43, of Batesville, Ark., was sentenced to 15 months; and Luis Felipe Martinez, 32, of Lowell, Ark., was sentenced to 30 months. All four were also ordered to serve three years of supervised release following their release from prison. Kelle Stubbs-Amador, 32, of Alma, Ark., was sentenced to time already served and three years probation.

Following a public comment period, the Federal Trade Commission has approved a final order settling charges that U-Haul and its parent company invited its main competitor to fix prices on truck rentals. The settlement order against U-Haul and its parent company AMERCO bars them from colluding or inviting collusion. The FTC vote approving the final order was 5-0. (FTC File No. 081-0157; the staff contact is Dana Abrahamson, Bureau of Competition, 202-326-2906. See press release dated June 9, 2010 at http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2010/06/uhaul.shtm.) Copies of the documents mentioned in this release are available from the FTC’s website at http://www.ftc.gov and from the FTC’s Consumer Response Center, Room 130, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC 20580. Call toll-free: 1-877-FTC-HELP. MEDIA CONTACT: Office of Public Affairs 202-326-2180 (FYI 30.2010.wpd)

Construction Company Fired Black Employee Because He Complained About Racial Harassment, Federal Agency Charged BECKLEY, W.V. – A South Point, Ohio-based construction company condoned egregious racial harassment and illegally fired an employee who complained about the abusive treatment, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit it announced on 07/19/2010. The EEOC charges in its lawsuit that Mike Enyart & Sons, Inc. subjected Mareo R. Allen, who is African-American, to a hostile work environment based on his race, when he worked for the company on a sewer line installation project in White Sulphur Springs, W.V. Co-workers and a foreman repeatedly used racially offensive slurs and epithets to Allen and other black persons, including “n----r,” “black boy” “and colored boy,” the EEOC said in its lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court for the District of West Virginia, Civil Action No. 5:10-cv-0921. The EEOC alleges that the harassment also included...

Defendants Each Stole More Than $100,000 from Chase Bank; Impersonated & Stole Personal Information from at least 15 People Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., today announced a 106-count indictment against NEFERTITI GARNETT and an 80-count indictment against ZOE WALMSLEY, on charges of Grand Larceny, Identity Theft, Criminal Possession of a Forged Instrument , Scheme to Defraud, and Attempted Grand Larceny.[1] Each defendant is charged with stealing more than $100,000 from Chase Bank by impersonating victims using stolen personal identifying information and bank account numbers at various bank branches in New York State and New Jersey. GARNETT was arraigned on June 25, 2010, and WALMSLEY was arraigned on July 19, 2010. “For more than a year, the defendants brazenly used stolen personal information from unsuspecting victims to steal money from Chase Bank,” said District Attorney Vance. “Fortunately, an astute employee discovered the fraudulent transactions and prom...

WASHINGTON – The Justice Department today filed a lawsuit against the owner, management company and former manager of Summerhill Place Apartments, a 268-unit apartment complex in Renton, Wash., for violating the Fair Housing Act by discriminating on the basis of race, color, national origin and familial status in the rental of apartments. The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington, names as defendants Summerhill Place LLC (the owner of Summerhill Place Apartments), GRAN Inc. (the management company) and Rita Lovejoy (the former on site manager). The suit alleges, among other things, that the defendants steered Indian tenants away from one of the five buildings at Summerhill, treated tenants from India less favorably than other tenants, and discouraged African Americans, Hispanics and families with children from living at Summerhill.

PREET BHARARA, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York; GEORGE VENIZELOS, the Acting Assistant Director-in-Charge of the New York Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation ("FBI"); and MARJORIE FRANZMAN, the Special Agent-in-Charge for the New York Region of the U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Inspector General ("DOL-OIG"), announced today that JOHN GREANEY, the former president and business manager of Local 608 of the Carpenters Union, pleaded guilty in Manhattan federal court before United States Magistrate Judge HENRY B. PITMAN to all 13 counts against him. The superseding Indictment charged GREANEY and other officials within the District Council of New York City and Vicinity (the "District Council") of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners (the "Carpenters Union") with engaging in a 15-year labor racketeering scheme involving the receipt of illegal payments from multiple contractors. GREANEY ...

UPDATE: NYPD SERGEANT PLEADS GUILTY TO PERJURY AND CONDUCTING UNLAWFUL SEARCHES Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr. today announced the indictments of Sergeant WILLIAM EISEMAN, 41, and Officer MICHAEL CARSEY, 29, of the New York City Police Department (“NYPD”) for lying under oath and falsifying paperwork to conceal their involvement in the unlawful searches and seizures in various incidents in Northern Manhattan. EISEMAN has been charged with Perjury, Offering a False Instrument for Filing, Tampering With Evidence, and Official Misconduct. CARSEY has been charged with Perjury, Offering a False Instrument for Filing, and Official Misconduct. [1] “Members of the New York City Police Department take an oath to protect and serve,” said District Attorney Vance. “We expect all of our partners in law enforcement to uphold that pledge to the highest standards of their profession, and the overwhelming majority of them do. However, these officers crossed the line and viola...

Three Trustees Abused Bartenders, Federal Agency Charged EAST ST. LOUIS , Ill. – Elks Lodge No. 954 in Jerseyville, Ill., will pay $107,500 and furnish other relief to settle a sexual harassment and retaliation lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the agency announced today. The EEOC had charged that the lodge violated federal law by sexually harassing three female bartenders and then taking reprisals against them when they complained. In its lawsuit (Case No. 3:09-cv-00200), filed in U.S. District Court in East St. Louis, Illinois, the EEOC claims that Vicki Vickers, Elizabeth Stemm, and Jackie Davidson (formerly Jackie Atteberry at the time of her employment) were subjected to unlawful sexual harassment while working at Elks Lodge No. 954 by three members of the Elks’ board of trustees on numerous occasions in 2005 and 2006. The abuse included repeated unwelcome sexual advances and touching, and sexually explicit comments. The suit alleged tha...

Judge Grants Order Against Inquiries that "Intimidate ... Needlessly" PORTLAND, Ore. — A federal district court has ordered an employer to stop questioning Hispanic farm workers who filed charges of sexual harassment and retaliation with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) concerning their immigration status, employment history and, in one woman’s case, her sexual history. In June 2009, the federal agency sued Willamette Tree Wholesale, Inc. of Molalla, Ore., alleging that workers were sexually harassed and threatened in retaliation for reporting the harassment. The EEOC also charged that one Latina farm worker was repeatedly raped by her supervisor. The EEOC, together with the claimants represented by the Oregon Law Center, sought a protective order in response to requests by Willamette Tree’s lawyers for certain information. They argued that the company’s inquiries would have a chilling effect. In an order issued last week, U.S. Magistrate Judge Paul...

Family billed Medicaid while vacationing in Paris, Puerto Rico, and Miami Beach MINEOLA, NEW YORK (July 15, 2010) - Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo today announced the sentencing of a Long Island mother and her daughter for stealing more than $105,000 in a scheme to bill Medicaid for care they never provided to critically ill family members. From 2004 to 2008, Georgette Nashed, 48, of Port Washington, served as a guardian to her ill parents under Medicaid’s Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program (CDPAP). She admitted to signing time sheets for care that was to be provided by her daughters Christine Nashed, 25, and Darlene Nashed, 23, as well as by her late husband, Raafat Nashed.

CHICAGO—An alleged leader of a counterfeit identification document business that operated in Chicago’s Little Village Community has been extradited from Mexico to face federal charges here, including racketeering conspiracy and murder-related offenses, Patrick J. Fitzgerald, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, announced today. The defendant, Manuel Leija-Sanchez, 43, was arraigned Monday in U.S. District Court on eight counts, including racketeering conspiracy, murder in aid of racketeering, conspiracy to murder, conspiracy to commit murder outside the United States, money laundering, bulk cash smuggling, and alien smuggling. He pleaded not guilty and remains in federal custody without bond. A status hearing was scheduled for Aug. 26 before U.S. District Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer. Leija-Sanchez was arrested in Mexico in October 2007 and remained in custody in Mexico until Mexican authorities surrendered him to U.S. law enforcement agents last Friday.

NEW YORK, N.Y. (July 14, 2010) - Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo today announced that two Brooklyn-based Medicaid providers controlled by an individual disqualified from the state Medicaid program have pleaded guilty to grand larceny and ordered to repay $44 million to taxpayers. ANR Advance Medical Care Inc. (ANR), a home health care agency, and Rainbow Medical P.C., a primary care clinic, both pleaded guilty in Kings County State Supreme Court to felony charges of stealing a total $44 million from the taxpayer-funded Medicaid program. ANR pleaded guilty to Grand Larceny in the First Degree and Health Care Fraud in the First Degree, and Rainbow pleaded guilty to First- and Second-Degree Grand Larceny. Judgments in the amount of $42 million and $2 million, respectively, were entered against the companies.

Adecco USA Inc. Fired Office Manager Who Supported Sexual Harassment Complaint of his Supervisor, Federal Agency Alleged ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced on 07/13/2010, the settlement of a retaliation lawsuit against Adecco USA Inc. for $62,500. The EEOC’s lawsuit (Civil Action No. 106CV124 BSJ) filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Utah, Northern Division, charged that Adecco disciplined and fired Jeffrey A. Byard, a former office supervisor for Adecco’s Clearfield, Utah, office, because he spoke out in support of his supervisor when she complained of sexual harassment by her boss. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 makes it unlawful to retaliate against an employee because he testified, assisted, or participated in a proceeding protected that law. This settlement comes after several years of litigation. Mr. Byard was fired in March of 2003.

WASHINGTON –Six officers with the New Orleans Police Department (NOPD) were charged today in connection with the federal investigation of a police-involved shooting on the Danziger Bridge in the days after Hurricane Katrina, the Justice Department announced today. The incident resulted in the death of two civilians and the wounding of four others. The indictment charges four officers – Kenneth Bowen, Robert Gisevius, Robert Faulcon and Anthony Villavaso – in connection with the shootings, and charges those four officers and two supervisors – Arthur “Archie” Kaufman and Gerard Dugue – with helping to obstruct justice during the subsequent investigations.

RENO, Nev. - On Tuesday, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) began using a new biometric information sharing capability in Washoe County that helps federal immigration officials identify aliens, both lawfully and unlawfully present in the United States, who are booked into local law enforcement custody for a crime. The capability is part of Secure Communities, ICE's comprehensive strategy to improve and modernize the identification and removal of criminal aliens from the United States. Previously, fingerprint-based biometric records taken of individuals charged with a crime and booked into local custody were checked for criminal history information against the Department of Justice's (DOJ) Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System (IAFIS). Now, through enhanced information sharing between the DOJ and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), that fingerprint information will be automatically checked against both the FBI criminal history records in IAF...

Claiming she's tarnishing the financial industry's reputation, ex-Citibanker Debrahlee Lorenzana's current employer, JPMorgan Chase, now threatens to fire her for speaking to the press, the Voice learned today. The real reason why JP Morgan Chase wants Debrahlee Lorenzana to shut up is probably the same reason that the executives of the now defunct Long Island brokerage Lew Lieberbaum & Co., wanted Kimberly Casper, Deanna Caliendo and Linette Cinelli to shut up. You see when people go public with sexual harassment complaints against a business it inspires other victims to come forward, as it did in the case of Kimberly Casper, Deanna Caliendo, and Linette Cinelli. Their public outcry against sexual harassment made international headline news causing others at the now defunct Lew Lieberbaum & Co., to come forward filing multiple complaints with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and as a result of all the media attention and the multiple complaints comin...

PHILADELPHIA—An indictment was unsealed today against Robert Snyder, Mark Williams, and James Venziale, all Philadelphia police officers assigned to the 25th and 39th Districts, as well as Zachary Young, Angel Ortiz, Christal Snyder, and Miguel Santiago, charging them in a drug conspiracy case involving heroin and related offenses, announced U.S. Attorney Zane David Memeger. According to the indictment, the defendants planned and executed a scheme to steal heroin from Santiago and then distribute that heroin to another person whom the defendants believed to be a drug dealer and money launderer, but who was, in reality, an undercover special agent from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). Joining in today’s announcement were DEA Special Agent-in-Charge John Bryfonski, FBI Special Agent-in-Charge Janice K. Fedarcyk, and Philadelphia Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey.

According to the EEOC the filing of male sexual harassment charges has steadily multiplied over the past ten years from 12% to 16%. In 2009 the complaints filed by men totaled over 2,000, out of around 12,700 sexual harassment cases. Workplace sexual predators do not discriminate against men. I would not leave any sexual harasser alone with children. In its lawsuit (EEOC v. Cheesecake Factory, Inc., CV 08-1207-PHX-NVW) , the EEOC charged that Cheesecake knew about and tolerated repeated sexual assaults against six male employees by a group of male kitchen staffers. The company denied the allegations. However, according to the agency, the evidence overwhelmingly showed that the men suffered sexually abusive behavior, including abusers directly touching victims’ genitals, making sexually charged remarks, grinding their genitals against them, and forcing victims into repeated episodes of simulated rape. Managers witnessed employees dragging their victims kicking and screaming into the ...

ATLANTA, GA—DR. ADAM WAYNE LEBOWITZ, 50, of Decatur, Georgia, was sentenced today by United States District Judge Richard W. Story on charges of producing child pornography and attempting to coerce and entice a minor to engage in unlawful sex acts. LEBOWITZ was convicted of the charges by a jury on February 25, 2010, after a seven-day trial. United States Attorney Sally Quillian Yates said of the sentence, “As a doctor, this defendant took an oath to ‘never do harm’ to anyone. He not only violated that oath, he sexually violated children and then published his violation on the Internet, victimizing the children each time the videos were viewed. His long term of incarceration ensures that he will no longer threaten another child.”

College graduates who need temporary work while looking for full-time jobs may be interested in mystery shopping, but the FTC cautions that many mystery shopping offers are scams. It seems like an attractive proposition: getting paid to shop or dine out, and then provide reports about the experience. However, scammers often ask mystery shoppers to pay an up-front fee before they start, or to deposit a check that turns out to be phony. * Don’t pay upfront fees to be a mystery shopper. Legitimate companies don’t charge people to work for them. * Never agree to deposit a check from someone you don’t know and then wire money back. The check will bounce, and you will owe your bank the money you withdrew. To learn more, go to Mystery Shopping Scams May Target New College Grads. The Federal Trade Commission works for consumers to prevent fraudulent, deceptive, and unfair business practices and to provide information to help spot, stop, and avoid them. To file a complaint in Englis...

Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr. announced the extradition of EGOR SHEVELEV, a Ukrainian national, from Greece for a cybercrime and identity theft scheme involving global trafficking in stolen credit card account numbers. SHEVELEV was arraigned today on charges of Enterprise Corruption, Grand Larceny, Criminal Possession of Stolen Property, Money Laundering, Attempted Criminal Possession of Stolen Property, Scheme to Defraud, and Conspiracy. [1] The crimes charged in the indictment occurred between November 2001 and August 2007. “The extradition and indictment of this defendant bring us a step closer to apprehending the members of an international identity theft ring,” said District Attorney Vance. “This Office is committed to shutting down criminal operations that traffic in stolen information used to steal identities and illegally acquire money.”

WASHINGTON – The Justice Department today filed a lawsuit against Garland Sales Inc., a rug manufacturer and seller located in Dalton, Ga., alleging it engaged in a pattern or practice of discrimination by imposing unnecessary and discriminatory hurdles to employment for work authorized individuals. According to the department’s findings, Garland required all non-U.S. citizen applicants to present certain work authorization documents. The Immigration and National Act (INA) requires that employers not impose different or greater employment eligibility verification (I-9) standards on non-citizen authorized workers as compared to U.S. citizens. Garland imposed different and greater requirements on non-U.S. citizens as compared to applicants who were U.S. citizens.

WASHINGTON—Ten individuals pleaded guilty today in Manhattan federal court to conspiring to serve as unlawful agents of the Russian Federation within the United States and will be immediately expelled from the United States, the Justice Department announced today. In hearings today before Judge Kimba M. Wood in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, each of the 10 defendants arrested on June 27, 2010, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to act as an agent of a foreign government within the United States without notifying the U.S. Attorney General. Under their plea agreements, the defendants were required to disclose their true identities in court today and to forfeit certain assets attributable to the criminal offenses.

Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., today announced the indictment of REGINA DASILVA, 41, for filing petitions containing false information with two New York State governmental offices and with Signature Bank in an effort to obtain more than $22 million in mortgage loans on behalf of her employer, the Universal Church. DASILVA has been charged in a 36-count indictment with Grand Larceny, Offering a False Instrument for Filing, Making an Apparently Sworn False Statement, and Scheme to Defraud.[1] “Fraud is always wrong, but it is especially egregious when criminals misuse religious organizations, courts, and state agencies in their schemes,” said District Attorney Vance. “This defendant not only misled the faithful, but she also undermined the integrity of our judicial system by filing false statements and petitions with New York State Supreme Court judges and the State Attorney General’s Office.”

WASHINGTON—The Justice Department today announced charges against five members of an al Qaeda plot to attack targets in the United States and United Kingdom. The charges reveal that the plot against New York’s subway system uncovered in September 2009 involving Colorado resident Najibullah Zazi was directed by senior al Qaeda leadership in Pakistan, and was also directly related to a scheme by al Qaeda plotters in Pakistan to use Western operatives to attack a target in the United Kingdom. The superseding indictment, which was returned and unsealed today in the Eastern District of New York, charges the following defendants each with several terrorism violations: Adnan El Shukrijumah, also known as “Hamad;” Adis Medunjanin, also known as “Mohammad;” Abid Naseer; Tariq Ur Rehman; and a fifth defendant known as “Ahmad,” “Sohaib,” or “Zahid.” Each of the defendants faces a maximum sentence of life in prison if convicted.

NEW YORK- Roberto Valentino Cruz, also known as "Cholo," "Jorge," and "Roberto Vasquez," was arraigned in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn, New York, following his July 2, extradition from Spain to the United States on charges of participating in an international drug trafficking conspiracy. At his arraignment on Friday, July 2, Cruz was ordered detained pending trial by U.S. Magistrate Judge Lois Bloom. The extradition and arraignment were announced by Loretta E. Lynch, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, and James T. Hayes, Jr., Special Agent-in-Charge of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations, New York (ICE).

WASHINGTON - The Department of Justice challenged the state of Arizona’s recently passed immigration law, S.B. 1070, in federal court today. In a brief filed in the District of Arizona, the Department said S.B. 1070 unconstitutionally interferes with the federal government’s authority to set and enforce immigration policy, explaining that “the Constitution and federal law do not permit the development of a patchwork of state and local immigration policies throughout the country.” A patchwork of state and local policies would seriously disrupt federal immigration enforcement. Having enacted its own immigration policy that conflicts with federal immigration law, Arizona “crossed a constitutional line.”

New York, NY (July 6, 2010) - Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo today filed lawsuits against the owners and managers of residential housing complexes in Brooklyn and Glenville, Schenectady County for refusing to rent or show apartments to black applicants. The Schenectady County owner and manager are also charged with refusing to rent to families with children. The lawsuits were filed in federal district courts in Brooklyn and Albany against 1648-50 Ocean Parkway in Brooklyn and Shady Lane Apartments at 133 Saratoga Road in Glenville after an undercover investigation. The lawsuits allege violations of federal and state housing and civil rights laws and seek civil penalties and an injunction prohibiting the companies from engaging in discriminatory practices.

LOS ANGELES -- Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. today announced a settlement with Washington state-based Rena Ware International, Inc., which "made fraudulent and unethical claims" that its high-priced cookware could cure diseases such as diabetes and heart disease. The company agreed to pay more than $600,000 in refunds and other fees. "This company made fraudulent and unethical claims that its products cured serious diseases," Brown said. "Their illegal, high-pressure sales tactics preyed on the fears of vulnerable Californians."

Domingo Salazar and his wife, Norma Mendez, pled guilty on 07/01/2010 to sex trafficking charges relating to their forced prostitution of a minor. Both defendants face maximum sentences of life imprisonment, and Salazar also faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years’ imprisonment. The defendants have been in federal custody since their arrests in November 2009. The plea proceedings were held before United States District Court Judge John Gleeson at the federal courthouse in Brooklyn. Between April 2007 and November 2009, the defendants, who are Mexican nationals, used physical violence, threats, and intimidation to force a 17-year-old Mexican woman (the victim), to work as a prostitute in and around New York City and elsewhere. The victim was not permitted to leave the apartment where she lived with the defendants in Brooklyn except to work as a prostitute. Half of the money she earned was taken by Salazar, and the balance was kept by drivers who transported her to work location...

At a sound stage at Walt Disney Studios in Southern California, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Director John Morton announced to movie industry representatives how the agency is "turning the table on thieves" by combating movie piracy. "Working with industry, we will systematically target websites that offer counterfeit or pirated products. We will seize websites, prosecute the owners and forfeit proceeds." Under 'Operation In Our Sites,' a new initiative aimed at Internet counterfeiting and piracy, authorities seized the domain names of several sites offering first-run movies, often within hours of their theatrical release.

SOUTHAVEN, Miss. - An El Salvadoran national previously convicted of sexual battery and incest against a minor was taken into custody Wednesday by officers assigned to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Office of Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO). Tomas Landaverde, 43, was arrested by ICE through the Criminal Alien Program, which screens and identifies criminal aliens for removal from the United States based on their criminal convictions. On or about Dec. 12, 2007, Landaverde was arrested for sexual battery and incest in Memphis, Tenn. The victim was a juvenile. On April 14, 2008, Landaverde pled guilty to the charges. On July 31, 2008, the Criminal/Circuit Court of Shelby County, Tenn., found Landaverde guilty of sexual battery and incest and sentenced him to a term of two years and seven months to run concurrently. Landaverde was sentenced to serve his time in a workhouse and was currently reporting to Tennessee probation officials.

North America’s Largest Metal Food Can Supplier Fired Man Because of Race, Federal Agency Charged CHICAGO – Silgan Containers Manufacturing Corporation, the largest manufacturer of metal food containers in North America, will pay $45,000 to settle a race discrimination lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the agency announced today. The EEOC filed the lawsuit against Silgan on behalf of an African-American man who suffered alleged discriminatory treatment that resulted in his termination from Silgan’s Oconomowoc, Wis., facility. In its lawsuit, the EEOC charged that Silgan violated federal civil rights law by intentionally delaying the hiring of Romardro Henderson and then firing him because of his race. According to the EEOC, after Henderson was finally hired, his immediate supervisor – who no longer works for Silgan – subjected Henderson to disparate and discriminatory treatment such as holding him to a higher standard on his work than non-bla...

Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., today announced guilty verdicts in the murder trials of OMAN GUTIERREZ and JOSE INOA. GUTIERREZ and INOA conspired to assassinate Edward Contreras, to further the defendants’ drug operation in Washington Heights. “This case exemplifies the violence the drug trade perpetuates,” said District Attorney Vance. “I thank the prosecutors and investigators for their work bringing these criminals to justice, and the members of the jury for their service on this serious case.”

Pinnacle Pharmacy Failed to Protect Female Employees from Harasser, Federal Agency Charged MADISON, Wis. – Omnicare, Inc., doing business as Pinnacle Pharmacy, violated federal law by subjecting a class of women to a sexually hostile work environment in its La Crosse, Wis., location, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit announced today. According to the EEOC’s suit, (EEOC v. Omnicare, Inc. d/b/a Pinnacle Pharmacy, Case No. 10-cv-364), filed in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin, the La Crosse pharmacy manager engaged in repeated, egregious acts of sexual harassment toward female employees, such as unwelcome touching that included approaching female employees from behind and grinding his crotch on them, and making sexually explicit and demeaning comments to female employees.

Racially Hostile Work Environment Offends Black and White Employees at McGriff’s Truck Facility BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – McGriff Industries, Inc. and its subsidiary McGriff Transportation, Inc., which operated a truck transportation facility in Cullman, Ala., will pay $100,000 and furnish other relief to settle a racial harassment and retaliation lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the agency announced today. According to the EEOC, certain employees and managers in the Cullman facility routinely used racially derogatory comments, slurs, and insults directed at or about African-Americans. The racial misconduct escalated to threats and intimidation, including a derogatory threat to cut one of the black employees. White and black employees were offended by the racial misconduct, but were rebuffed and retaliated against -- one employee was terminated and another had his work assignments changed -- when they complained.

Supervisor Forced Sex on Latina Employee, Federal Agency Charges SEATTLE — Allstar Fitness, which operates fitness clubs in Washington and Oregon, violated federal law when its manager sexually harassed a female employee on multiple occasions, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit filed today. The EEOC’s suit charged that the sexual harassment occurred at two different Allstar Fitness facilities in Seattle. According to the federal agency’s investigation, the immediate supervisor of a Latina worker employed in housekeeping deliberately isolated her and forced her to have sex with him repeatedly. The supervisor warned the employee to stay quiet if she wanted to keep her job, the EEOC said. After months of abuse on a regular basis, when she told him “No more,” and threatened to report the attacks, she was fired.

WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke gathered with leaders from the public and private sectors to discuss the relationship between copyright policy, creativity and innovation in the Internet economy as part of a symposium co-hosted by the Commerce Department’s United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center. The day-long symposium included discussion of online copyright policy in the United States, specifically the impact of current copyright laws, existing and emerging techniques used to illegally distribute and obtain protected works, the extent and economic impact of infringement, and the role of emerging business models for legitimate distribution of content. During the symposium, it was announced that the Department of Commerce will issue a Notice of Inquiry (NOI) this month seeking public comment on the effectiveness of copy...

Chilbo Myunok to Pay $170,000 to Victims and Participate in Joint Outreach Training With EEOC to Korean Community Small Business Owners LOS ANGELES – Chilbo Myunok USA LLC, a Korea-based food company which owns a Los Angeles restaurant and a chain of fast-food stores in Korea, will pay $170,000 and furnish other relief to resolve sexual harassment complaints brought to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the agency announced today. The EEOC’s investigation had found that a class of waitresses was sexually harassed at the Chilbo Myunok restaurant in the Koreatown section of Los Angeles, and that four of them were forced to quit to escape the harassment. The offending manager has since been fired. According to the EEOC’s investigation, since the restaurant opened in April 2005 until August 2005, each of the victims faced continuous verbal and physical harassment from the restaurant’s manager. The manager repeatedly subjected the women to sexual touching with a se...

NEW YORK, NY (July 1, 2010) - Attorney General Andrew Cuomo today announced the arrest and guilty plea of the founder of a sham car donation charity for looting over $2 million in charitable funds. Shoba Bakhsh, of Queens-based “Hope for the Disabled Kids, Inc.,” pled guilty to lying to donors and misusing funds for herself and her family. As a condition of the plea, the charity will immediately shut down. Today’s action marked the latest stage of the Attorney General’s ongoing, industry-wide investigation into car donation charities. Hope for the Disabled Kids took in thousands of cars and had more than $2 million in revenue between the charity’s founding in 2001 and 2009. When soliciting donors, Bakhsh promised that over 90% of donations would go to help disabled children. However, no funds were used for any legitimate charitable purposes from 2007 to 2009. No records were produced to prove that funds were used for legitimate purposes prior to 2007 because Bakhsh destroyed document...

Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., announced today the guilty plea of ADENIYI ADEYEMI, 27, a computer technician formerly employed as a contractor at the headquarters of the Bank of New York. ADEYEMI admitted to stealing a list of personal identifying information of 2,000 bank employees, and using this information to orchestrate thefts of more than $1.1 million from charities and nonprofit organizations, among other institutions, over an eight-year period. ADEYEMI pled guilty to the top charges in the indictment, Grand Larceny in the First Degree and Money Laundering in the First Degree, as well as to the felony charge of Computer Tampering in the First Degree. He is scheduled to be sentenced on July 21, 2010. In addition to pleading guilty, ADEYEMI signed a confession of judgment and forfeiture stipulation acknowledging an outstanding debt of $393,423 to E*Trade and Chase Bank, and forfeiting $29,285 in cash seized from ADEYEMI’s apartment along with an E*Trade account i...