Justice News

Justice Department Sues the Virgin Islands Police Department for Unconstitutional Practices Resulting in Effective Denials of Gun Permits

Tue, 16 Dec 2025 12:00:00 +0000

Today, the Justice Department filed a complaint against the Virgin Islands Police Department (VIPD) alleging that the territory’s unreasonable delays and conditions on lawful gun owners’ rights create an unconstitutional permitting process in violation of the Second Amendment. Numerous applicants complained that VIPD is unreasonably delaying their gun permit application decisions and added unreasonable conditions, including bolted-in gun safes, prior to issuing gun licenses. Finally, VIPD continues to enforce a proper cause regulation nearly identical to the law that the U.S. Supreme Court previously struck down in another case years ago.

Three Chinese-Owned Companies to Pay More Than $7.3M to Resolve False Claims Act Allegations Relating to Paycheck Protection Program Loans

Tue, 16 Dec 2025 12:00:00 +0000

Greenland LA Metropolis Hotel Development LLC, Greenland US Management LLC, and Greenland LA Metropolis Development III (together, the Greenland USA Entities), have agreed to pay $7,312,283.36 to resolve allegations that they violated the False Claims Act by submitting false claims to obtain Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans for which they were not eligible.

Jamaican National Sentenced for Long-Running Sweepstakes Scheme

Mon, 15 Dec 2025 12:00:00 +0000

An extradited Jamaican citizen was sentenced today to 63 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release for participating in a long-running scheme to defraud an elderly California woman.

Guatemalan National Indicted for Illegal Reentry After Multiple Deportations

Mon, 15 Dec 2025 12:00:00 +0000

A Guatemalan national, Bayron Leopoldo Perez Batres, 63, residing in Beltsville, Maryland, made his initial appearance today in U.S. federal court in the District of Maryland and is charged with illegal reentry by a previously deported alien.

Four Defendants Arrested for Alleged Anti-Capitalist and Anti-Government Plot to Bomb U.S. Companies on New Year’s Eve

Mon, 15 Dec 2025 12:00:00 +0000

Four members of an anti-capitalist and anti-government group that calls for violence against U.S. officials have been arrested for allegedly plotting to attack two U.S. companies with improvised explosive devices (IEDs) this New Year’s Eve.

Everett, Washington Man who Used a Pipe Bomb to Blow Up Black Couple’s Car Sentenced to Five Years in Prison

Mon, 15 Dec 2025 12:00:00 +0000

A 55-year-old Everett, Washington man was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to five years in prison for three federal felonies including a pipe bomb explosion that destroyed a neighbor’s car. Steven Goldstine pleaded guilty in September 2025, to unlawful possession of a destructive device; unlawful possession of ammunition; and unlawful possession of a firearm. At the sentencing hearing U.S. District Judge John H. Chun said “This case involves serious and quite frankly horrifying conduct. Add in the racist statements it is disgusting conduct.”

Attorney General Pamela Bondi’s Visit to Rome, Italy, Vatican City, and Lyon, France

Mon, 15 Dec 2025 12:00:00 +0000

WASHINGTON – Last week, Attorney General Pamela Bondi visited Rome, Italy to deliver the keynote address at the 25th Anniversary of the Palermo Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons and met with Italian government officials. Attorney General Bondi held meetings with U.S. Ambassador to Italy Tilman Fertitta and U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See Brian Burch. At the Vatican, Attorney General Bondi met with Pope Leo XIV and participated in a meeting with Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican Secretary of State. In Lyon, France, Attorney General Bondi visited the headquarters of INTERPOL and participated in a series of meetings with Secretary General Valdecy Uriquiza and U.S. Ambassador to the French Republic and the Principality of Monaco Charles Kushner.

Justice Department Reaffirms Veterinary Accreditation Standards and Procedures Are Subject to Antitrust Scrutiny

Mon, 15 Dec 2025 12:00:00 +0000

Today, the Justice Department filed a statement of interest in a private lawsuit challenging accreditation standards and procedures employed by the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA). The statement of interest explains that professional accreditation societies, like the AVMA, cannot erect anticompetitive hurdles that reduce competition by restricting the number of veterinary providers entering the profession.

TIGO Guatemala Paid Over $118M To Resolve Foreign Bribery Investigation

Fri, 12 Dec 2025 12:00:00 +0000

In November 2025, Comunicaciones Celulares S.A., doing business as TIGO Guatemala, a mobile and fixed telecommunications service provider in Guatemala, paid over $118 million to resolve an investigation by the Justice Department into a long-running scheme to bribe government officials in Guatemala.

Doctor Sentenced to Seven Years in Prison for $24M Medicare Fraud

Fri, 12 Dec 2025 12:00:00 +0000

On October 23, a New York doctor was sentenced to seven years in prison for causing the submission of over $24 million in fraudulent claims to Medicare for medically unnecessary laboratory tests and orthotic braces. He was also ordered to pay $2,210,384 in restitution.

Wound Graft Company Owners Sentenced for $1.2B Health Care Fraud and Agree to Pay $309M to Resolve Civil Liability Under the False Claims Act

Fri, 12 Dec 2025 12:00:00 +0000

In the first prosecution of its kind, the owners of several Arizona wound graft companies were sentenced to significant terms of incarceration for causing over $1.2 billion of false and fraudulent claims to be submitted to Medicare and other health insurance programs for medically unnecessary wound grafts that were ordered as a result of illegal kickbacks and applied to elderly and terminally ill patients.

Pharmacist Sentenced to Over Six Years in Prison for $6M Health Care Fraud Scheme

Fri, 12 Dec 2025 12:00:00 +0000

On October 21, a Michigan pharmacist was sentenced to 80 months in prison for defrauding health care benefit programs by billing for prescription medications that he never dispensed.

Missouri Man Sentenced to 10 Years in Prison for $174M Health Care Fraud Conspiracy

Fri, 12 Dec 2025 12:00:00 +0000

On Oct. 23, a Missouri man was sentenced to 10 years in prison for orchestrating a scheme to defraud Medicare by unlawfully billing hundreds of millions of dollars in claims for cancer genetic testing and cardiovascular genetic testing.

Justice Department Sues Four Additional States and One Locality for Failure to Comply with Federal Elections Laws

Fri, 12 Dec 2025 12:00:00 +0000

Former VIPD Commissioner and Former OMB Director Found Guilty on All Counts in Federal Corruption Trial

Thu, 11 Dec 2025 12:00:00 +0000

Yesterday, a federal jury found Ray Martinez, former Commissioner of the Virgin Islands Police Department (VIPD), and Jenifer O’Neal, former Director of the Virgin Islands Office of Management and Budget (OMB), guilty on all counts following a one-week jury trial before U.S. District Judge Mark A. Kearney. Martinez and O’Neal were convicted of participating in a wide-ranging public corruption scheme involving honest services wire fraud, federal program bribery, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and, in Martinez’s case, obstruction of justice.

Religious Liberty Commission Hosts Fourth Hearing on Religious Liberty in the Military

Thu, 11 Dec 2025 12:00:00 +0000

DALLAS, TX – Yesterday, the Religious Liberty Commission hosted its fourth hearing to discuss religious liberty issues in the Military, including the perspectives of servicemembers, chaplains, and veterans, as well as state and local religious liberty issues. The hearing’s objectives included understanding the history of religious liberty in military, recognizing present threats to servicemembers' religious liberty, and identifying opportunities to strengthen religious liberty in the military.

Two Men Sentenced for $17M COVID-19 Unemployment Fraud

Thu, 11 Dec 2025 12:00:00 +0000

Two Cordele, Georgia, men were sentenced today for their participation in a scheme to defraud the Georgia Department of Labor (GaDOL) out of millions of dollars in benefits meant to assist unemployed individuals during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Religious Liberty Commission Highlight: Chaplains Panel