Source: United States Airforce
The senior leaders recently concluded a multi-day visit to bases across the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility, engaging with service members assigned to Ninth Air Force (Air Forces Central), Dec. 18-22.
Justice Department Reaches Proposed Consent Decree with LivCor, One of America’s Largest Landlords, to Resolve Information Sharing and Algorithmic Coordination Claims
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
Decree Would Prohibit Algorithmic Coordination and Exchanging Competitively Sensitive Data with Competitors
WASHINGTON – The Justice Department’s Antitrust Division filed a proposed consent decree today to resolve the United States’ claims against LivCor, LLC, a Blackstone portfolio company, as part of its ongoing enforcement action in the Middle District of North Carolina against algorithmic coordination and other anticompetitive practices in rental markets across the country. Today’s proposed decree builds on the Justice Department’s success in obtaining proposed consent decrees in the same enforcement action against RealPage, Inc. and two other large landlords, Cortland Management, LLC and Greystar Management Services, LLC.
On January 7, 2025, the United States, together with its state co-plaintiffs, filed a complaint alleging that LivCor, along with five other landlords, actively participated in a scheme to set their rents using each other’s competitively sensitive information through common pricing algorithms. As alleged in Plaintiffs’ complaint, LivCor and other landlords, including five codefendants, shared competitively sensitive data to generate pricing recommendations using RealPage’s algorithms, which also included anticompetitive rules that aligned their pricing. In addition, LivCor and other landlords discussed competitively sensitive topics—including pricing strategies, rents, and selected parameters for RealPage’s software—directly with each other.
“The Trump-Vance Administration is committed to an economy that works for all Americans,” said Assistant Attorney General Abigail Slater of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division. “Landlords across America are on notice that the competition laws protect renters from the harms caused by competitors sharing competitively sensitive information or aligning prices, whether through an algorithm or otherwise.”
If approved by the court, the proposed consent decree would require LivCor to:
- Refrain from using any anticompetitive algorithm that generates pricing recommendations using its competitors’ competitively sensitive data or that incorporates certain anticompetitive features;
- Refrain from sharing competitively sensitive information with competitors;
- Accept a court-appointed monitor if it uses a third-party pricing algorithm that is not certified pursuant to the terms of the consent decree;
- Refrain from attending or participating in RealPage-hosted meetings of competing landlords; and
- Cooperate with the United States’ claims against other defendants.
As required by the Tunney Act, the proposed settlement, along with a competitive impact statement, will be published in the Federal Register. Any interested person should submit written comments concerning the proposed settlement within 60 days following the publication to Danielle Hauck, Acting Chief, Technology and Digital Platforms Section, Antitrust Division, U.S. Department of Justice, 450 Fifth Street NW, Suite 7050, Washington, DC 20530. At the conclusion of the public comment period, the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina may enter the final judgment upon finding it is in the public interest.
Washington Man Pleads Guilty to Hate Crime Charge After Stabbing a Metro Bus Passenger
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
A Washington man pleaded guilty today to a federal hate crime charge for violently assaulting and stabbing a black female bus passenger because of her race.
According to records filed in the case, on March 7, 2024, Adan C. Hernandez-Mayoral made derogatory comments about black people while he was riding a King County Metro bus. Hernandez-Mayoral then yelled at another passenger on the bus, and made racially derogatory comments directed at the victim, including referring to the woman as “Rosa Parks” and telling her to move to the back of the bus.
The woman walked to the front of the bus to try to get help and call the police, but Hernandez-Mayoral followed her. When the bus stopped, Hernandez-Mayoral pushed the woman off the bus and repeatedly assaulted her. He then pulled out a knife and stabbed at the victim numerous times before running away. Fortunately, the victim was wearing a heavy coat that prevented the knife from puncturing her skin, but the assault and stabbing caused bodily injury to the victim. Shortly after the assault, Kent Police located Hernandez-Mayoral hiding under a car, where he was then arrested.
Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, U.S. Attorney Charles Neil of the Western District of Washington, and FBI Special Agent in Charge W. Mike Herrington of the of the FBI Seattle Field Office made the announcement.
Hernandez-Mayoral is scheduled to be sentenced on March 17, 2026. The maximum penalty is 10 years in prison.
The case was investigated by the Kent Police Department and the FBI, with the cooperation and support of the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office.
The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Tenette Smith of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney Jessica M. Manca for the Western District of Washington.
GAINESVILLE FELON CHARGED WITH DRUG AND FIREARM OFFENSES
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
GAINESVILLE, FLORIDA – Christopher Eugene Thompson, 49, of Gainesville, Florida, was indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of possession with intent to distribute controlled substances, possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, and possession of an unregistered National Firearms Act weapon.
New Port Richey Man Pleads Guilty To Interstate Threats To Kill Federal Officials
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
Tampa, Florida – United States Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe announces that Benjamin Rubin (79, New Port Richey) has pleaded guilty to interstate transmission of threats to kill multiple federal officials. Rubin faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in federal prison. A sentencing date has not yet been set.
Two Members Of Violent Gang Alliance Charged With Murdering A Sixteen-Year-Old Boy In The Bronx
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jay Clayton, Special Agent in Charge of the New York Field Office of Homeland Security Investigations (“HSI”), Ricky J. Patel, and Commissioner of the New York City Police Department (“NYPD”), Jessica S. Tisch, announced the unsealing of an Indictment charging AHMAR GARCIA, a/k/a “OB,” and RAHEEM PATTERSON, a/k/a “Rah Rah,” with committing the murder of sixteen-year-old Nisayah Sanchez on September 29, 2021, as a result of a gang war that plagued the city throughout that year that cost the lives of multiple young men and boys throughout the Bronx.
Justice Department Announces Completion of Civil Rights Reform Agreement with Orange County District Attorney
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
WASHINGTON – Today, the Justice Department announced the successful completion of the Justice Department’s January 14, 2025 Agreement for the Sustainability of Custodial Informant Reforms with the Orange County District Attorney’s Office (OCDA) in California. Under the Agreement, OCDA sustained reforms to its policies, training, information systems, and auditing procedures regarding the use of confidential informants.
This agreement addressed the Justice Department’s findings that OCDA had used custodial informants to elicit incriminating statements from people who had been arrested and charged with a crime, in violation of the Sixth Amendment of the United States Constitution, and failing to disclose evidence about those custodial informants to criminal defendants, in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution.
“The Orange County District Attorney’s Office has implemented and sustained extensive reforms that demonstrate an enduring commitment to protecting the Sixth and Fourteenth Amendment rights of those in its jurisdiction,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “We commend the District Attorney and his staff for their hard work that will ensure the integrity of criminal prosecutions in Orange County and public trust in the criminal justice system.”
To read the original press release announcing the findings of the investigation, click here. To read the report of the investigation, click here. To read the OCDA Settlement Agreement, click here. Additional information about the Civil Rights Division is available on its website at www.justice.gov/crt.
Defense News in Brief: USS Lenah Sutcliffe Higbee returns to San Diego
Source: United States Navy
SAN DIEGO, CA – The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Lenah Sutcliffe Higbee (DDG 123) returned to its homeport of San Diego following a nine-month mission to the U.S. 3rd, 5th and 7th Fleet areas of operations (AOO), Dec. 19.
Defense News in Brief: Air Force designates Northrop Grumman’s Talon prototype as YFQ-48A
Source: United States Airforce
The U.S. Air Force announces the designation of YFQ-48A as the Mission Design Series for Northrop Grumman’s Project Talon, a semi-autonomous prototype aircraft, underscoring the Air Force’s commitment to rapidly delivering next-generation capabilities.
Defense News in Brief: President Trump Announces New Battleship
Source: United States Navy
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, President Donald J. Trump and Secretary of the Navy John C. Phelan, alongside Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, announced their intent to construct a new class of American-designed battleships that will be the most lethal surface combatant ever constructed. The future USS Defiant (BBG 1) will be the first Trump class battleship and will be an unambiguous statement of American commitment to maritime superiority with capability to distribute more firepower across the fleet than any other class of ship, for any Navy, in history.