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Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

Today, the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division launched an investigation into the City of Rainsville, Alabama, to determine whether the City violated Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000 (RLUIPA), and the Fair Housing Act (FHA) by denying a faith-based organization’s application to operate an addiction-recovery facility in the City.

The Department opened this investigation after receiving a complaint alleging that the City denied a Christian recovery organization the ability to establish a Christian discipleship program, motivated by a desire to keep away “drug addicts.” The program was intended to rehabilitate men with drug and alcohol dependency, and other life-controlling problems.

“The ADA affords every individual, including those on the path to recovery, the dignity and opportunity to fully participate in society,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon for the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “The Civil Rights Division stands guard to protect not only the rights of Americans with disabilities, but also the rights of religious institutions to minister to those recovering from substance abuse.”

The ADA prohibits discrimination based on disability by public entities. People in recovery from substance use disorders who are not currently engaging in illegal drug use are protected by the ADA. The ADA prohibits public entities from discriminating against people with disabilities on that basis. The FHA further prohibits such discrimination by municipalities in making housing unavailable to people with disabilities.

RLUIPA is a federal law that guards religious institutions from unduly burdensome, unequal, or discriminatory land use regulations. More information about RLUIPA and the department’s work can be found on the Place to Worship Initiative’s webpage.

If you believe you have been a victim of disability discrimination, please file a complaint with the Civil Rights Division online at https://www.ada.gov/file-a-complaint/, or by calling the Department’s toll-free ADA Information Line at 1-800-514-0301 (1-833-610-1264 (TTY)). For more information on the ADA and the Civil Rights Division, please visit www.ada.gov or www.justice.gov/crt.

And individuals who believe they have been subjected to discrimination in land use or zoning decisions may contact the Civil Rights Division’s Housing and Civil Enforcement Section at (833) 591-0291 or may submit a complaint through the RLUIPA complaint portal. More information about RLUIPA, including questions and answers about the law and other documents, may be found at www.justice.gov/crt/about/hce/rluipaexplain.php.

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

A Massachusetts tax return preparer was sentenced today to 18 months in prison for filing false tax returns for clients.

The following is according to court documents and evidence presented at trial: Yves Isidor, of Somerville, Massachusetts, owned and operated Tax Realty Pro, a tax preparation service located in Malden, Massachusetts. From 2012 to 2019, Isidor prepared over 1,500 returns for taxpayers. During that time, Isidor falsified returns for clients by preparing fraudulent schedules that claimed inappropriate expenses or deductions. On multiple occasions, Isidor inflated clients’ total itemized deductions by fabricating medical expenses, charitable contributions, employment expenses, and taxes. Additionally, on a few occasions, Isidor inflated expense deductions when clients were self-employed or owned rental properties. These activities reduced his clients’ tax liabilities and generated fraudulent refunds. At trial, clients testified that Isidor falsified their individual tax returns without request or consent.

Yves caused a loss to the United States of $443,000.

In addition to her prison sentence, U.S. District Judge William G. Young for the District of Massachusetts ordered Isidor to serve three years of supervised release.

IRS Criminal Investigation investigated the case.

Trial Attorney Christina M. Grimes of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney Victor A. Wild for the District of Massachusetts prosecuted the case. 

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

The Justice Department announced today that it has filed a lawsuit against the city of Hattiesburg, Mississippi for violating Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by terminating a former employee who opposed and complained about sexual harassment in the workplace.

Title VII prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, national origin, sex and religion and prohibits retaliation against employees for opposing discriminatory employment practices. According to the Department’s complaint, filed today in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi, the city terminated former employee, Hope Chatman, after she reported sexual harassment and refused to sit near her harasser after reporting his conduct to management. The complaint seeks damages, back pay, and revisions to the City’s policies, practices, and procedures to prevent and remedy retaliation that violates Title VII.

“No one who speaks up against workplace sexual harassment should face retaliation for doing so. The Department is committed to fully enforcing our federal employment discrimination laws, including through banning sexual harassment and retaliation,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. 

This case stems from a charge of discrimination filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and investigated by the EEOC’s Jackson Area office. The EEOC investigated the charge and found reasonable cause to believe the city violated Title VII. After unsuccessful conciliation efforts, the EEOC referred the charge to the Justice Department.

You can view the complaint here.

Employees with complaints of sexual harassment can report them to their local EEOC office or their respective state or local fair employment practices agencies. The contact information for each local EEOC office can be found at www.eeoc.gov/field-office. 

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

The Justice Department announced today that a federal grand jury in Dayton, Ohio, returned charges against dozens of defendants, including Chinese nationals and companies, in narcotics and money laundering conspiracies involving illegal cutting agents.

“Protecting Americans from fentanyl is one of this Department’s most important missions — and it starts with dismantling the international pipelines that bring deadly drugs and precursor to our shores,” said Attorney General Pamela Bondi. “We will not rest until we stop Chinese companies from shipping poison to our citizens and bring everyone involved in this lethal trade to swift, complete justice.”

“Our indictment alleges that Chinese companies and affiliated foreign nationals intentionally and openly marketed, delivered, and exported to the United States controlled substances and other compounds that they knew would be used by domestic drug dealers to increase the yield and potency of fentanyl distributed in this country,” said U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio Dominick S. Gerace II. “As explained in court documents, these deadly drug mixtures were then sold directly into our communities here in southern Ohio.”

“Today’s announcement marks a first-of-its-kind international operation for the FBI targeting the fentanyl plague that has killed tens of thousands of Americans and indicting the companies and individuals in mainland China that manufacture the precursor chemicals fueling the destruction of our communities,” said FBI Director Kash Patel.  “This operation has already seized enough fentanyl powder to kill 70 million Americans and enough fentanyl pills to kill another 270,000. And we have now indicted the Chinese precursor companies and exposed the funding streams that facilitate this deadly trade.”

According to charging documents, from at least 2022 until present, Eric Michael Payne, 39, of Tipp City, Ohio, served as a main supplier of illegal cutting agents to fentanyl traffickers operating in southern Ohio. Payne allegedly purchased several kilogram shipments of the cutting agents from multiple Chinese companies purporting to be online pharmacies and legitimate chemical companies.

It is believed that the U.S. defendants purchased from the Chinese companies at least 10 kilograms of fentanyl cutting agents, which, in turn, could yield more than 150 kilograms of fentanyl mixture bound for street-level sales in southern Ohio. The cutting agents included animal tranquilizers up to 200 times more powerful than morphine.

The companies allegedly used a series of Chinese foreign nationals located overseas to solicit, negotiate, and secure payments for illegal cutting agents from U.S. customers. It is alleged the foreign nationals generally directed U.S. customers to pay for the cutting agents using cryptocurrency transferred to crypto wallets under the foreign national’s control for ultimate deposit into financial institutions located overseas.

Payne’s significant other, Auriyon Tresan Rayford, 24, also of Tipp City, Ohio, and Ciandrea Bryne Davis, 39, of Atlanta, allegedly assisted Payne in transferring more than $60,000 in cryptocurrency to Chinese foreign nationals associated with the Chinese companies since 2022. Rayford also allegedly allowed illegal substances to be stored at her residence in Ohio.

All the defendants are charged with conspiring with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl mixture and conspiring to launder money internationally. Payne is also charged with possessing with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl mixture and tampering with evidence. Rayford is charged with maintaining a drug-involved premises.

The Chinese companies and nationals charged include:

Guangzhou Tengyue Chemical Company, Ltd.,

Guanghzou Wanjiang Biotechnology Co., Ltd.,

Hebei Hongjun New Material Technology Co., Ltd.,

Hebei Feilaimi Technology Co., Ltd.,

Lihui Zhao,

FNU LNU a/k/a “Anna Sofia,”

Shanhong Jiang,

Yan Yang,

Fengdi Zhang,

Dehui Xia,

Xing Wu Chen,

Qing Lin Wang,

Xiaojun Huang,

Meixiang Yao,

Zhanpeng Huang,

Yuqing Feng,

Dongjing Sun,

Chengqi Nong,

Tiduo Wei,

Zhisong Nie,

Jichao Zhu,

Zhengzhe Yin,

Changgen Du,

Hongfei Wang,

Huatao Yao, and

Xuening Gao.

Concurrent with the charges brought against this network, the U.S. Department of the Treasury today has imposed sanctions on one of these Chinese companies, Guangzhou Tengyue, and two of its representatives, Zhanpeng Huang and Xiaojun Huang, targeting them pursuant to Treasury’s counternarcotics authorities.

Deputy Criminal Chief Brent G. Tabacchi and Assistant U.S. Attorney Elizabeth McCormick are representing the United States in this case.

An indictment merely contains allegations, and defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty in a court of law.

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

Today, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington recognized the successful completion of the consent decree in United States v. City of Seattle, returning complete control of the Seattle Police Department (SPD) to the City. The 13-year consent decree effort addressed use of force, crisis intervention, stops and detentions, supervision and accountability.

“We congratulate the Seattle Police Department on its achievement of sustained substantial compliance with this consent decree,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “We are proud to stand by the men and women of the Seattle Police Department as federal oversight ends and the court returns full control of local law enforcement to the city.”

“The Seattle Police Department has worked over many years to develop and implement policies and procedures that have transformed the department into an example for other police forces,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Teal Luthy Miller for the Western District of Washington. “Multiple Police Chiefs, city leaders, community stakeholders, and U.S. Attorneys have supported that effort. I commend the hard work that has led to the end of the consent decree.”

In 2011, the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Washington jointly initiated an investigation into the SPD under the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 and the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968. After concluding the investigation, in 2012 the United States and the City of Seattle entered into a consent decree to address the investigation’s findings that SPD engaged in a pattern or practice of unnecessary or excessive force in violation of the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution. In 2023, the Court granted the parties’ joint motion to terminate most of the consent decree’s requirements. The City and the Department worked collaboratively toward completion of the last remaining requirements, leading to today’s termination of the consent decree and final dismissal of the lawsuit.